Category Archives: Stryper
Stryper – The Covering
Stryper – The Covering (2011, Big3 Records)
1. “Set Me Free” … 3:45
2. “Blackout” … 3:58
3. “Heaven and Hell” … 6:11
4. “Lights Out” … 3:44
5. “Carry On Wayward Son” … 5:16
6. “Highway Star” … 5:45
7. “Shout It Out Loud” … 3:15
8. “Over the Mountain” … 4:21
9. “The Trooper” … 3:53
10. “Breaking the Law” … 3:02
11. “On Fire” … 3:08
12. “Immigrant Song” … 2:18
13. “God” … 4:55
Band:
Michael Sweet – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Oz Fox – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Timothy Gaines – Bass, Backing Vocals
Robert Sweet – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Charles Foley – Keyboards, Organ, Piano
Producer: Michael Sweet
And Stryper continues their trend for having AWFUL album covers. =P
Luckily, the album art is not a good indicator of the music itself because this is seriously one great album of covers! When I first heard it was going to be a cover album, I kind of rolled my eyes. That’s usually a sign that a band is slowing down and/or giving up on new material but then they started releasing all these samples and they sounded amazing. I guess the band has caught some flack from their Christian fanbase for having the gall to cover secular music and evil bands such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and KISS but whatever. Get over yourselves! Christian acts don’t need to be singing about God & Jesus in every single song. Just because you want to cover Van Halen and Scorpions it doesn’t mean you’ve turned your back on the Lord.
Anyway, what a great line-up of bands to cover! In order, they are: Sweet, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, UFO, Kansas, Deep Purple, KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. The only original song of the bunch is “God” which is a fantastic hard rocker that just doesn’t let up and gives me hope that maybe the band will put out an entirely new and original album later this year.
It was Murder By Pride that pulled me onto the Stryper bandwagon. That was a very good album. Sometimes a veteran act seems to be going through the motions even when they release new material but that wasn’t the case then and even though the band is covering songs here, they still sound energetic and on fire. ”God” gives me hope that maybe the band will put out an entirely new and original album later this year because they are on a roll.
The band stays pretty faithful to the source material only making slight alterations here and there but these are some killer covers. “Blackout” and “Lights Out” are pure fire and it’s interesting to hear Michael Sweet vocals on these songs. I think he’s got a unique singing style and it’s interesting hearing him find some middle ground between his own style and the styles in which these songs were originally sung.
One of the better cover albums I’ve heard. Essential pickup for 2011.
Highlights: “Set Me Free”, “Blackout”, “Lights Out”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “On Fire”, “God”
STRYPER – Murder By Pride
Stryper – Murder By Pride (2009, Big3 Records)
1. “Eclipse For The Son” … 4:04
2. “4 Leaf Clover” … 3:42
3. “Peace of Mind” … 3:58
4. “Alive” … 3:36
5. “The Plan” … 3:10
6. “Murder by Pride” … 3:18
7. “I Believe” … 3:43
8. “Run In You” … 4:15
9. “Love Is Why” … 4:07
10. “Mercy Over Blame” … 4:07
11. “Everything” … 4:26
12. “My Live (I’ll Always Show)” … 3:14
Band:
Michael Sweet – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Oz Fox – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tracy Ferrie – Bass, Backing Vocals
Robert Sweet – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Tom Scholz – Guitar (“Peace of Mind”)
Kenny Aronoff – Drums
Paul McNamara – Piano, Keyboards
Danny Bernini – Percussion
Produced by: Michael Sweet and Danny Bernini
Murder By Pride is my very first Stryper album. I don’t know how it compares to the “classics”, but I’m enjoying it. There are a few spots where it borders on getting very cheesy (“Alive”, “I Believe”), but the songs are good enough to be guilty pleasures for me. The guitars on “I Believe” sound very much like Creed, but I still enjoy the song.
“4 Leaf Clover” and “Murder By Pride” are my favorite tracks and they do a great job of blending 80s hard rock with a modern sound. The rest of the album is full solid hard rockers, which is more than I was expecting. I had it in my head that the chance of some lame pop rock/”Honestly” songs were going to be pretty high, but it just wasn’t the case.
Like I said, I don’t know if this holds a candle to old school Stryper, but it’s got me interested in taking a listen to find out.
The band does a faithful cover of Boston’s “Peace of Mind”. It had better be faithful since Tom Scholz plays on it! Of course, Michael handles co-vocals & guitar for that band following the passing of Brad Delp.
I could not find any info on why, but for whatever reason, founding member and drummer Robert Sweet (Michael’s brother) did not play on this album and a session player filled in. At least that’s what I’ve read online (even though the album credits list both Sweet and Aronoff on drums). He is scheduled to tour with the band though.
Highlights: “Eclipse For The Son”, “4 Leaf Clover”, “Alive”, “The Plan”, “Murder By Pride”, “Mercy Over Blame”, “I Believe”, “My Love (I’ll Always Show)”
