| Stay Hungry | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Twisted Sister |
| Cover: | Twister Sister - Stay Hungry.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover photo by Mark Weiss |
| Recorded: | February–March 1984 |
| Studio: |
|
| Genre: | Heavy metal |
| Length: | 36:58 |
| Label: | Atlantic |
| Producer: | Tom Werman |
| Prev Title: | You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll |
| Prev Year: | 1983 |
| Next Title: | Come Out and Play |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
Stay Hungry is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released on May 10, 1984, by Atlantic Records.[1] The album contains the band's two signature songs: "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which remain a staple of '80s glam metal and rock.[2] According to RIAA certification, Stay Hungry is the band's most successful release by far and their only platinum album. Eventually, the album achieved multi-platinum status in U.S. with sales of more than 3,000,000 certified copies by 1995.[3]
During recording, producer Tom Werman brought some songs by English heavy metal band Saxon for the band to listen to, this led to a conflict with Dee Snider who understood it as Werman wanting the band to replace some of his songs with Saxon covers. Guitarist Jay Jay French also claims the band lost two songs that they wanted on the album due to Werman's influence[4]
Twisted Sister performed the song "Burn in Hell" during a cameo appearance in the 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The song "Burn in Hell" was covered by black metal band Dimmu Borgir on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. "We're Not Gonna Take It" was also covered by Bif Naked on the Ready to Rumble soundtrack. The two songs that comprise the Horror-Teria segment became the basis of Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider's 1998 film Strangeland, in which Captain Howdy was played by Snider himself. The "Captain Howdy" segment of the "Horror-Teria" suite would later be covered by the death metal group Broken Hope on their album Repulsive Conception and in 1999 by the Swedish heavy metal band Morgana Lefay on their Symphony of the Damned, Re-symphonised album.
In 2004, the band re-recorded all nine songs from this album and re-released them under the title Still Hungry.
In 2009, the band played Stay Hungry in its entirety for the first time including songs never played live before, such as "Don't Let Me Down" and "Horror-Teria: Street Justice".
Metal Rules ranked the album #5 on their list of the Top 50 Glam Metal Albums.[5]
In 2016, Loudwire ranked the album at number 6 on their list of the Top 30 Hair Metal Albums.[6]
In 2017, Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 76 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.[7]
All songs are written by Dee Snider.
A 25th Anniversary Edition was released on June 30, 2009 by Rhino Records. The first disc contains remastered versions of the nine tracks from the May 1984 original. The bonus disc uncovers 15 unreleased outtakes and early demos from the original sessions, recorded in December 1983 at Nino's Studios, Baldwin, New York, as well as the new track "30" recorded especially for this collection by the 1984 lineup at Audio Magic, West Babylon, New York.
Additionally, any music fan who bought the CD or vinyl of Stay Hungry 25th Anniversary Edition in any participating independent record store received a free gift from the band: a DVD of the Twisted Sister 1984 Uncut Live at San Bernardino concert. Originally broadcast on MTV as Stay Hungry Live, the concert had been commercially unavailable for years and previously unavailable as DVD. June 30, 2009 was the only day the DVD was available and only through participating, independent record stores with a limited stock.[8]
Commented guitarist Jay Jay French, "While other bands have made exclusive deals with big box chains and discounters, Twisted Sister remembers all the independent record shops who have supported us through the years."[8]
| Chart (1984-1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] | 21 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[10] | 10 |