Dee Snider - Dee Does Broadway

I've got a hat here and I'm eating it.

The reason I am munching on the brim is because a few weeks ago I was laughing at the prospect of Dee Snider releasing an album of show tunes.

The whole Billy Idol Christmas album debacle rushed to the forefront of my mind and I was quick to express my low expectations publicly.

Nothing positive sprung to mind about the concept at all.

Then I heard the album, and now I'm eating a hat.

Dee Snider gets an A for this, and it's an A for Awesome.

Laugh all you want, but I love it.

There's always been a great deal of humour in the gonzo approach to rock that Dee and his band mates in Twisted Sister have displayed, and while it isn't missing on this album it is well balanced.

Show tunes are supposed to be over the top anyway, and if you want an over the top vocal then Dee is the guy to deliver it, and deliver it he does time after time on this.

There's also a bunch of pretty cool guests such as Cyndi Lauper helping out, and the addition of these guests all add to the wide variety of material that is grabbed and throttled by Dee.

It's a pretty heady mix of show tunes from the iconic Cabaret to Stephen Sondheim's Ballad of Sweeney Todd that manages to take make the Burton movie version come across as weak as dishwasher.

I fully expect a bit of a backlash as I expect most will be laughing rather loudly at the idea, if not the execution of it.

Fair enough. Bring it on.

I feel very comfortable in stating that my initial loathing of the idea was rooted in nothing but ignorance, and now I have heard the album repeatedly I have to be honest and admit it.

Similar to Iggy Pops recent release this is an album that people need to listen to with fresh ears and leave the respective artists back catalogues out of the equation.

If the public can do that then I suspect they will get hours of enjoyment from listening to it.

Here's a nice tongue in cheek video of Mack the Knife that owes a lot to Twisted Sister.