Stay Hungry
Cover photo by Mark Weiss
Studio album by
Twisted Sister
ReleasedMay 10, 1984
RecordedFebruary–March 1984
Studio
GenreHeavy metal
Length36:58
LabelAtlantic
ProducerTom Werman
Twisted Sister chronology
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
(1983) 		Stay Hungry
(1984) 		Come Out and Play
(1985)
Singles from Stay Hungry
  1. "We're Not Gonna Take It"
    Released: April 27, 1984
  2. "I Wanna Rock"
    Released: October 1984
  3. "The Price"
    Released: December 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[2]
IGN7.5/10[3]
Ultimate Guitar Archive8.9/10[4]

Stay Hungry is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released on May 10, 1984, by Atlantic Records.[5] The album contains the band's two signature songs: "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which remain a staple of '80s glam metal and rock.[6] According to RIAA certification, Stay Hungry is the band's most successful release by far and their only platinum album. Eventually, the album achieved multi-platinum status in U.S. with sales of more than 3,000,000 certified copies by 1995.[7]

During recording, producer Tom Werman brought some songs by NWOBHM band Saxon for the band to listen to, this led to a conflict with Dee Snider who understood it as Werman wanting the band to replace some of his songs with Saxon covers. Guitarist Jay Jay French also claims the band lost two songs that they wanted on the album due to Werman's influence[8]

Twisted Sister performed the song "Burn in Hell" during a cameo appearance in the 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The song "Burn in Hell" was covered by black metal band Dimmu Borgir on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. "We're Not Gonna Take It" was also covered by Bif Naked on the Ready to Rumble soundtrack. The two songs that comprise the Horror-Teria segment became the basis of Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider's 1998 film Strangeland, in which Captain Howdy was played by Snider himself. The "Captain Howdy" segment of the "Horror-Teria" suite would later be covered by the death metal group Broken Hope on their album Repulsive Conception and in 1999 by the Swedish heavy metal band Morgana Lefay on their Symphony of the Damned, Re-symphonised album.

In 2004, the band re-recorded all nine songs from this album and re-released them under the title Still Hungry.

In 2009, the band played Stay Hungry in its entirety for the first time including songs never played live before, such as "Don't Let Me Down" and "Horror-Teria: Street Justice".

Reception

Metal Rules ranked the album #5 on their list of the Top 50 Glam Metal Albums.[9]

In 2016, Loudwire ranked the album at number 6 on their list of the Top 30 Hair Metal Albums.[10]

In 2017, Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 76 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.[11]

Track listing

All songs are written by Dee Snider.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Stay Hungry"3:03
2."We're Not Gonna Take It"3:38
3."Burn in Hell"4:43
4."Horror-Teria (The Beginning):
a) Captain Howdy
b) Street Justice"		7:45
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."I Wanna Rock"3:06
6."The Price"3:48
7."Don't Let Me Down"4:26
8."The Beast"3:30
9."S.M.F."3:00

Deluxe edition

A 25th Anniversary Edition was released on June 30, 2009 by Rhino Records. The first disc contains remastered versions of the nine tracks from the May 1984 original. The bonus disc uncovers 15 unreleased outtakes and early demos from the original sessions, recorded in December 1983 at Nino's Studios, Baldwin, New York, as well as the new track "30" recorded especially for this collection by the 1984 lineup at Audio Magic, West Babylon, New York.

Additionally, any music fan who bought the CD or vinyl of Stay Hungry 25th Anniversary Edition in any participating independent record store received a free gift from the band: a DVD of the Twisted Sister 1984 Uncut Live at San Bernardino concert. Originally broadcast on MTV as Stay Hungry Live, the concert had been commercially unavailable for years and previously unavailable as DVD. June 30, 2009 was the only day the DVD was available and only through participating, independent record stores with a limited stock.[12]

Commented guitarist Jay Jay French, "While other bands have made exclusive deals with big box chains and discounters, Twisted Sister remembers all the independent record shops who have supported us through the years."[12]

Bonus disc

  1. "Death from Above" – 2:42
  2. "Prime Motivator" – 2:25
  3. "We’re Not Gonna Take It" – 2:47 (early demo)
  4. "Death Run" – 1:45
  5. "This One’s for You" – 2:00
  6. "S.M.F." – 2:14 (early demo)
  7. "We’re Coming On" – 1:42
  8. "Call My Name" – 2:10
  9. "Burn in Hell" – 5:08 (early demo)
  10. "Pay the Price" – 1:42
  11. "What’s Love Without You" – 1:44
  12. "Our Voice Will Be Heard" – 1:29
  13. "You Got to Fight" – 1:39
  14. "The Price" – 2:36 (early demo)
  15. "Stay Hungry" – 1:58 (early demo)
  16. "KMET Radio Spot" – 0:24
  17. "30" – 4:23 (new track)
  18. "Lollipop Guild" – 0:30 (hidden track)

Personnel

Twisted Sister

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (1984-1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[13] 21
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14] 6
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[15] 10
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 48
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 10
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 11
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 3
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 34
US Billboard 200[21] 15

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[13] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[22] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[23] Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[24] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[23] Silver 25,000[25]
Sweden (GLF)[23] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 369. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  3. ^ Kaz, Iaz (10 July 2009). "Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry 25th Anniversary Edition review". IGN. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  4. ^ "Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry 25th Anniversary Edition review". Ultimate Guitar Archive. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  5. ^ Ling, Dave (2004-09-15). "Twisted Sister: the improbable story of Stay Hungry". loudersound.com. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  6. ^ "100 Greatest Hair & Glam Metal Songs". digitaldreamdoor.com. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  7. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Twisted Sister". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  8. ^ "Twisted Sister guitarist claims Stay Hungry producer Tom Werman wanted band to record four Saxon covers for the album". thegauntlet.com. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  9. ^ "Top 50 Glam Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. ^ DiVita, Joe (November 9, 2016). "Top 30 Hair Metal Albums". Loudwire. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  11. ^ "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  12. ^ a b "Twisted Sister To Perform On 'Live With Regis And Kelly'". Blabbermouth.net. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  13. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9640". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  15. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  17. ^ "Charts.nz – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  19. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  21. ^ [(({url))} "(({title))}"]. ((cite news)): Check |url= value (help)
  22. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Music Canada.
  23. ^ a b c "In Honor of the holiday Dee Snider gives thanks by auctioning his personal awards and memorabilia to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity fights AIDS". 20 December 2020.
  24. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Recorded Music NZ.
  25. ^ "Scandinavian Statistics-Norway" (PDF). Music & Media. 13 January 1990. p. 28. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  26. ^ "American album certifications – Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
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