The boys are back, minus the bumble bee leathers, and they brought some seriously great old school metal with them.It's been about 4 years since Stryper's last original studio album, Murder By Pride, but Michael Sweet and company haven't been just sitting around since then. After an album of covers and a re-recording of their classic songs, their latest full blown studio album No More Hell To Pay is here - and it sounds amazing.
First off, Michael sounds amazing. His voice is as good as ever, and the guitar work on this album is just fantastic. This just sounds like classic metal from back in the day. Michael himself said that this "is the record we needed to make as a follow up to To Hell With The Devil" and I'm inclined to agree. Every track on here is a great example of an old school band that still has the goods to rock with the best of them today.
Of particular interest was the cover of Jesus Is Just Alright, made famous by The Doobie Brothers. The band managed to take an old 70s freak out song and make it sound like a friggin' rock anthem. Seriously, it sounds amazing, and you gotta check out the bridge (2:03) where they get into slow jam mode. It's like a heavy Allman Brothers thing that simply rocks. Kudos to the lads for making this song sound so awesome.
The Bottom Line: Fans of classic Stryper should be pretty excited with this release. The energy on this album is palpable and the performances all around from vocals to guitar work is just so impressive. It's just the kind of thing you hope to hear from bands of old. To know that they can still make and play great music thirty years after their start is nothing short of inspiring.
Tracks To Make You Wish You Still Had Lots Of Hair To Soak With Aquanet: The whole darned thing
- Genghis really did his best not to curse in this review...