Album Review: Dee Snider - Leave A Scar

For anyone who wasn't listening to metal in the 80s, Dee Snider's career is one that was seen in retrospect, where he was more known to many of us as a voice-over narrator, or a guest on "Counting Cars". Twisted Sister has always existed in the background, where "We're Not Gonna Take It" is one of those anthems I really never want to hear again, but Dee as a contemporary metal artist has always seemed like a thing of the past. That was until Jamey Jasta wrote an album for Dee, which not only welcomed him back to the scene, but was so successful it quickly spawned a sequel. With the same team in tow, the attitude about not fixing what ain't broke carries the day through this album.

The thing about the music Jasta gives Dee is that it's modern, no frills heavy metal. You get a couple of riffs, Dee's voice, and that's all you really need. These aren't complicated songs, nor are they trying to elevate metal above the meat-and-potatoes set that pleases the masses. There's nothing wrong with that, assuming it's done well enough.

The album opens with "I Gotta Rock (Again)", which runs through all the tired cliches of heavy metal. It smacks headlong into the problem countless songs have over the decades; if you're telling me how much you rock, it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself. If you really do rock, the music will prove it without you having to tell me.

As the record unfolds from there, the songs follow a familiar pattern of hitting hard out of the gate, and building to choruses that are either gang chants, or weak melodies. I can tell Jasta wants to give Dee anthemic songs to sing, but none of these melodies ever reach close to those heights. The music itself is aiming to be too heavy for that, and it has never been a strong suit of Jasta's songwriting anyway. So instead of Dee having metal anthems for a new generation, these songs are blank canvases for his vocal charisma. He does have that, but I need more in the songs to pull me in.

This is where we get to the point of contention. "Leave A Scar" is, like its predecessor, a fine album of basic heavy metal. It delivers exactly what it intends to, and it will satisfy the audience. I just have a hard time believing that this same album, if it was put out by someone without a legendary pedigree, would receive a fraction of the praise it is going to get. I can practically guarantee there will be multiple critics saying this is one of the best metal albums of the year, and there's no way I can be honest and say the same thing. It's good, but it's very much an 'in the moment' album.

With the grinding guitar tone, and the pushed tempos, the songs hit and hit and hit, without giving us much time to breathe. The record lacks some dynamics, which makes everything sound a bit too one-note, and that dampens the impact of the best songs. "Before I Go" is a really good song, but being surrounded by two other songs that hit the exact same relentless points, it gets buried when it should be highlighted.

"Leave A Scar" is an intentionally basic and simple album. It serves that purpose well, and Dee sounds far better than just about any other singer his age would with material this heavy. He is rather timeless, but the songs aren't. We get a couple of great songs, with "S.H.E." standing out as the most radio-friendly and memorable one here, but the majority of the record is the kind of headbanging stuff where you're at it so hard you don't really pay attention to what the music is.

The album's title is "Leave A Scar", but it doesn't leave enough of an impact on me. It's fun to listen to, but it's a closed fist trying to grab you by the throat. That's never quite going to work.