Two enormous 1980s rock songs. Two giant choruses. Two videos that practically define the decade. And two songs that turned simple teenage rebellion into massive commercial success.
Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” are both built around the same basic idea: turn the volume up and refuse to behave.
But they get there in very different ways.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” is a hard-rock party song originally written and recorded by Slade, with Quiet Riot transforming it into an enormous American metal hit in 1983. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is Dee Snider’s own creation, released by Twisted Sister in 1984 and accompanied by one of the most memorable music videos of the decade.
One is swaggering and celebratory.
The other is defiant and confrontational.
One tells you to feel the noise.
The other tells you that you’ve had enough.
So let’s put them head-to-head.
Song Profile: “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Released in 1984 on Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” became the band’s signature song and one of the defining hard-rock singles of the MTV era.
Dee Snider wrote the song around a straightforward message of rebellion. The verses build toward an enormous chorus in which the band essentially refuses to accept whatever authority is being imposed upon them.
The music itself is deceptively simple. The guitars are huge, the drums are direct and the chorus is designed for maximum audience participation.
Then there is Snider’s voice.
He doesn’t merely sing the chorus. He attacks it.
The song’s famous “Oh, we’re not gonna take it” refrain sounds like a crowd of thousands even when you’re hearing the studio recording.
The music video made the song even bigger. Inspired partly by The Three Stooges and featuring actor Mark Metcalf as the increasingly exasperated father, the video turned the song’s rebellion into a comic mini-movie.
That combination of heavy metal, humor and a gigantic singalong chorus made “We’re Not Gonna Take It” almost impossible to forget.
Song Profile: “Cum On Feel the Noize”
Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” arrived a year earlier and became a landmark moment for American heavy metal.
The song itself wasn’t new. Slade had originally released it in 1973 and had a major hit with it in the United Kingdom.
Quiet Riot’s version, however, introduced the song to a massive American audience.
Kevin DuBrow’s vocals are gritty and enthusiastic, while guitarist Carlos Cavazo gives the track its unmistakable metal punch. The band doesn’t radically rewrite the song’s basic structure. Instead, they turn it into something louder, heavier and perfectly suited to early-1980s American rock radio.
The chorus is the entire point.
It’s repetitive.
It’s loud.
It’s immediate.
And it practically demands that you yell along.
The success of “Cum On Feel the Noize” helped Quiet Riot’s Metal Health become a massive commercial breakthrough and played an important role in bringing heavy metal further into the American mainstream.
Now the battle begins.
Round 1: Songwriting
“Cum On Feel the Noize” has a huge advantage in terms of proven songwriting because Noddy Holder and Jim Lea had already written an incredibly effective rock song for Slade.
The Quiet Riot version retains the basic structure that made the original work: verses that build toward an enormous chorus and a title that functions almost like an instruction to the audience.
But “We’re Not Gonna Take It” has something equally important.
It has a clear personality.
Dee Snider wrote a song that sounds exactly like its title. The entire composition revolves around defiance, and every musical element supports that message.
The songwriting isn’t complicated, but it is extremely efficient.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 1 – Quiet Riot 0
Round 2: Vocals
Kevin DuBrow had one of the great voices of 1980s hard rock.
His delivery on “Cum On Feel the Noize” is raspy, energetic and slightly out of control in exactly the right way. He sounds like he’s having the time of his life.
Dee Snider approaches his song differently.
His voice is sharper and more theatrical. He knows how to build tension before unleashing the chorus, and there’s a sneering quality that fits the song’s rebellious attitude perfectly.
The most important thing is that both singers sound completely committed.
But Snider’s vocal performance is more distinctive.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 2 – Quiet Riot 0
Round 3: Guitar
This is where Quiet Riot gets on the scoreboard.
Carlos Cavazo’s guitar work gives “Cum On Feel the Noize” considerably more of a traditional heavy-metal edge.
The riff is muscular and the overall guitar sound is thick and aggressive.
Twisted Sister’s guitar work is effective but more focused on supporting the chorus and keeping the song moving.
That’s not a criticism.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” doesn’t need a guitar showcase.
But if we’re judging the guitars themselves, Quiet Riot has the heavier weapon.
Winner: Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
Score: Twisted Sister 2 – Quiet Riot 1
Round 4: Chorus
Now we’re talking about two monster choruses.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” has a title that basically becomes a chant. The repeated phrase is impossible to forget, and Quiet Riot’s version makes it sound enormous.
But “We’re Not Gonna Take It” might have the more powerful audience-participation chorus.
The melody rises perfectly into the title phrase, and the repeated declaration makes the listener feel like they’re joining a rebellion.
You don’t merely hear the chorus.
You participate in it.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 3 – Quiet Riot 1
Round 5: Production
Quiet Riot’s production is a big reason “Cum On Feel the Noize” worked so well.
The guitars are thick, the drums hit hard and Kevin DuBrow’s vocal sits prominently in the mix. It sounds like a giant rock band without becoming completely muddy.
Twisted Sister’s production has a slightly different character.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” is very polished, but the arrangement leaves plenty of room for the chorus to dominate. The guitars and drums provide a solid foundation while Snider remains the center of attention.
This is extremely close.
Quiet Riot sounds heavier.
Twisted Sister sounds more immediately accessible.
For pure hard-rock impact, Quiet Riot gets the edge.
Winner: Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
Score: Twisted Sister 3 – Quiet Riot 2
Round 6: Music Video
This might be the most decisive round.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” received plenty of exposure during MTV’s golden era, but “We’re Not Gonna Take It” had something special.
The video turned the song into a story.
Mark Metcalf’s over-the-top father character became an instant comedy villain, while Dee Snider and the band represented the rebellious kids refusing to put up with his nonsense.
The video’s humor helped the song reach people who might not normally have been heavy-metal fans.
You could watch it once and remember it years later.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 4 – Quiet Riot 2
Round 7: Originality
Quiet Riot’s version of “Cum On Feel the Noize” is fantastic, but it is still a cover.
That doesn’t diminish the achievement. The band took an older glam-rock hit and completely transformed it for the American metal audience.
Still, Twisted Sister gets the advantage because “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is entirely their own statement.
The song has its own identity, its own attitude and its own visual world.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 5 – Quiet Riot 2
Round 8: Pure Rock Energy
Quiet Riot finally gets a chance to hit back hard.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” is absolutely explosive.
The song has that loose, sweaty, live-band quality that makes it feel like the audience is already going crazy before the first chorus arrives.
It isn’t trying to make a political statement.
It isn’t telling a complicated story.
It simply wants to make the room louder.
And it succeeds.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” is energetic, but Quiet Riot’s track has a more primal rock-and-roll charge.
Winner: Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
Score: Twisted Sister 5 – Quiet Riot 3
Round 9: Personality
This is one of the most underrated differences between the two songs.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” has attitude, but much of its appeal comes from the band’s performance of a song that already existed.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” feels inseparable from Dee Snider.
The song, the band, the video and Snider’s larger-than-life personality all became connected.
The song sounds like Twisted Sister.
That’s a powerful advantage.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 6 – Quiet Riot 3
Round 10: Party Power
This is incredibly close.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” is practically designed for a party. The title tells everyone what they’re supposed to do, and the rhythm makes it almost impossible to sit still.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” works too, but its rebellious message gives it a slightly different atmosphere.
If you’re throwing a giant 1980s rock party and want everybody yelling along, both songs are excellent.
Quiet Riot gets the narrow advantage because “Cum On Feel the Noize” feels like a celebration from beginning to end.
Winner: Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
Score: Twisted Sister 6 – Quiet Riot 4
Round 11: Cultural Impact
Both songs became important pieces of 1980s rock culture.
Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” was a major American breakthrough and helped demonstrate that heavy metal could become enormous on mainstream radio and MTV.
“Metal Health” became a landmark commercial success, and Quiet Riot helped open the door for the wave of metal bands that followed.
Twisted Sister’s impact was different.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” became a pop-culture shorthand for rebellion. The video was enormously memorable, and the song eventually became associated with everything from teenage independence to political protests and sporting events.
The phrase itself became bigger than the song.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Score: Twisted Sister 7 – Quiet Riot 4
Round 12: Replay Value
This is another difficult one.
“Cum On Feel the Noize” has enormous replay value because it’s so immediately enjoyable. You don’t have to think about it. The guitars kick in, DuBrow starts singing and you’re ready to go.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” has that same instant accessibility, but the video and chorus add another layer of nostalgia.
There’s also something about the song’s simplicity that makes it difficult to wear out.
You can hear the opening and immediately know exactly what is coming.
And you’re probably going to sing along anyway.
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Final Score: Twisted Sister 8 – Quiet Riot 4
Final Verdict
Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”: 8
Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”: 4
Winner: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Quiet Riot absolutely deserves credit for putting “Cum On Feel the Noize” on the map for an enormous American audience. Their version is louder, heavier and more aggressive than Slade’s original, and Kevin DuBrow’s performance gives it tremendous personality.
It’s one of those songs that can instantly turn a room into a rock concert.
But Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” wins because it offers more than just a great hard-rock performance.
It has a message.
It has a character.
It has an unforgettable video.
It has one of the biggest singalong choruses of the decade.
And most importantly, it has an identity that belongs completely to Twisted Sister.
Quiet Riot tells you to feel the noise.
Twisted Sister tells you that you’ve finally had enough.
That distinction gives “We’re Not Gonna Take It” the advantage.
It’s not necessarily the heavier song.
It’s not necessarily the more technically impressive song.
But as an all-around piece of 1980s rock culture, it’s nearly impossible to beat.
The moment that chorus hits, the audience doesn’t just listen.
They join in.
“We’re not gonna take it!”
And suddenly everybody in the room is part of the rebellion.