Stay Hungry is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released on May 10, 1984, by Atlantic Records.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
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[8]
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".
Reception
Metal Rules ranked the album #5 on their list of the Top 50 Glam Metal Albums.[9]
In 2016, Loudwire ranked the album at number 6 on their list of the Top 30 Hair Metal Albums.[10]
In 2017, Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 76 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.[11]
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.[12]
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."[12]
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.