Live at Wacken - The Reunion (DVD/CD)

Filmed during the band's triumphant headlining show at Wacken Open Air in 2003, this DVD has been previously available in Europe and other parts of the world but is now finally available in North America through Eagle Vision. Twisted Sister was a staple of the 80's "hair metal" era with their lipstick, make-up and overall glam rock image. With their catchy yet very simple hit songs like We're Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock, it was hard to take them seriously. Those of us who are serious fans know better as the real meat and potatoes of this band is found within the deeper album cuts from their early to mid 80's albums. Twisted Sister Live At Wacken - The Reunion is not only the complete Wacken show of 2003 but also serves as a documentary of sorts; chronicling the reason for the demise of the band in the late 80's and addressing all the bad blood and mudslinging that occurred between the Mark Mendosa/Jay Jay French and Dee Snider/Eddie Ojeda camps in the interim. A few one off appearances beginning in the late 90's began to melt the ice with a June 2000 appearance for a charity benefit marking the first time all 5 original members shared the stage together. The events of September 11th, 2001 led to another appearance at the NY Steel benefit for families of the victims of 9/11. The first full fledged reunion tour was then put in the planning stages with the band opting to don the makeup once more and give the audiences the full Twisted Sister experience. Performances in Europe and U.S. followed a brief yet wildly successful warm-up tour in South Korea for the U.S. troops stationed at the North/South Korean border. All of this is chronicled in several different segments in between tracks from the Wacken Open Air show.

The Wacken show was huge for the band. The fact that they could still headline after so many years of being apart was testament to the popularity and loyal following that this band still has. Ripping through tracks like What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You), Shoot 'Em Down, Destroyer and Under The Blade from their debut album Under The Blade was well as Kids Are Back, Like A Knife In The Back and You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll from You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll, I had forgotten just how fast paced, energetic and also very pissed off sounding their earlier material was. Continuing with Fire Still Burns from their Come Out and Play album, it's the Stay Hungry album that gets the main focus here. The band rips through Stay Hungry, Burn in Hell and a smokin’ version of SMF before whipping the Wacken choir into shape for I Wanna Rock and We're Not Gonna Take It. The band sounds great and seems to be really fired up for what had to be one of the best experiences in the band's history. A decade ago, it wouldn't have seemed possible for this to happen.

As I mentioned above, interviews with the band members and film segments document the reformation of the band and as well you get Mark Mendoza discussing the re-recording of Stay Hungry and an extensive photo gallery. As a bonus, the package includes a CD entitled Live....Past & Present which has rare live recordings from Detroit and Porchester, NY from 1980, You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll from London, England in 1982 as well as 6 tracks from this 2003 Wacken appearance.

With the interviews and film footage of some of the band's one off appearances leading up to the reunion sandwiched between tracks from the Wacken show, this DVD comes off as more of a documentary than a concert DVD. I would've preferred the Wacken show uninterrupted in its entirety with the interviews/film segments as a separate section but nonetheless, the Wacken live footage shows the band firing on all cylinders and delivering arguably one of their best live performances ever. The strength and depth of their material goes way beyond the 2 songs most people know them by i.e. We're Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock. This band is still capable of really kicking some serious ass and it is captured here in all its glory for the Twisted Sister fans.