Why is Twisted Sister's Love Is For Suckers so loathed?

This might well be a clear indication that I wasn't old enough back in the 80s to experience the metal scene, but what is so controversial about Love Is For Suckers?

To my ears, it doesn't seem like such a huge stylistic departure from albums like Come Out An' Play or Stay Hungry. If anything it is just a touch more anthemic, catchier, and better produced than the aforementioned albums. So what is so bad about that to provoke such negative sentiments about this album not just from the fans but also the band themselves.

Call me a poseur if you wish but I happen to like this album better than most of Twisted Sister's other releases. I can't see anything wrong with it - if anything it's a culmination of the bands preceding albums.

I mean heck, Turbo was a huge stylistic departure and it was and still is better liked than Love is For Suckers! So what gives?

Because it was Twisted Sister trying to fit in with the pack rather than leading the pack. It's not a terrible album, but it's not terribly great either. Wake Up the Sleeping Giant is a great song!

I can see how this album is a bit more commercial sounding than the preceding releases but no more so than Stay Hungry, which had more anthemic tunes and generally more recognisable songs than anything from Love Is For Suckers.

I don't want to sound ignorant because there may have been deeper issues which prompted the band to distance themselves from this album and break-up but I feel like someone, maybe Dee Snider, just overreacted to this album and that overreaction, oversensitivity just spilled over into the fanbase black listing this album for no real reason other than someone in the band just wasn't too happy with the way it turned out - which is nothing all that unusual, Ozzy didn't like how Ultimate Sin turned out and made some changes on the albums that followed. No big deal imo.

The album was actually written and suppose to be a Dee Snider solo album. The band were falling apart at the time, partially due to Dee's overwhelming ego. Dee admits as much these days. Watch the VH1 Behind the Music about Twisted Sister, it's pretty cool because it was recorded before the reunion and the band were all still pretty mad at each other.

Its not a "true" Twisted album. RebBeach plays all the guitars and the drums are a drum machine. It is a Beau Hill album that Dee happens to sing on.

It has its moments (title track, "Wake Up The Sleeping Giant," and even the silly single "Hot Love") but as others have said, it's not a "tr00" Twisted Sister album...

My sister which is a huge SMF also complains that TS doesn't play some songs from this album live, and that it doesn't get the recognition it deserves. It is a great album, that I enjoy more than Come out and play

I know the history behind the album is what makes it controversial like ULT stated it was suppose to be Dee Snider's solo debut and Reb Beach plays on most if not all the guitar parts on the album.

As far the album itself, I actually like it prefer it over 'Come Out and Play' which I thought was a huge let down and sounds too glossy, where this album Twisted Sister went for a more traditional metal sound as opposed to the pop metal direction they took on 'Come out and Play' and I like the songs better on 'Love is..'

Just not what TS fans were looking for at the time. Some of it has held up pretty well though.

I actually really like Love Is For Suckers - it's a bit bubblegum-pop at points, but it's certainly better than Come Out And Play.

manny wrote:

As far the album itself, I actually like it prefer it over 'Come Out and Play' which I thought was a huge let down and sounds too glossy

Completely agree. I detested Come Out And Play, one of the biggest disappointments from that era. I remember thinking Love Is For Suckers was an improvement.

I always liked LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS, maybe better then COME OUT AND PLAY but not better then STAY HUNGRY, my fave album by the band.

I havn't listened to the whole thing, at least that I can recall. The cover art was pretty clever though.

IMHO

The Twisted Sister quality got worse with each subsequent release from "Blade" onward to "Play. As mentioned above, can't comment on "Suckers" in the same context being that I havn't heard it all.

Different strokes for different folks I guess, "Come Out and Play" is BY FAR my favorite TS album, "Love is for Suckers" has it's moments for me, and has some good songs.

But how can so many people can hate Come Out and Play, is beyond me.

It was the Leader of the Pack, IMO

For the same reason as Theater of Pain.

Getizzyback wrote:

Different strokes for different folks I guess, "Come Out and Play" is BY FAR my favorite TS album, "Love is for Suckers" has it's moments for me, and has some good songs.

But how can so many people can hate Come Out and Play, is beyond me.

It was the Leader of the Pack, IMO

No, it's not Leader of the Pack, though that was a poor choice of a single IMO. Long time TS fans like myself already had a TS cover of Leader of the Pack on Ruff Cutts. It's that the band began to become a parody of themselves. They had always had that fun and odd image, but with the popularity of "Stay Hungry" they began to believe their own hype. The music suffered and just didn't have the power, the passion and the intensity of Ruff Cutts, Under the Blade and You Can't Stop Rock and Roll. Its was closer to bubblegum pop than it was balls-to-the-wall heavy metal. It's just not what TS fans wanted at the time.

There's a reason the resurrected band rarely plays anything from Come Out And Play and Love Is for Suckers. It's because those albums are not classic albums like the first three.

Having said that, I still like those albums, however, I don't hold them to the same level of respect as the albums I consider classic. However, to each his own. I know there is something to be said of nostalgia too, so if Come Out And Play and Stay Hungry were your introduction to the band, then I can understand why you might like those albums better. Listen to what you like and ignore the rest.

I've only purchased Love Is For Suckers in the last 2 years or so, mostly to complete my TS discography. Having read so many dismal reviews of that particular album, I held off for a long time till I was able to find a cheap copy. And it's the least listened to as well. Coupla good tunes, but mostly just a filler in my collection.

I have almost everything TS has ever put out, and I have to say that LIFS is probably my second favorite disc of theirs... behind Stay Hungry of course! LOTP is the TS disc that rarley gets played around my house.

Not a fan of this album, but I adore "Wake Up The Sleeping Giant," and the title cut felt like classic TS. Wait...that sounds like a disease....

Anyway, it's like Killing Joke's Outside The Gate: a passable solo album, with a few gems, pawned off as a proper band release to satisfy a label that had lost faith in the artists.

And I also agree that Come Out And Play is overrated. The best thing to come out of any of that was the great VHS tape they put out around that time. I still have mine.

I have a soft spot for Twisted Sister--it was the first "metal" I heard as a kid. I saw Stay Hungry at this old St. Louis record store called Peaches, and begged the folks for it. This was immediately vetoed, so I made a mental note, and went over to a friend's house who had it. I think I was 8 or 9...


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TS has imo always been hit and miss. Each album has some classics and then some stinkers.

That said, I'm a fan and have enjoyed ALL thier releases, Come Out And Play being the least fave of the catologue.

When LIFS came out I had to have it for the KIX connection, the band did backing vox on many tracks and you can easily tell. At the time and still today, I'm a big KIX fan and the tunes on the release are very solid to my ears. Sure they are "poppier", but it works.

Heck even Y&T did a few "commercial" releases at the time...

hard to say i love LIFS. glam, hair, melodic, anthem style, why not ?
best are Hot Love, Wake up... and rest

Whether or not you like the song, this was one of the best T&A videos of the mid 80s.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Whether or not you like the song, this was one of the best T&A videos of the mid 80s.

That poor girl. It must be freezing everywhere she goes...


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I never really heard this album much back in the day so I guess I don't have the nostagia factor here with "Love Is For Suckers". Lately Ive been a little more open minded to albums and eras of bands that were kinda frowned upon by fans including me that never gave alot of these eras a fair shake. I've also come to realize that you can find some gems once in a while.


So rock on brother If you love certain albums, who cares what anybody else thinks. Just rage on!