Thank you very much, I'm here til Sunday!
*Puts serious hat on*
When you think of glam metal, the first things that come to mind are sex, drugs, big hair, ridiculous costumes and mainstream metal. So, when you take away the first two and instead replace it with a Christian message (and not necessarily a subtle one), it's understandable that a lot of people will react poorly. Heck, Christian rock itself has a pretty poor reputation among serious rock fans, so imagine what glam metal fans must think when a band that is openly part of the religion that condemned the whole genre gets brought up.
And then you get the metal fans who don't like glam metal and think it's funny to just say "LOL, glam sucks, faggots"...(that is not an actual comment I've seen connected to glam metal, but is a slightly exaggerated example of what you can find on the internet among some of the less tolerant metal fans)
Yeah...you can imagine that Stryper's reputation among most metal fans is probably on the same level as most nu-metal bands. I mean, they're playing glam metal and they're Christians, so surely they must suck twice as hard, right?
If you do indeed subscribe to that logic, then get the fuck off of my blog! I've made my stance on Christian metal pretty clear already in one of my early blog posts (if you haven't read it, then click here) and the fact that I've never condemned the genre should have tipped you off to the fact that I don't dislike the genre.
...Anyone still reading this?
OK. Now, I'll admit, I'm not hugely familiar with Stryper's discography. I've heard To Hell With The Devil, which was pretty good (and "The Way" is fucking awesome, I don't care what anyone else says about it!), but, for various reasons, I've never bothered to check out their other albums before this one. The thing about Stryper is that, apparently, they're not especially consistent when it comes to their other albums. Sure, To Hell With The Devil was very good, but a lot of reports that I've read (once you ignore those who are flaming the band) indicate that it's probably their best album by a bit, which is quite worrying when you consider that I don't consider To Hell With The Devil to be a flawless album. However, reports for this album indicate that it's probably their best work since then, with some even going so far as to call it their best album period.
Is it actually a good album, though? Well, let's find out together! Open thy prayer book to hymn 616 and prepare to sing a sing-along song!
...Congratulations to anyone who got that last reference without needing to use the internet!
Anyway, Stryper originally formed in 1975 under the name Roxx Regime, with Michael Sweet on lead vocals and guitar, Robert Sweet on drums and bassist Eric Johnson on bass. There were several people who were considered to join the band on second guitar, including Doug Aldrich (who you probably know for recently leaving Whitesnake) and C.C. DeVille (who you probably know for being part of Poison), but the band ultimately went with Oz Fox. The band would later change their name to Stryper after bassist Tim Gaines joined the band (I've no idea whether Eric Johnson left Stryper of his own accord, was fired by the other guys or left by mutual agreement) and the record label told the band to change their name. They went for their name after a passage in Isaiah 53:5 (which reads "By His stripes we are healed", if you're curious) and released their debut EP, The Yellow and Black Attack, in July 1984 (about a week before Metallica released Ride The Lightning, if my research is correct) on a pressing of fewer than 200,000 copies. They then went on tour and opened for Ratt and Bon Jovi (...do you really need me to come up with a remark for that?) before releasing their debut album, Soldiers Under Command, in May 1985. The band's label opted to re-release their debut EP to capitalise on the band's unexpected popularity (their debut sold enough to achieve a gold record) with two bonus tracks and new artwork in August 1986 and, in October 1986, the band's second album To Hell With The Devil, came out. It became the first Christian metal album to achieve a platinum record and was the best selling album of this sort until 2001, when P.O.D. released their album Satellite. Although Gaines did not actually record bass on the album (that would be Brad Cobb), this is because he left the band before the album was recorded and his replacement (Matt Hurich, formerly of Leatherwolf) proved to only stay in the band for a month. Gaines returned to the band before touring for the album begun. He did this again for the band's third album, In God We Trust, which still got a gold record, but got a lukewarm reaction from critics. They responded to this by drastically changing their sound away from their glam metal roots (going for a more classic metal sound) and their outfits on 1990's Against The Law. This proved controversial, to say the least. The band went on tour for this album, but tragedy struck in February 1992, when Michael Sweet announced he was departing the band. The band attempted to carry on without him, but were forced to conclude that he was irreplaceable and, by 1993, the band had broken up. Michael Sweet started his solo career, Oz Fox and Tim Gaines formed the band SinDizzy and Robert Sweet went on to drum for other bands. And the world heard nothing more from Stryper...
...Until 1999, when SinDizzy were booked to play a rock festival in Puerto Rico and, as part of an encore, Michael Sweet came on stage to sing several Stryper songs. This started the roots for a reunion and, in 2000, the band's original line up came together on stage to perform at the first "Stryper Expo" and at a concert in Costa Rica. The band did a second "Stryper Expo" in 2001, but no new music occurred until the band were asked to provide two new tracks for a greatest hits record being released by Hollywood Records. This was released in March 2003 and the band did a tour in support of the album, with the last show of the tour being recorded and released as a live album and DVD. Sadly, this would prove to be the last show Tim Gaines would play with the band until 2009, as he and the band parted ways in 2004 and he was replaced by Tracy Ferrie, who had previously been in Michael Sweet's solo band. The band returned into the studio to record their reunion album, Reborn, which was released in August 2005, had a more modern sound than what the band had done the first time around and was received well by the band's fans and critics. Michael Sweet joined Boston in 2007 and was even going to appear on 2013's Life, Love & Hope, as I mentioned in my review of it which you can read here. This meant that Stryper's next album, Murder By Pride, didn't get released until July 2009. It was preceded by a cover of "Piece Of Mind" by Boston, which is about the closest we're going to ever come to hearing Michael Sweet perform a Boston song in a studio setting. The band's next release was a covers album in 2011, titled The Covering. 2013 proved to be a busy year for Stryper, as they released a self-covers (probably better called a re-recording, but I prefer to say "self-covers" for some reason) album titled Second Coming in May and, in November, they returned with No More Hell To Pay.
First of all, here's the cover art. If you are a Stryper fan, you will no doubt spot that this is referencing the artwork for To Hell With The Devil, but I'd still say it's pretty cool!
Anyway, onto the album! The thing that should stand out to you upon hearing the album is that Michael Sweet has a bloody good singing voice! He always did, but, comparing his voice to that on To Hell With The Devil, it seems that age hasn't really affected his voice much. He doesn't have quite as high a normal singing voice, but he otherwise does a rather impressive job for a guy who probably would have been 49 when he'd recorded the album! This isn't intended to make the rest of the band sound like they didn't contribute anything to the album, as their performances are definitely solid but Michael Sweet, frankly, deserves a hell of a lot better than he's got from the crowd who think anything connected to glam metal is automatically terrible. The second thing that should strike you is that this is a bit too heavy to really qualify as a glam metal album. If anything, I'd say the band lean more towards classic heavy metal on this album, which should mean that those of you who ignored this album out of fear of the dreaded "G" word should feel reassured that this doesn't sound like glam metal at all! The third thing that should hit you upon first listen, sadly, is a negative: the album is VERY loudly mastered, which doesn't make this an album that you want to relisten to a lot. Shame, as the actual material on the album is pretty good, to say the least!
The album has a surprisingly large amount of variety, despite the band not including any instruments that are out of the norm for metal. You have very slow, powerful tracks like the title track and "Revelation" mixed in with some rather faster material like "Legacy", "Saved By Love" and "Sympathy", a solidly done cover of "Jesus Is Just Alright" and a ballad in the form of "The One". This makes the album feel like a solid listening experience in its own right: you don't feel like you're just being fed the same song again and again (see most modern thrash albums), you instead get a nice selection of songs that should fill you up if taken together, but which still present you with some favourites that you'll probably be wanting to return to frequently. The fact that every song is worth hearing is a commendable achievement, too! I've listened to this album multiple times and, every time I do, I find myself loving every track on it! Indeed, if the album didn't have the mastering complaint I brought up earlier, I'd be hard pressed to have any major complaints against this album, and that's saying a lot from a picky sod like me!
Of course, I do have two minor complaints with the album, and the first is probably going to be the one that makes the least sense to object to, as it's part of what makes them who they are, but which I think is still fair to raise: the band occasionally forget that the people who listen to their music aren't all going to be Christians and, as such, some of their songs will be a bit much for you if you aren't a Christian, although I wouldn't say they overdo it so much that most sensible people would have a major issue with it (although this does make them an easy target for the militant athetists and those who object to religion in any form). I'd probably have said that the band could have done better by dialling this habit back a little bit, as it would make them a bit easier to enjoy for non-Christians who might have an issue with it. However, as I've pointed out, this is part of what makes Stryper who they are, so this is probably an unfair nitpick. I'll stress that they ARE more subtle about it than they were, though: ignoring "Jesus Is Just Alright" (which is a cover, so you can't really blame them for the lyrics of that one if you have an issue with them), they don't let their faith get so blatant in their lyrics that it will really annoy anyone, although "Water Into Wine" might be pushing it a tiny bit!
The other complaint I have is that, by dialling up the heavy metal part of their sound, glam metal fans might find this a tougher album to enjoy, as it's not as immediately catchy as, say, "Calling On You" and "The Way". However, I'd say this is a small issue overall, since most Stryper fans are likely to not just be glam metal fans and will be at least vaguely familiar with heavy metal, so this is more directed to those people who think the band are going to sound the same as they did in the 80's. If that is you, then I'm afraid you're going to be in for a disappointment, as the band don't sound a lot like they did in the 80's...although it's still a fine album, so I highly recommend you check it out!
I've already mentioned the loud mastering issue, but I will also say that the bass could have done with a louder presence in the mix. Even with my bass amplifying headphones, I found the bass a bit on the quiet side. Now, to be fair, it doesn't do anything especially special, but I think a louder presence might have been a better idea, as the album seems a bit too guitar heavy with the mix to me. So, tiny bit less guitar, tiny bit more bass!
So, final thoughts? Well, there's a reason this was one of my favourite albums of 2013 and it's not because this album leaves me wanting more from the band! Seriously, if this had been released by an up and coming band, I'd have said they were a band to watch out for. Coming from a band who most people would have written off as incapable of living up to their classics due to their age and their discography being somewhat hit and miss, that's a hell of a lot more impressive. This isn't a perfect album, but, when the only major issue I can come up with is the mastering (which is, admittedly, a valid issue) and the only minor ones I can come up with are how well this album would appeal to glam fans and the fact that they occasionally overdo their message enough that it might annoy non-Christians (both of which are matters of personal preference), that points towards this being a damn good album, if not an excellent one! Consider this a highly recommended album, and one which you should look towards picking up if you're into heavy metal music! If you're not...while I wouldn't say "Get this!", I'd still say it's worth a look at if you want to avoid going for the obvious choices of starting point with heavy metal music like, say, Painkiller by Judas Priest, Master Of Puppets by Metallica or The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden and want to jump in at the (relative) deep end from the start.
Final Rating: 9 Out Of 10
An excellent album that only really lets itself down due to the mastering. If you ever wrote off Stryper just for being Christian glam metal, this album should have you changing your tune pretty quickly! If you are a Stryper fan and don't have this...WHY? Go remedy that as soon as you can, you won't be disappointed! If you are a glam metal fan, this might lean a bit too much towards heavy metal for your taste, but I still would recommend picking it up, as it's still an amazing listen!
Personal Favourite Tracks: all of them are great, but I'd personally recommend checking out "Jesus Is Just Alright", "Sticks & Stones" and "Sympathy"
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