The Movie:

When Twisted Sister returned to play London, England in 2004 after not having graced those shores for over eighteen years, cameras were there to record the show for a pay per view event. The results? The aptly titled Twisted Sister - Live At The Astoria DVD, from Demolition Records.

Made up of all five members from the band's best known line up - Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Mark 'The Animal' Mendoza, A.J. Pero and Eddie Ojeda - this concert proves that while the band is probably best known for their eighties hits like 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'You Can't Stop Rock N Roll' they're still a powerful live act, even if they're all into their fifties now. From the time they take the stage and open up with a fast and heavy rendition of 'What You Don't Know' to the time they walk of the stage after a tireless an anthemic rendition of 'S.M.F.' this concert serves as an excellent document of just how good a live act they are.

They've long dubbed themselves 'the world's biggest bar band' and that's as good a way as any to explain their live style. While they may still perform in full make-up and Dee Snider may be more than just a little over the top, live this is a band that completely delivers. The album versions of the songs performed here are heavy enough in their own right but live the band plays them faster and Dee's vocals have a lot more strength and conviction to them. The guitars are faster, the bass is chunkier, and the drums are faster and the hard rock/heavy metal sound that the band is known for is almost more akin to late seventies era punk rock or Motorhead style crossover than eighties hair metal.

Snider, who still has an imposing presence when on stage in the full make up with his hair flailing around, does a great job of acknowledging the crowd and keeping them into the show. He and French both have a few amusing rants that they deliver throughout the set to keep things interesting, while during the songs themselves Snider whips and thrashes around like a man half his age. It's interesting that the UK holds a special place in the band's hearts - had they not decided to head to London and play live on The Tube they would have probably called it quits before commercial success came knocking on their doors, and the band lets the crowd know how much they appreciate that with their stage banter.

While the band is on fire here, sadly the camera work could have been better. It looks like three or four cameras were used to capture the show but there are some questionable switches made here from one camera to the next and the end result is that the editing feels a little on the choppy side, but this is a minor complaint, really.

The track list for the concert is:

What You Don't Know (Sure Can't Hurt You) / The Kids Are Back / Under The Blade / Destroyer / Like A Knife In The Back / Burn In Hell / Ride To Live / Shoot'em Down / You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll / The Fire Still Burns / We're Not Gonna Take It / The Price / I Am, I'm Me / I Wanna Rock / Come Out And Play / S.M.F.

The Video:

The concert is presented 1.33.1 fullframe, which is how it was shot for standard definition television broadcast in the United Kingdom. This doesn't have the depth or clarity that a film presentation or a good HD presentation can have but for a standard definition video source, things don't look too bad at all. Colors are lifelike and detail is pretty strong even when the heavy stage lighting bathes things in different color (Burn In Hell is a good example of this - the entire stage gets bathed in red light). Aside from that, the black levels are strong and there aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement to complain about. At times the picture is a little bit on the soft side but other than that the image is fine.

The Audio:

The only audio option on this release is an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. While a 5.1 surround sound track would certainly have been preferable, there aren't any problems with the stereo mix here. Bass response is strong and the levels are all well mixed. You won't have any problem understanding the lyrics to the songs or following along with the various 'band members talk to the crowd' moments that occur throughout the concert, most of which come from Dee himself. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion and generally everything sounds quite good.

The Extras:

Aside from a menu and song selection sub-menu, the DVD itself is completely barebones. That said, included inside the packaging is a bonus audio CD that contains the same tracks as the DVD.

The Overall:

Twisted Sister - Live At The Astoria may not capture the band in their prime but you'd never know it based on the energy and quality of the performance captured here. While the audio and video won't floor you they're certainly acceptable and the music really does speak for itself. Fans of the band can definitely consider this recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.