Because there has been scattered discussion around some threads about this album I thought it might be cool to make a separate thread and discuss it here.

I gotta say this release really came out of left field for me. I remember the annoncement that Dee is making a "proper" metal album and that Jasta is producing. I thought it was interesting idea but also was very cautious because although I like Hatebreed I could not imagine how that collaboration would work out.

Then they released the first single - "Tomorrow's No Concern" and I gotta say I was....very pleasantly suprised. Dee was in top form vocally and the whole thing just sounded like a modern (production-wise) take on proper heavy metal.

The next two singles were also quite good (if a little less straightforward - although "Become The Storm" was catchy!).

I checked out the whole album and I gotta say I this thing is good. It is a modern take on a simple, pounding, no-nonsense heavy metal. There are some blazing songs here ("Lies Are a Business" or "I'm Ready") and Dee really is on top of his game vocally. Plus the songs are short and to-the-point and catchy.

Some may dislike the Jasta-isms in the lyrics and the modern aggro rock production but I think for a album that is supposed to be a modern take on the genre it fits quite well.

I think it's pretty good overall. I won't be listening to it over and over or anything like that but Dee sounds super badass on this album and I'd love to hear more from him in that style. I would like to hear him in a more aggressive, faster style of heavy metal like you'd hear from certain Dream Evil tracks. Some of the songs on his new album are really cool but unfortunately the riffs are bit too basic for me to keep coming back to it time and time again. If this is any indication of what he'd do next, I'm on board. Really, Dee's vocal performance makes this album for me and just makes me want to hear him in a more musically advanced band that really knows how to pull out all the stops and make some super thrashy, heavy songs.

It's a winner for me, but I just can't help but imagine him in a more roided up version of these songs.

Dee really sounds charged up on this one. I love his snarling, powerful approach on the songs. There is melodicism and hooks but he sounds super pissed and determined.

As for the songs I think the band pulled back a little on this one. I think they are capable of doing those thrashy, heavy songs - see "Lies Are a Business" - and given those guys play in Toxic Holocaust I think they could go there. I think they pulled back because of Dee himself and wanted to keep this one grounded and melodic in part. But some of the songs have the riffage even if its not heavy metal rocket science.

Yes you're right, there's moments here and there. But I can't help it since I'm more of a fan of the thrashy, powerful and fast side of heavy metal rather than the hard rock kind of take. It's all good of course, but that's just my personal preference. I need more of that because Dee sounds so damn heavy and strong on here that I think it's just begging for more songs to match that level of intensity.

I would not say this is a pure hard rock take on heavy metal. Sure the melodies and hard rock tendencies are there (which is a given taking Dee and Twisted into consideration) but I think are balanced out by the heavy, charging stuff. For such a simple album I think it has variety in the sense of approach - you have the speed metal songs, you have the more rocky, mellow moments (but even "I Am The Hurricane" has some riffage in it) and you have the straightforward bangers. I think this is done intentionally - to make a heavy metal album that showcases all sorts of approaches to the matter. I may be overthinking this but that is what it looks like to me.

I didn't say it was either, but I think you know what I meant by that.

Yeah. I think I get you. So you would say that your favourite songs would be "Lies Are a Business", "I'm Ready" or the title track? Any thoughts on the production and the other songs?

I liked all of the songs to their own degree but since my personal taste lies more in the realms of higher intensity when it comes to heavy metal, I did like those songs more. I think the production is fantastic for this style, honestly. The title track and Lies Are A Business are probably my favorite, they have such a strong power metal feeling. The latter could very easily be a song from Iron Savior, and that's a huge compliment IMO.

I get you totally. When it comes to heavy metal I either like the moody, psychodelic, arcane obscure take on the genre or the USPM/thrashy vein. I also love the title track even if the lyrics seem cheesy. They just fit because the song is intense and anthemic as hell. I also love the opening riff of "I'm Ready" - speed metal! The production takes some ideas from the Andy Sneap school and I also like it a lot. Overall I think I would love to see do a solo metal show and just put those songs in between the heavier TS material like "Burn In Hell" or "Under The Blade". It might really work.

I could have sworn I heard an interview on Trunk Nation last week, that Jasta wrote 100% of the music and lyrics for the record and Dee simply did the vocals.....

I think Jasta wrote 100% of the lyrics and co-wrote the music with the guys in the band (the Bellmore brothers etc.). My take on this is simple - Dee is the veteran here and he probably had the ultimate say. If he did not like the lyrics or the music just would say no and that would be that.

I think Dee ultimately did have the final say but from the interview I read (don't remember where and I'm too lazy to look it up right now, I think it was Blabbermouth) he really trusted the younger guys who did all the writing/producing and didn't have so much of an ego to override them all the time. He told some anecdote about how he got super into how heavy it all was and his vocals were reflecting that by being even more aggressive than they are on the final cut in many places, and Jasta would stop him and say "Don't go overboard man, don't lose that melody. People love Dee because you have a kick ass voice. Don't do Jamey, do Dee."

As a general rule, I tend to think that most metal singers' solo albums (with the incredibly obvious exceptions of Dio and King Diamond) tend to be mildly decent at best but usually very mediocre, and I think the reason this one is so much better than most of them is precisely because it's not just one dude telling a bunch of talented instrumentalists what to do. There were a lot of cooks in this kitchen and it must've been the exact correct amount of them because there are a lot of different flavors that never would have been here if it was just the head chef barking orders at the kitchen. It's not great and it won't be making any year-end lists I whip up, but it's rather solid and I can safely say I'm pleasantly surprised.

Damn, that makes me sorta excited to check it out. As far as solo albums, I don't usually think they're mediocre, but that's because I hardly expect as much. I'll say this, I think Bruce Dickinson's "Tattooed Millionaire" and Sebastian Bach's "Angel Down" are fucking solid, but the early Dee ones sorta disappointed me, so I'm never sure what to think with solo albums.

I sampled the first four or five songs and will probably get it at some point after I am done buying Manilla Road albums. It sounded like his answer to Bruce Dickinson's solo stuff or Trail of Murder, just an iconic singer bellowing over heavy, simple music. I dig that shit. This was more modern aggro A7X style than I usually like but kept a traditional metal attitude and no-nonsense type of vibe, so I dug it. Nice, snappy writing.

I think the "modern aggro" thing is mostly the production style. The music itself is largely rooted in classic heavy metal - there are some more overt dabs at modernity ("American Made", "The Hardest Way") but not much. As you said Empyreal I like that it is a no-nonsense type of album - go in with riffs and hooks, kick ass for 3 minutes with awesome vocals, leave. I admire that in a band because people sometimes tend to overthink and overwrite heavy metal. The writing here is exactly how it should be - a balance between heaviness and hooks. As BastardHead said Dee had the wisdom to probably not override his musicians and that is why we got a good album out of this ordeal.

I haven't been this pleasantly surprised in a long time. Very cool stuff. Somewhat reminds me of Blaze Bayley's solo stuff.

Dee always seemed like a cool dude, great to see him going this hard at this point in his career.

I finally got around listening to For The Love Of Metal and oh man what a fucking ride. I just love Dee's voice, it's fucking impressive how powerful he sounds at his age. I think all the songs are great and Jamey Jasta did an awesome job getting these guys together and producing the album. This is easily one of the biggest surprises this year for me.

I re-listened to the whole record recently while doing cardio and I gotta say I like it even more. It's simple, to-the-point and gets the job done. This is what I want from a heavy metal record. And Dee put on a masterful performance especially at his age.

'Captain Howdy' is the beginning and ending of Dee Snider's career for me. 100% heavy metal perfection, totally out of place from everything he was involved in before or since. I don't even do 'part b street justice' - at 3:44 I am out of that bitch.

Too bad because this new record is good and the first Twisted record "Under The Blade" is actually a great, raw heavy metal record. The title tracks from that one really smokes!

Gotta say I think this album is corny as fuck and sometimes flirts a little too much with something I might expect to hear on a Volbeat album or something, but it's still pretty catchy and fun. I really like the opening track Running Mazes and The Hardest Way

amusing to know that jamey jasta of all people wrote the album, but I can hear it

Heavy metal is corny as fuck most times so all is as it should be.

Really fun record! Dee rules... I was really bummed when he put out 'We Are The Ones,' he even said himself that it was meant to be a "radio rock" album. However, the new record is a fun listen and has some really catchy tunes.

It's been put on the backburner at my house - new UDO taken over.