The winds of fate have blown in mysterious directions since then, but who knows, the album's songs might actually help the heads that bang take over the airwaves again. So strong is the material that it's hard to imagine how anthems like "Our Voice Will Be Heard," "Isn't It Time" and "Call My Name" didn't make it onto the albums they were originally intended for.

Snider always had a gift for blending just enough melody into his "let's get 'em" lyrics that each song had its own identity without losing a caliber of its firepower. Hell, even the ballads are good, or at least don't send you running for the "next track" button. It's got to be tough for a loony lug like Dee to be sensitive, but like everything else in his life, Dee takes the challenge to show his softer side with both fists clenched. And when he declares he's ready to "Cry You a Rainbow," you better have the Kleenex ready, damn it!

Never one to disavow his influences, Dee dishes up a blues-based AC/DC-styled cover of Dion's 1960s street-corner classic "The Wanderer." Since Dion's not dead, he can't be spinning in his grave over this. But one listen to Snider's bare-knuckled treatment of Dion's signature song might put the former Belmonts frontman underground prematurely. Heavy-metal historians will also remember Snider treading on the oldies with Twisted Sister's last hit, a cover of the Shangra La's "Leader of the Pack" from the band's final album Come Out and Play.

"We're frustrated that a band so ferocious ended with a thud," Snider said recently in a Billboard interview. Twisted unraveled shortly after Come Out and Play was released and if Never Let the Bastards… should rekindle enough of an interest in his old band, Dee isn't against the idea of a reunion tour to end the band's history with an exclamation point, rather than a question mark of "Whatever happened to..."

Well, if there is a God of rock 'n' roll (not counting Lemmy) who can help Dee live out his dream of soaking up 15 more minutes of fame, then maybe Snider's prayers will be answered. Judging by the blowtorch-hot tracks on his new CD, he's earned it as much as Poison, Kiss, and any of the other motley crews currently enjoying another lifetime in the limelight. And should the hand of fate not deal him a winning ace of spades to go with Never Let the Bastards' big ten tunes, there's still plenty to keep this Desperado occupado. From his morning radio show, a syndicated radio program "House of Hair," and work on a sequel to his 1998 splatter film Strangeland, Dee's one busy dude. "I'll wake you in the morning and keep you from sleeping at night," he said recently. And he's just the SMF to do it too.

Sadly, Cub died of kidney failure in July of 2000, which is twice as tragic considering Noise Monkeys is one righteously rocking album. Fans of bar-busting rhythm-and-blues hounds like George Thorogood, Eric Burdon, and Detroit big wheel Mitch Ryder will doubtless sop up every last lusty drop of this CD. Greasy pieces like "Fast Food – Slow Death," "Pusherman of Love" and Cub's cover of Chuck Berry's prison-bound round-n-round "Forty Days" will make 'em come back with grins on their chins, ready for more. Good job Cub. You earned your whiskey-drinking rock 'n' roll wings a long time ago and kept those suckers flapping and toes a tapping until your dying day. Bro, wherever you are, I'm sure you're in good company with Jimi, Janis, Bon and the other rock 'n' roll angels who flew too close to the sun. Y'all finally got yourselves a decent rhythm guitar player and someone to take over on vocals for the third set.