Twisted Sister "Love Is For Suckers (Germany, Atlantic Records, 7567-81772-2)"

Love Is for Suckers is the fifth studio album by the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. It was strongly influenced by glam metal bands, although the band split after its release and had a lot of conflicts with this record which led to a split. According to the Live At Wacken DVD, the material was originally meant to be a solo album by Twisted Sister's lead singer, Dee Snider, but the label pushed for it to be released under the Twisted Sister name instead. Love Is For Suckers was released by Atlantic Records on August 13, 1987. The tour for the album ended in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 10, 1987. Two days later, on October 12, 1987, vocalist Dee Snider announced his departure from the band.

This would be Twisted Sister's final studio album of original material, as all albums since have been compilations or live albums (with the exception of 2004's Still Hungry which was a rerecording of 1984's Stay Hungry and A Twisted Christmas in 2006).

Dee Snider has stated that he likes many of the songs on the album, vocally. However he feels that if they play any of them live, it may bring back bad memories for the band. In 2012 the band introduced "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)" into their set, following demands from fans for material to be included from all of the band's studio albums.

In a 2009 interview by Ruben Mosqueda, Snider spoke of his thoughts on the album:

"There's some great stuff on there man! The thing is, that was supposed to be my first solo album. The thing was the record company and management pressured me into making it a Twisted Sister record. There's some stuff that was in the Twisted Sister vein but it was supposed to be a solo record, that album was meant to give the band the break we needed. I felt that by releasing a solo album I could put that out there, get it out my system, and then after a short break we could regroup and work on a new album. The recording, the promotion and touring of Love is for Suckers went on to kill the band. Management and the record company in their infinite wisdom know best. Oh let's put five guys who can't stand each other in a studio for three months!"

No songs from this album appeared on the band's 1992 greatest hits album Big Hits and Nasty Cuts.

In 2012 Dee Snider commented to an audience at the annual concert festival in Dessel Belgium, known as the Graspop Metal Meeting, "Now we have been accused in the past of not playing stuff from all of our albums, so this year we added one song from the Love Is For Suckers record to the set [...] for those who know in the 80s, there was a little problem in Washington with censorship and this one was a big middle finger to Washington D.C. It's called Wake Up (the Sleeping Giant)" which the band then performed.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dee Snider, except where noted

1. "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)" 4:19
2. "Hot Love" 3:28
3. "Love Is for Suckers" (Poison Dollys cover) Marky Carter, Dee Snider 3:25
4. "I'm So Hot for You" 4:05
5. "Tonight" 3:51
6. "Me and the Boys" 3:52
7. "One Bad Habit" 3:18
8. "I Want This Night (To Last Forever)" Mark Tanner, Marty Wagner, Dee Snider 4:18
9. "You Are All That I Need" 4:17
10. "Yeah Right" 3:14

This album was originally supposed to be a Dee Snider solo record but the record company demanded it be recorded and released as Twisted Sister.

There have been conflicting reports over the years as to exactly what the recording line-up for the album was. Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda and Mark "The Animal" Mendoza are all credited in their normal roles but some or all of the guitars and bass were recorded by credited guest musician Reb Beach.

The title track was written by Marky Carter and originally released by Gary Private in 1985. This version includes modified lyrics by Dee Snider.

Recording information:

- Recorded and mixed at Atlantic Studios, NYC.

- Mastered at Sterling Sound, Peekskill, NY.