Holy Soldier
Melodic heavy metal from Los Angeles, CA.

Holy Soldier Holy Soldier (Word) 1990

1. "Stranger" (3:52)
2. "See No Evil" (5:28)
3. "The Pain Inside of Me" (6:35)
4. "Cry Out for Love" (3:28)
5. "Tear Down the Walls" (3:58)
6. "When the Reign Comes Down" (5:17)
7. "Lies" (4:58)
8. "Eyes of Innocence" (3:55)
9. "Love Me" (4:15)
10. "We Are Young, We Are Strong" (5:15)

Holy Soldier play melodic, somewhat commercial heavy metal with strong hooks and killer vocals by Steven Patrick. "Tear Down the Walls" is a fast and heavy song and one of my all time favorites. The album was capably produced by David Zaffiro. A strong debut from a band that will soon become total crap. This album was fetching some good money for a while because it was hard to find and out of print, but was recently re-released. There was also a cassette single released for this album that I've seen sell for close to $10 on ebay.

Last Train Holy Soldier-Last Train (Word) 1992

1. "Virtue & Vice" (4:30)
2. "Crazy" (4:44)
3. "Hallow's Eve" (4:18)
4. "Gimme Shelter" (4:23)
5. "Love is On The Way" (4:54)
6. "Dead End Drive" (3:53)
7. "Tuesday Mourning" (4:23)
8. "Fairwheather Friend" (3:25)
9. "Last Train" (4:34)

Holy Soldier's second disc stays within the boundaries of melodic metal, but is much mellower and a bit blusier than their debut. I still really like it as Holy Soldier know how to write a hook! Vocalist Steven Patrick has a great voice and really makes the band, in my opinion. 'Gimme Shelter' an excellent Rolling Stones song, is capably redone on this disc. This album. like the debut, was also produced by ex-Bloodgood guitarist David Zaffiro. I can only imagine that a lack of proper marketing by their record company was their only reason for not becoming as big as bands like Stryper or Skid Row, because this album simply has everything that a good commercial metal album should have. "Last Trail" is out of print and much harder to find than the first album saw a limited edition reprint in 1999. I'd pick out some favorite tracks but I really do just enjoy the entire album from beginning to end.

Promise Man Holy Soldier-Promise Man (Forefront) 1995

1. "Promise Man" (4:35)
2. "Mumbo-Jumbo" (4:33)
3. "My World" (4:02)
4. "Rust" (5:45)
5. "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" (4:05)
6. "Break It Down" (3:55)
7. "Cover Me" (4:33)
8. "Grind" (3:14)
9. "Love Conquers All" (3:14)
10. "Sand" (4:29)

I hated this album when it came out. First of all, Steven Patrick is no longer on board, which totally changes the sound of the band. New singer Eric Wayne doesn't have the range or charisma that Steven had. Also, the band changed styles to a more "modern" sound, taking on a bluesy-grunge radio rock sound, which sucks! I cringed when I read interviews by this band as they denied that they were ever really a metal band and claimed that they were finally doing what they really always wanted to do and "getting back to our roots." Whatever! Your roots are in Los Angeles, CA -- HEAVY METAL! Sellouts! The truth is, Holy Soldier lost their recording contract and since the Christian scene is so small and does not support music unless it's trendy, Holy Soldier changed their sound to get a new contract with another big Christian company. The album sold well and got some radio airplay, but the fact is, they still sold themselves out and this disc still sucks!

encore Holy Soldier-encore (Spaceport) 1997

1. "Whisper" (5:12)
2. "See No Evil" -live (5:39)
3. "My World" -live (4:08)
4. "Lies" -live (5:04)
5. "Virtue and Vice" -live (4:32)
6. "When the Reign Comes Down" -live (5:21)
7. "Eyes of Innocence" (6:20)
8. "Last Train" -live (4:56)
9. "Promise Man" -live (5:17)
10. "Stranger" -live (4:24)
11. "Eyes of Innocence" (3:53)
12. "In the End" (5:04)

After their last album I swore I'd not buy another Holy Soldier album, despite liking their first two albums so much. Well, I had to purchase this mostly live album because Steven Patrick was back for this one time recording. Of course Eric Wayne is around as well, singing the new songs and sharing the spotlight on a few songs. What I said about "Promise Man" really holds true when the two singers are put side by side ("Stranger"). Steven has a greater range and more charisma to his voice than new singer Eric. Anyhow, the first track is a new studio track, which I push the skip button past every time as it sucks! The next 10 songs are rather good. Even the Promise Man songs are a bit better in the live setting, but of course the earlier material is what makes this disc worth while. The last two songs are studio tracks as well. "Eyes of the Innocence" is from the first album but this remake features Pat Boone on vocals and is absolutely terrible! It sounds like a cow is singing the song. The last song is another lame attempt at modern radio rock. The liner notes are cool as they offer some information on each song, like where the song went on the charts, what awards it won, etc. This disc was released independently by the band but was later picked up by a label and re-released with a black cover.

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