You are Dee Snider. You are one of the most emblematic figures of the 80s hard rock and heavy metal sound. You are a millionaire and you have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone. Period. But what about the artistic integrity and the importance of the musical product that you decide to release to the masses? In other words, what should be at the top of the list of every artist –in this time and age- is the duration and the longevity of a piece of art. And what did Dee accomplish with his new solo album…? The absolute NOTHING!
Don’t get me wrong…I am a huge fan of Snider and I adore everything that he has done with Twisted Sister, Desperado & Widowmaker. On the other hand, I never comprehended his latest endeavors with the Christmas and Broadway songs. The deathblow comes with “We Are The Ones”. You are expecting a hard rock juggernaut and what you get instead is a worthless pile of modern rock songs combined with pop elements and a pitiful production that not even the average college kid would approve. The songs are somewhere in between Foo Fighters (in its worst edition) and Simple Plan (in a pale version). In there, Snider adds a Nine Inch Nails (!) cover tune (“Head Like A Hole”) and a forgettable acoustic version of “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. And just imagine that the best cut on the album is the title track; a song that when I first listened my initial thought was: “WTF, Dee?”!
It doesn’t matter what I write or what everyone will write; all these would be forgotten in time. The one thing that will not go away is the sheer disappointment of the second in a row effort by Dee Snider. Dee seems unaware of which his (buying) audience is but most importantly doesn’t acknowledge his musical legacy. So, we’re not gonna take it, Dee!
Highlight: I am starting a petition of gathering signatures in order to persuade Dee to record a third Widowmaker album!
