𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 13, 1987 — Twisted Sister released their fifth studio album, Love Is For Suckers via Atlantic Records, with the single Hot Love (Watch video) being released on August 1. (Listen: Apple Music or Spotify)
The album was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York City and was produced by Beau Hill (RATT, Winger). It was the band's last album before their breakup and subsequent reunion and release of Still Hungry in 2004. It was also the only studio album that long time drummer A.J. Pero did not perform on. He was replaced by Widowmaker drummer Joey “Seven” Franco.
The album also featured many additional musicians including;
• Reb Beach (Winger/Dokken/Alice Cooper) – additional guitars, additional shouts
• Beau Hill – keyboards, backing vocals
• The New West Horns – horns
• Jimmy Chalfant (KIX), Steve Whiteman (KIX), Kip Winger (Winger) – backing vocals
• Bob Gamm, Gary Kris, B. Smith, Chris Cintron, Joe Gerber, Jodie Segall, Peter Love, Luke Perry (yes, the actor) - additional shouts
Background:
The sound of the album was strongly influenced by Glam Metal, and was one of the causes of conflict which led to the band splitting after its release.
According to interviews contained in the Live at Wacken DVD and in Dee Snider's autobiography, the material was originally meant to be a solo album by the Twisted Sister frontman, but the label pushed for it to be released under the Twisted Sister name instead. The tour for the album lasted just over one month and ended in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 10, 1987. Two days later, on October 12, 1987, vocalist Dee Snider announced his departure from the band.
No songs from this album appeared on the band's 1992 greatest hits album Big Hits and Nasty Cuts. It would be Twisted Sister's final studio album of original material, as all albums since have been compilations, live albums or re-recordings of already written material.
Seven of the album's songs were played live during the brief 1987 tour. Snider has stated that he likes many of the songs on the album, vocally. However he feels that if they play any of them live, it may bring back bad memories for the band.
In 2012, the band introduced Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant) into their set, following demands from fans for material to be included from all of the band's studio albums.
In a 2009 interview by Ruben Mosqueda, Snider spoke of his thoughts on the album;
"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙾𝚑 𝚕𝚎𝚝‘𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜!"
In 2012, Dee Snider commented to an audience at the annual concert festival in Dessel Belgium, known as the Graspop Metal Meeting, "𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝... 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟾𝟶𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚆𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚆𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝙳.𝙲. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚄𝚙 (𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙶𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝)", which the band then performed.
Critical Reception:
Upon its release, Billboard wrote;
"𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔-𝚚𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔-𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚢’ 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜."
Sharon Liveten of the Los Angeles Times wrote;
"𝙾𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚙 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌, 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗,𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚎 𝚂𝚗𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛‘𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖."
Robin Welles of The Press-Courier described Love Is for Suckers as "𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖".
Pete Bishop of the Pittsburgh Press commented;
"𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎-𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, "𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕“ 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚖-𝚋𝚊𝚖-𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚖."
He selected Hot Love, One Bad Habit and You Are All That I Need as "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕."
Michael Dowding of The Boston Globe wrote;
"𝚄𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚄𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍."
Barbara Jaeger of The Record wrote;
"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝟷𝟶 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚄𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚎𝚎 𝚂𝚗𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜, 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢-𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚜. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞‘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚠, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎."
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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