No Life Til Metal - The STRYPER cd collection

The STRYPER CD Collection

..Despite the fact that there are hundreds of Christian metal bands ranging in style from death metal to pop metal, if you mention Christian metal, Stryper will inevidebly come to mind. I discovered Stryper when "Soldiers Under Command" came out in 1985. In the late 80's I struggled with how to juggle my taste in music and my faith in God. Stryper really helped me through a rough time in my life. I still have all my vinyl of these guys but have upgraded all of their albums to cd. Stryper are: Tim Gaines: bass, Oz Fox: guitars, Robert Sweet: drums, and Michael Sweet: vocals and guitars. To all those who hate these guys, or dislike Christian metal in general, stop reading my web page if you don't like it! At least Stryper was willing to stand up for something they believed in rather than riding some stupid Satanic trend. Stryper rules!!!

1. "Loud 'N' Clear" (3:27)
2. "From Wrong to Right"(3:49)
3. "You Know What to Do"-(4:47)
4. "Co'Mon Rock"(3:40)
5. "You Won't Be Lonely" (3:42)
6. "Loving You" (4:09)
BONUS TRACKS
7. "You Know What to Do" -live (5:25)
8. "Loving You" -live (4:27)
9. "Together Forever" -live (3:50)
10. "Soldiers Under Command" -live (5:34)

Excellent recording of the original mix of 'Yellow & Black Attack' made by Ralf Walter. 'Ol Ralf figured out how to put vinyl to CDR and he did a mighty fine job of it, I might add. Since this version was never released in the U.S., real cd copies don't exist, unless you are one of the few lucky ones to get one of the Japanese copies, that I have been searching for. The cdr has no surface noises whatsoever, no cracks, or hisses, or pops. On top of the original six songs, this disc has four live tracks from various B-sides, all of which were recorded live in Japan, 1985. Having had the original vinyl version of this for years, it is so nice to finally get a cd copy as the mix is so much heavier and more raw than the overproduced 1996 re-release. As for the artwork, well, being a scanner operator by trade, I just scanned in the original album art and shrunk it down to cd size. Gotta love it. Reborn Classics and Old Metal Records couldn't have done a better job. Thanks Ralf.

I actually have the original of this on vinyl as well as the blue vinyl record re-issue that came in a round album cover that looked similar to the above cover. Check out the Stryper on vinyl section for a photo. The 1996 version was remixed and rereleased after the success of "Soldiers Under Command." The new version isn't quite as raw as the original and seems to be more compressed. It also adds two extra tracks "Reason for the Season" from their first EP and "My Love I'll Always Show," a new ballad. In any case, the music was pure inspired Los Angeles heavy metal from one of the original LA bands and is still one of my all time favorites to this day.

Crimson Thorn did a death metal version of "Loud 'N' Clear" on their second album, "Dissection."

This is my all time favorite Stryper album. Almost every song is heavy, aggressive and darn catchy. Of course every Stryper album had the obligitory ballads. "Together As One," however, has a special meaning to me as it was my wedding song. (I'm so sentimental aren't I?) This album won me over to Stryper. At this same time in my life, I had recenty become a Christian as well, so this album becomes even more important to me. Had the sleeve autographed by three of the four Stryper dudes in California when my band performed at the Stryper Expo. Somehow I missed Robert on this one.

Deliverance did a live version of "Surrender" on the Intense Live Series Vol. 1.

At this point I was Stryper nuts! I bought EVERYTHING these guys put out. Just take a look at my vinyl collection. Of course, this was when they began to get a bit too commercial for their own good. I didn't really care at the time, nor do I care now. This is still an incredible album and I even like the pretty ballads. I had the crappy Enigma version with the black cover until Micheal Sweet released a Limited Edition version with the original cover and the "Winter Wonderland" bonus track that originally appeared on "Reason for the Season" EP. Kudos! Had this disc autographed by all four members at the Stryper Expo in California.

Woa! We're talking majorly slick pop metal here. There are a few stellar moments in rockers like "The Writings on the Wall," "The Reign" and the title track, but there is a lot of sugary ballads and pop rock songs as well. The band's look was getting beyond ridiculous as well, with Robert Sweet looking more like Farrah Faucet Sweet. Stryper were huge MTV hits at this time with their bee-clad videos in regular rotation. As a matter of fact, Stryper were one of the only bands to have THREE videos in the top 10 on MTV at one time. Stryper were becoming media favorites at this time as well, with all sorts of rumors flying around about them. I think they were allowing their success to take them in areas they didn't really want to go. Too bad, but still, this is not a terrible album. Far superior to crap bands like Poison and Winger! Micheal Sweet's vocal range alone put Stryper at the top of the heap. Overall, however, "In God We Trust" doesn't hold a candle to "Soldier Under Command." Oh and by the way, I have the two little collector's items that you see pictured above as well.

1. "Always there For You" (4:13)
2. "The Reign" (2:52)
3. "Soldiers Under Command" -live (5:35)

This is a special 3" cd single in a slim case that is rare as can be and selling for STUPID money. (IT'S NOT FOR SALE BY THE WAY!) I saw a copy at the Stryper Expo for $30. That's the cheapest I have ever seen it. "Always There For You" is a pop-saturated power ballad, but the other two songs are worth while. The live version of "Soldiers Under Command" is from the "Live in Japan" video and "The Reign" is one of the better songs from "In God We Trust." Have this disc autographed by all four members.

1. "Battle Hymn of the Republic" -intro (1:04)
2. "In God We Trust" (3:56)
3. "Calling On You" (3:51)
4. "Rockin' the World" (3:05)
5. "Sing-Along Song" (5:46)
6. "Lonely" (5:17)
7. "Makes Me Wanna Sing" (3:41)
8. "Drum Solo" (1:13)
9. "Keep the Fire Burning" (4:00)
10. "Bass Solo" (2:22)
11. "Guitar Solo" (2:41)
12. "The Writings on the Wall" (4:25)
13. "Always There For You" (4:58)
14. "Honestly" (5:06)
15. "Free" (3:48)
16. "Soldiers Under Command" (5:20)
17. "The Way" (3:25)
18. "Abyss" (:50)
19. "To Hell With the Devil" (4:56)

On May 21-22, 2001 I attended the 2nd Annual Stryper Expo. I must confess I never knew there were still so many Stryper fans. The place was packed! In anycase, while there I picked up this live rarity. My friend Jeff, who traveled 12 hours to California with me, showed the disc to Robert Sweet. Apparently he was totally unaware that this disc existed so he ran over to the table that was selling them at $25 each to purchase his own copy. Unfortunately for him, they had sold out. Bummer! As bootlegs go, this one is listenable but not top notch. The sound is a bit tinny. It seems to me, however that this must have been taken from the soundboard. I know for a fact that this show was recorded for video but never officially released, so perhaps this was the source. Actually I think this show may have been broadcast over Japanese TV. In any case, there were only a few of these discs available and now I own one. The copyright date on the back is 2000. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's the only info I have, so I will assume this is the release year of this cd. Bootleg VHS video copies have been around for much longer however. I should also mention that this is not a silver cd, rather it is a cdr wrapped in a nicely designed front and back cover. As far as I know, a mass produced copy of this disc does not exist. The autographs on this disc are not real, they are printed on the cover as part of the artwork. Looks cool though.

OK, someone from 777 Records in France contacted me and informed me that all the copies they have sold are CDR copies. Apparently, however, there are two versions. The first pressing has poor sound quality and the second pressing has a far superior sound quality that is almost as good as an official album. I finally have this remastered version and it does sound top notch. He also sent me a copy of the original cover without the autographs, so I guess there is at least one copy floating around with original autographs, but mine is not it.

In an attempt to "reach a larger audience" Stryper striped their stripes and put out this "bad boy" album. While Christianity was finally use to Stryper, this new look caused some waves and people hated it. I was even a bit surprised by the new look. I thought the whole yellow and black image was cool! Even the lyrics tended to be a bit more angry. The title track was Stryper lashing out at all the negative criticism they had taken from Christians over the years. The music, however, is far better than anything from "In God We Trust." The production is outstanding. Their cover of Earth Wind and Fire's "Shining Star" is a incredible! "Caught in the Middle," "Rock the Hell Out of You," "Rock the People" and the title track are all classic Stryper heavy metal tunes and are perfect examples of what the band should have been doing all along. Even the ballads, like the acoustic "Lady," are excellent songs. Some of the lyrics are a bit corny, especially on "Two Time Woman" and "Not that Kind of Guy" but overall, this is an excellent Stryper disc. Hollywood Records re-issued this album with a slightly altered album cover. I have the videos for both "Lady" and "Two Time Woman" on an HM Video Magazine.

A nice "best of" collection with two unreleased songs. ("Believe" and "Can't Stop The Rock") "Can't Stop the Rock" is a heavy boogie metal song that was actually written early in the band's career. Plenty of band pics and a dicography round out this package. This disc was suppose to prove to the world that despite all the rumores, Stryper were still united and rocking for the Rock. Soon after it's release however, Micheal Sweet left Stryper to start a solo career. Stryper continued to tour for a while as a three peice with Oz Fox doing vocals and even did one gig with Dale Thompson of Bride filling in on the vocals. Unfortunately, Micheal's solo records were terrible attempts at Bryan Adams type pop rock/AOR. Stryper split up with Robert constantly trying to get the band back together. The members have all been active in different musical activities. Robert and Tim played for Rex Carroll's King James for a while. Tim and Oz eventually got back together and are now playing with Sin Dizzy who have one independant cd out as the year 2000. Robert has played drums on a variety of different Christian metal albums as well as released a solo album called "Love Trash." The entire band recently got back together for Stryper Conventions in California and New Jersey and have done several "reunion" shows throughout the world. I had the extreme pleasure of seeing them at the California 2001 Expo.