Second Coming

Re-recording your old stuff trend seems to be the rather hip thing to do in the music biz recently. The results are mixed at best. The idea of it is a bit risky for the artist. People love those songs so do you totally re-interpret them and alienate the old fans or do you simply stay faithful to the original and have people go why did they bother. I spent a few months tracking down a copy of Saint's "Warriors of The Son" Re-Recorded. I love's me some Saint and they just don't get much better than they do on the title track "Warriors of The Son". I could not wait to hear that with updated recording techniques. It just had to be awesome. I've listened to it twice. The second time was just to verify what I thought the first time. What a waste. Why even bother. It was not a bold re-interpretation or a technological advancement. Now it's just another part of my collection.

So I was a little apprehensive when I finally tracked down my copy. It took two weeks after the release date for a local store to get it in. I LOVED the original recordings of these songs. Even if it's not so great I figured that I'd buy a copy just to support my boys. Boy was I blown away when the first song came blaring across the speakers. Just incredible. I was not sure you could improve on the original recordings. I was wrong. Where to start. Everyone on this album has grown as musicians by leaps and bounds. A maturity level that just make this music shine like never before. Roberts drumming is heavier and fuller than before. His work richly fills the empty spaces in the music. Tim's bass work is flawless. He and Robert create a very rich and full rhythm foundation which allows the music to stay exciting and energetic.

The most amazing transformation is in the guitar work. Holy cow. I mean the guitars are just light years ahead of where they were on the original recordings. There are new leads and solos all over the place. There is just no sonically empty spaces anywhere in these tracks. Never does it sound over done or self serving. Everything works together to make the song as a whole better. Oz Fox where have you been. This is amazing. Take a bow my brother.

Last but not least are the vocals. There are not words to describe how I feel about Michael's work here. I mean wow! If there was ever a complaint with Michael's work in the past it was that in some of his upper ranges he sounded a bit feminine and he occasionally spent to much time in that range. No one will ever be able to say that again. Time has work the magic of deepening his voice just a smidge while not shrinking his range one iota. Simply stunning. You sir have been blessed from on high with a remarkable gift.

The two new tracks are not filler. They ROCK. Everything you love about these guys in an updated and modern sounding package. The lyrics are as poignant and topical as ever. The music just rocks hard, straight, and true. If you don't have this, Get It. Put it in and TURN IT UP.

Crazyhorse 2013

On March 26th, Stryper releases Second Coming, on Frontiers, with a series of re-recordings of fourteen of their older hits and two new songs, “Bleeding From The Inside Out” and “Blackened”.

Second Coming follows on the heels of a series of albums released by Stryper in the past decade. In 2005 they released an embarrassingly poor reunion album, Reborn. During 2009 Stryper redeemed themselves with what may have been their greatest release, Murder By Pride, followed in 2011, by the interesting, The Covering, which found Stryper recording covers of some of the bands who musically influenced their sound.

On Second Coming, Stryper reunites the original ’80′s band line-up of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Tim Gaines (bass guitar), and Robert Sweet (drums).

Is Second Coming anything like those K-tel records or compilation CD’s? Absolutely not. The only similarity is the term “original artist”. After almost 30 years together, the musicianship of Stryper is superior to their early days. Vocalist Michael Sweet still hits the high notes even though he is fast approaching the half-century mark. Robert Sweet pulls out all the stops, as he nails the drumming and flaunts his technical prowess. Oz Fox, known for his legendary guitar skills, brings his abilities to an all new level. Tim Gaines leaves nothing to the imagination with his bass.

I met with Michael Sweet of Stryper recently and asked about the reason for re-recording these classics:

We did this for ourselves; we didn’t do it for the fans. We set out to re-record these songs because we wanted to own the masters. We have a label that owns the catalogue, which is Disney/Hollywood. We signed a publishing deal with Songspub and, you know, the middle man is Disney. So, whenever Songspub pitches a song for a movie or television, they gotta get approval from Disney. Most of the time that’s a very difficult task. They don’t return calls, or if they do, they want more money, or if they don’t want more money, they want this or that. A lot of times it makes the deal go south. So we grew tired of that and said ‘OK we’re going to re-record these songs and then there will be no middleman, ‘cause we’ll own the masters’. And that’s what we did.

That quote is only part of the picture painted by Stryper on Second Coming. The quality of the new recordings, tweaking some of the inconsistencies and improving the continuity found on the original recordings, has breathed new life into these metal classics. The greatest change is the incredible energy, equivalent to what fans would hear when seeing Stryper live.

While the albums Reborn and Murder by Pride gave a more updated metal sound, the two new tracks found on Second Coming are reminiscent of the early days of Stryper and mesh with the classics. ”Bleeding From The Inside Out” has already been sent to radio. Unquestionably it is “radio friendly” with an approachable metal vibe that even the non-metal masses will catchy. It’s ”Blackened” that has grabbed my attention with it’s a rawer, harder edge.

Stryper’s music became famous with both Christian and non-Christian audiences alike. A band that was both reviled by Christian conservatives and adored by those who recognized a new way of expounding Christian faith in music. All of this delivered by an amazing musical talent. The days of yellow and black striped spandex suits may be gone forever, but the new and old music of Stryper, found on Second Coming, will continue to delight for decades to come.

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