''A Twisted Christmas'' is the sixth and final studio album by American heavy metal group

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with m ...

, with the band releasing it on October 17, 2006. The album features classic

Christmas songs Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

performed in metal versions, often featuring lyrical changes. Holiday carol "

Oh Come All Ye Faithful "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (originally written in Latin as "") is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692), King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), and a ...

", which heavily inspired the band's popular song " We're Not Gonna Take It", is recorded in a style exactly like the Twisted Sister hit. The group's take on the carol has become one of their most well-known songs since their 1980s heyday, with Twisted Sister creating a comedic music video involving the band members crashing a holiday celebration in a bickering couple's home.

Premise and inspiration

Although not properly a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, the album begins with a version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" done in the style of

traditional pop music Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

that's interrupted by a bit of banter by the group's members. Things then segue into the band's standard heavy metal style, though incorporating festive elements such as the tolling sounds of bells. Track " Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)", including a section known as "We Wish You a Twisted Christmas", closes out the album in a burst of clapping and cheers. "

" closely follows what the band did with their hit " We're Not Gonna Take It". Significant elements of their popular song had taken inspiration from the carol. The song was performed on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' on December 13, 2006. Parts of the guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

to "White Christmas" seem to be based on "

I Wanna Rock "I Wanna Rock" is a song written and composed by Dee Snider and performed by his band Twisted Sister. It was released on the 1984 album '' Stay Hungry''. Reception ''Cash Box'' called the song "an exercise in hard rocking" that doesn't break ne ...

", another Twisted Sister song. Parts of the guitar riff on "Silver Bells" is based on " Problem Child" by

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. Some of the guitar riffs on "Let It Snow" are based on

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

's "

Children of the Grave "Children of the Grave" is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, from their 1971 album '' Master of Reality''. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from '' Parano ...

," although the intro sounds rather similar to " Rock and Roll Saviors" which was a song the band had during their club days. Some of the guitar riffs from "Deck the Halls" are based on "

The Boys Are Back in Town "The Boys Are Back in Town" is a song by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. The song was originally released in 1976 as the first single from their album '' Jailbreak''. It is considered by ''Rolling Stone'' to be the band's best song, placing it ...

" by

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

. Also, the guitar riffs on the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" are based on "

You've Got Another Thing Comin' "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1982 album '' Screaming for Vengeance'' and released as a single later that year. In May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on thei ...

" by

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

. Metal star

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

's influence on the group and its music is name-checked in closing number "Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)": with the promised gifts being "twelve silver crosses, eleven black mascaras, ten pairs of platforms, nine tattered t-shirts, eight pentagrams, seven leather jackets, six cans of hairspray, five skull-head rings, four quarts of Jack, three studded belts, two pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy".

Recording and release

The album was recorded from June to August 2006. The band produced the release themselves. Two music videos were made for "Oh Come All Ye Faithful". The first one follows the same style of the band's landmark videos "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", as a married couple celebrate Christmas when the wife discovers that her husband's gift to her is a CD copy of ''A Twisted Christmas''. She then starts to rant about the present until Snider and the band appear behind her. Her lines then are a nod to the video of "We're Not Gonna Take It" where a father scolds his son with the exact same words. The second video version used the radio edit of the track. It is a short animated feature with the band taking over Santa's workshop and using his sleigh to drop off Twisted Sister merchandise and cans of hairspray to children. The music video for "Silver Bells" is the sequel to the first "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" video, as the couple are paid a visit by numerous guests while the band performs live on television. The couple's new baby's head is replaced by the face of various band members singing. Twisted Sister also filmed a studio performance of "Heavy Metal Christmas" for

GameTap GameTap was an online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in 2005. It provided users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content. The service was acquired by French online video game service Metab ...

. Unusually, this video featured frontman Snider without his makeup.YouTube – Twisted Sister – Heavy Metal Christmas
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Reception

Music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

James C. Monger praised the release for the publication

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Monger remarked that the band's members "filter the beloved Christmas carol" tradition "through the same makeup-smeared sieve" that brought them earlier success. Arguing that Christmas albums "need to either be pretty good, horrifically terrible, or completely original to cause even the jolliest head to turn", he wrote that ''Twisted Christmas'' "manages to achieve all three" and constitutes a "collection of yuletide classics".

Track listing

Personnel

Twisted Sister

Dee Snider Daniel "Dee" Snider (born March 15, 1955)Tayler, LettaTwisted Sister's Dee Snider remembers his challenging Long Island upbringing "Newsday", March 15, 2016Archived here/ref> is an American singer, songwriter, radio personality, and actor. He w ...

– lead vocals *

Jay Jay French Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, manager, record producer and founding member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He is a columnist, author and motivational speaker who oversees licensing and i ...

– guitars, backing vocals * Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda – guitars, backing vocals * Mark "The Animal" Mendoza – bass, backing vocals * A. J. Pero – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

– co-lead vocals on "I'll Be Home for Christmas" *

Doro Pesch Dorothee Pesch (born 3 June 1964), known professionally as Doro Pesch or simply Doro, is a German heavy metal singer and the former frontwoman of heavy metal band Warlock. Dubbed the "Metal Queen", Doro's contributions to music and culture mad ...

– backing vocals on "White Christmas"

Production

*Jay Jay French – executive producer *Mark "The Animal" Mendoza – producer, mixing, mastering *Denny McNerney – engineer, mixing, mastering *George Marshall – assistant engineer *David Wong;– assistant engineer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twisted Christmas, A 2006 Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Covers albums Heavy metal Christmas albums Twisted Sister albums Razor & Tie albums