Bride began as a heavy metal band in the early days of Christian metal. Unfortunately, brother Dale and Troy Thompson have taken the band through every trend to come through, so the band has pretty much become a joke, rather than a legend.

Bride-Live to Die (Pure Metal) 1988

1. "Metal Might" (3:33)
2. "Hell No" (3:50)
3. "In the Dark" (4:08)
4. "Out for Blood" (2:56)
5. "Live to Die" (2:52)
6. "Fire and Brimstone" (4:25)
7. "Whiskey Seed" (3:39)
8. "Here Comes the Bride" (2:26)
9. "Heroes" (7:10)

This is a GREAT metal album. "Live to Die" contains no ballads, no crap, just full-throttle heavy metal, screaming vocals and blazing guitars. At times "Live to Die" even pushes the boundries of thrash. "Hell No" and "In The Dark" are dark sounding speed metal songs with Dale giving the vocal performance of his life. I wish Bride would have continued in this mode rather than changing with every wind of trend. Oh, this is an original copy that I bought as a new release. M8 recently re-released a limited editon (1,000 copies) of this album.

Treasure Seeker did a remake of "Heroes"

Bride-Silence is Madness (Pure Metal) 1989

1. "Fool Me Once" (3:57)
2. "Hot Down South" (3:10)
3. "Silence is Madness" (5:15)
4. "Until the End We Rock" (3:10)
5. "Evil Dreams" (4:04)
6. "Under the Influence" (4:03)
7. "All Hallowís Eve" (5:10)
8. "No More Nightmares" (4:12)
9. "Rock those Blues Away" (5:36)

Another great heavy metal album from Bride. A classic! This one was worth some money for a while, but it has recently been re-issued by M8. My copy is the original Pure Metal release that I bought as a new release.

Bride-End of the Age (Pure Metal) 1990

1. "Everybody Knows My Name" (4:22)
2. "Hell No" (3:50)
3. "Hot Down South" (3:06)
4. "Forever Darkness" (3:40)
5. "Heroes" (7:11)
6. "Same Ol' Sinner" (4:08)
7. "Thunder in the City" (5:51)
8. "Fire & Brimstone" (4:25)
9. "Evil That Men Do" (3:38)
10. "All Hallow's Eve" (5:12)

A "best of" compilation from the first three album plus two songs that were to give an idea of the direction the band was going. At the time, it was cool to be a follower of Aerosmith, so with that fad, Bride jumped aboard and changed to a more commercial metal sound, even acknowledging in interviews that they were going for a more Aerosmith sound. The two new songs are actually very good, they are still heavy but less thrashy with a bit more hook and groove. "Everybody Knows My Name" ended up doing well for the band and was on their next album. "Same Old Sinner" is stinking heavy and was never released on any other official Bride disc, as far as I know.

Bride-Kinetic Faith (Pure Metal) 1991

1. "Troubled Times" (4:29)
2. "Hired Gun" (4:29)
3. "Ever Fallen In Love" (4:36)
4. "Mountain" (4:12)
5. "Ski Mask" (4:31)
6. "Everybody Knows My Name" (4:23)
7. "Young Love" (3:31)
8. "Kiss the Train" (3:58)
9. "Crimes Against Humanity" (4:05)
10. "Sweet Louise" (4:42)

As was suggested by the two new songs on "End of the Age" Bride changed styles, but they remained a heavy metal band. I still really dug this album, even though I was bummed that they weren't doing the speed metal thing any longer. From this point on, however, Bride would continue to get more and more commercial with each album. I suppose after tasting a bit of success with "Everybody Knows My Name" and the Christian radio hit "Sweet Louise" that Bride's focus changed. Too bad!

Bride - Live Vol. II - Acoustic (M8) 2000

1. "Everybody Knows My Name" (4:46)
2. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (4:59)
3. "Hired Gun" (4:42)
4. "Sweet Louise" (3:47)
5. "Show Them" (3:09)
6. "Political Statement" (1:10)
7. "Hell No" (2:17)
8. "Christian Rock Statement" (2:51)
9. "Same Ol' Sinner" (4:57)
10. "Rock Of Ages" (1:57)
11. "Kiss The Train" (3:45)
12. "Help" (4:00)
13. "Young Love" (3:18)
14. "Hollywood" (3:12)

A compilation of various "unplugged" sets with Dale and Troy. The nice thing about this disc is that it features material from the band's "metal years," which is why I purchased this disc. The overall sound isn't perfect, almost taking on a bootleg feel. That being said, however, that doesn't mean the sound is bad either, just not studio quality. "Political Statement" is not a song, but rather Dale taking some pot shots at President Clinton and then presidential canidate Ross Perot. "Christian Rock Statement" is also a commentary by Dale on Christianity and music. Also have to add, that since this disc really is just an acoustic guitar and Dale's voice, he does an exceptional job. Dale simply wails!

Bride-Snakes In The Playground (Star Song) 1992

Uh, oh, the total commercial sell-out . . . well, maybe not totally. This is actually a pretty good heavy metal disc with a truck load of killer hooks and riffs.. The music takes on more of a Guns 'n' Roses-vibe, but it still had the hooks and Dale's mesmerizing voice. Man, he just belts it out on "Rattlesnake." "Goodbye" was a CCM radio hit. The first pressing came with a bonus disc. If I am not mistaken, this was Bride's biggest selling album to date.

Bride-Scarecrow Messiah (Star Song) 1994

1. "Beast" (4:27)
2. "Place" (3:41)
3. "Murder" (4:07)
4. "Scarecrow" (3:51)
5. "Crazy" (3:44)
6. "Time" (4:16)
7. "One" (3:28)
8. "Doubt" (4:11)
9. "DadMom" (3:29)
10. "Thorns" (5:51)
11. "Questions" (1:51)

Boring! My band and I were driving to a show, checking out the new Bride. We got about half way through the disc and turned it off. Bride was on autopilot here. This was an exact duplicate off "Snakes" only without the hooks. From this point on, everything Bride has put out has totally disappointed me to the point that I gave up on them. Their label must have done the same but not after releasing another "best of" compilation called "Shotgun Wedding."

Bride-The Jesus Experience (Organic) 1997

1. "I Love You" (2:58)
2. "Worm" (4:34)
3. "End" (4:18)
4. "I Live for You" (3:21)
5. "Follow Me" (4:04)
6. "Tell Me" (2:55)
7. "Love Hate" (3:34)
8. "Human Race" (4:00)
9. "I Hear a Word" (3:52)
10. "Christ" (3:32)
11. "World I Know" (4:40)

Alternative is the flavor of the day, so what do you suppose Bride does? After releasing the terrible alternative piece of crap that was "Drop," Dale, Troy and Co. regroup and release this grunge soaked piece of. . . well you get the idea. Around this time, also, Dale started releasing a bunch of independent discs with unrleased demo and live material.

Bride-Oddities (Organic) 1998

1. "Intro" (:19)
2. "I Ain't Coming Down" (2:33)
3. "Why Won't He Break" (4:05)
4. "If I Told You It Was The End Of The World" (4:20)
5. "I Found God" (4:44)
6. "Closer To The Center Of The Earth" (5:02)
7. "Tomorrow Makes No Sense" (4:35)
8. "Day By Day" (4:11)
9. "Spirit" (5:29)
10. "It Is Only When I'm Left Alone" (4:07)
11. "God's Human Oddities" (4:33)
12. "Under The Blood" (4:50)
13. "Die A Little Bit Every Day" (5:08)
14. "Restore Me" (2:01)

How many times have you heard a band say that they are returning to their old sound. Of course that was the hype that surrounded this disc. Was it true? Not even! This is another boring alternative rock piece of junk. Sorry, but this is miles away from what I liked about Bride in their early years. I bought this one used. It will be the last Bride disc I buy.

On vinyl: Bride-Show No Mercy (Pure Metal) 1987

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