Rock Candy Mag has dedicated the prestigious cover slot of its latest issue to an outstanding new coffee-table book of images from legendary US photographer, Mark Weiss.

Mark worked for major metal mags Circus and Creem in the ’80s and photographed all of the top metal artists of the day, including Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister, Aerosmith, and Skid Row. Metal fan Weiss captured some of the most iconic images of the era and because he shared the same passions as the bands he worked with he was welcomed into their inner sanctums.

The Rock Candy Mag cover features an unforgettable image of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider and his hero Alice Cooper taken on the set of Sister’s "Be Chrool To Your Scuel" video in 1985.

“I was super excited to get that shot,” explains Weiss, “because I was a huge Alice fan. Dee will tell you just how much Alice means to him, so it was a huge thrill for both of us.”

“I was trying to reintroduce Alice to a younger rock audience,” explains Dee. “At that time Alice was not a cool thing. We now know that he’d been on crack, on the pipe, a drug addict. He’d put out a lot of bad, weird records, and had fallen from grace. But whenever anyone asked about my influences all I would say was ‘Alice Cooper, Alice Cooper’…”

Over 10 pages Mark and Dee discuss the importance of image in metal in the ’80s with the help of a number of arresting images taken from the book. Mark also picks his three favourite shots ever from his massive portfolio of work and explains why he loves those images so much.

The Decade That Rocked is the best visual history of ’80s rock ’n’ roll ever put together and Rock Candy Mag’s cover feature brings the whole story of metal’s greatest era to life.

“It really was sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,” laughs Weiss. “What a decade it was!”

Read the entirety of this revealing article in issue #20 of Rock Candy Mag, available in shops (that are allowed to open!) worldwide and direct, with a digital version included, here.

(Top photo - Mark Weiss, 1984)