Dee Snider
We Are the Ones
earMusic
2016
Funnily enough Dee Snider professed that he as well as the other members of Twisted Sister didn’t have any time to record any new material together… but on the heels of Twisted Sister’s “40 and f@#k it”, farewell tour, he seemingly releases a “new” solo album. Now, I like Dee’s voice and everything, but his solo albums didn’t seem to cut it, both commercially (at least to the level one would expect from a guy as famous as he) and artistically, with always a few decent of even good songs, but overall unable to rise above. Dee’s last “solo” effort was a vaudevillian foray into some music theater songs, alongside Cyndi Lauper and a few more “80s stars”, which most certainly didn’t set the charts on fire.
Now he’s back with a new set of people around him and a bunch of modern rock songs that in Dee’s views are a bit like “3 Doors Down” (I digress as they seem to be too much based into ballad like material), but to my ears comes across as a latter day Offspring, Green Day etc. clone with Dee’s very characteristic voice on top, plating the songs and making them a bit more “metal” than they truly are.
The title track is surely anthemic enough and would have been a fine “Sister” tune, had it a serious riff to back it up, instead of the anemic guitars that it has. It’s not bad however, at less than three minutes and if Snider could have 10 of “these” it would definitely work.
“Over Again” is similar to “Thirty”, a track that Dee had lying about and he did with “Sister”, but wasn’t cut to be for them. The band seemed to disown “Love is for Suckers”, which however had some fine songs in it, for its somewhat more commercial sound. Well, this is commercial dishwasher, melodies, with surprisingly edgier guitars and it wouldn’t be a far stretch to think it as a decent enough song that however is quite definitely second rate material.
“Close to You” does go softer and into experimental pop/rock territory, but Dee’s vocals are creepy, despite his best efforts to wither it down to a weak soft falsetto. It still comes across as some Alice Cooper leftover/demo with a shitload of keyboards and a surprisingly propped up guitar. But the repetition of the chorus one too many times, seems to imply that there wasn’t too much of an idea for more verses so a few more reps were written in.
“Rule the World” finds Dee attempting to go down the “3 Doors” road and sound, but somehow it comes across too anthemic, even if he doesn’t try to make it so. It seems to come to him naturally. I’ll give to it that it’s not a bad song, but it’s instrumentation is just too laxed.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” (2016 Acoustic)… sure one of TS’s biggest hits ,is a Dee song, just as almost all of them are, but if he was brimming with ideas, including it on a solo album, even in this stripped down format, feels more than wanting to make sure that he’d lure in as many “Sister” fans, rather than something else. Using it for charity and as a leadoff single is both cool, the charity part, but also a little lame as it doesn’t prove the worth of his “new” material or mix with them all that well. It’s an interesting choice and the passion in the delivery is undeniable, but… really?! What’s next, a harp version of “I Wanna Rock” as bonus?!
“Crazy for Nothing” begins like a lot of other stuff, but soon turns into something that might have been cool on “LIFS”. I mean nice vocal melodies and all, but a little too modern in its approach.
“Believe” has that catatonic pop “3 Doors Down” quality about it, but a typical “Dee” chorus via a bridge that sounds a little like Bon Jovi. Quite the musical Fronkonstin then!
“Head like a Hole” is something that Marylin Manson and Rob Zombie might have done and its industrial vibe is a bit of an ill fit. I’d much rather have seen this in “Strangeland 2”, if it ever gets made.
“Superhero” is pop/metal bliss, but really it’s so weird to hear Dee singing it. It’s not that he sings it badly, it’s that if you’ve heard him before, you just can’t accept it, make the association. It might have worked as a guest vocal on someone else’s album… really this sounds like Kate Perry gone metal!! If you could ever wrap your head around that concept/idea!
“So What” is Dee being inspired/ripping off Roger Water’s/Floyd’s “Hey You” and turning it into a hymn about people who are “Strange”. Oh well… it’s slow and f@ck – it all lyrical mentality don’t entirely mix together, but so what?!
A very mixed bag of chips, an experimental album with some good ideas, a few of which translate well into songs, but no cohesion and no relation other than they’re all sung by an 80s metal icon, who seems too preoccupied with being recognized not by his peers, but the new generation. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. People might find out who Dee is either through Twisted Sister, where the grand body of his work as well as his numerous hits lie, rather than through this that will probably be met with negativity or indifference by most of his hardcore fans. If I were him I’d seek out to get cameos on TV shows, as a bit of a freak guy that would be a way to imprint himself into the memory of the impressionable youth of today. Ads, TV, online, not music…
Now he’s back with a new set of people around him and a bunch of modern rock songs that in Dee’s views are a bit like “3 Doors Down” (I digress as they seem to be too much based into ballad like material), but to my ears comes across as a latter day Offspring, Green Day etc. clone with Dee’s very characteristic voice on top, plating the songs and making them a bit more “metal” than they truly are.
The title track is surely anthemic enough and would have been a fine “Sister” tune, had it a serious riff to back it up, instead of the anemic guitars that it has. It’s not bad however, at less than three minutes and if Snider could have 10 of “these” it would definitely work.
“Over Again” is similar to “Thirty”, a track that Dee had lying about and he did with “Sister”, but wasn’t cut to be for them. The band seemed to disown “Love is for Suckers”, which however had some fine songs in it, for its somewhat more commercial sound. Well, this is commercial dishwasher, melodies, with surprisingly edgier guitars and it wouldn’t be a far stretch to think it as a decent enough song that however is quite definitely second rate material.
“Close to You” does go softer and into experimental pop/rock territory, but Dee’s vocals are creepy, despite his best efforts to wither it down to a weak soft falsetto. It still comes across as some Alice Cooper leftover/demo with a shitload of keyboards and a surprisingly propped up guitar. But the repetition of the chorus one too many times, seems to imply that there wasn’t too much of an idea for more verses so a few more reps were written in.
“Rule the World” finds Dee attempting to go down the “3 Doors” road and sound, but somehow it comes across too anthemic, even if he doesn’t try to make it so. It seems to come to him naturally. I’ll give to it that it’s not a bad song, but it’s instrumentation is just too laxed.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” (2016 Acoustic)… sure one of TS’s biggest hits ,is a Dee song, just as almost all of them are, but if he was brimming with ideas, including it on a solo album, even in this stripped down format, feels more than wanting to make sure that he’d lure in as many “Sister” fans, rather than something else. Using it for charity and as a leadoff single is both cool, the charity part, but also a little lame as it doesn’t prove the worth of his “new” material or mix with them all that well. It’s an interesting choice and the passion in the delivery is undeniable, but… really?! What’s next, a harp version of “I Wanna Rock” as bonus?!
“Crazy for Nothing” begins like a lot of other stuff, but soon turns into something that might have been cool on “LIFS”. I mean nice vocal melodies and all, but a little too modern in its approach.
“Believe” has that catatonic pop “3 Doors Down” quality about it, but a typical “Dee” chorus via a bridge that sounds a little like Bon Jovi. Quite the musical Fronkonstin then!
“Head like a Hole” is something that Marylin Manson and Rob Zombie might have done and its industrial vibe is a bit of an ill fit. I’d much rather have seen this in “Strangeland 2”, if it ever gets made.
“Superhero” is pop/metal bliss, but really it’s so weird to hear Dee singing it. It’s not that he sings it badly, it’s that if you’ve heard him before, you just can’t accept it, make the association. It might have worked as a guest vocal on someone else’s album… really this sounds like Kate Perry gone metal!! If you could ever wrap your head around that concept/idea!
“So What” is Dee being inspired/ripping off Roger Water’s/Floyd’s “Hey You” and turning it into a hymn about people who are “Strange”. Oh well… it’s slow and f@ck – it all lyrical mentality don’t entirely mix together, but so what?!
A very mixed bag of chips, an experimental album with some good ideas, a few of which translate well into songs, but no cohesion and no relation other than they’re all sung by an 80s metal icon, who seems too preoccupied with being recognized not by his peers, but the new generation. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. People might find out who Dee is either through Twisted Sister, where the grand body of his work as well as his numerous hits lie, rather than through this that will probably be met with negativity or indifference by most of his hardcore fans. If I were him I’d seek out to get cameos on TV shows, as a bit of a freak guy that would be a way to imprint himself into the memory of the impressionable youth of today. Ads, TV, online, not music…