Stryper takes their name from Isaiah 53:5, a biblical text
which reads: “But He was wounded for our transgressions/He was bruised for our
iniquities/The chastisement for our peace was upon Him/And by His stripes we
are healed.” The text, of course, refers
to Christ. Never ones to shy away from
controversy, Stryper’s last album THE COVERING (2011) featured their
interpretations of mainstream hits by some of their musical heroes such as KISS
and Iron Maiden. Stryper is: Michael
Sweet (lead vocals/lead guitar), Robert Sweet (drums/visual timekeeping),
Timothy Gaines (bass/vocals), and Oz Fox (lead guitar/vocals). The men in yellow and black are back with a
new effort SECOND COMING (2013, Frontiers Records). It begins with fourteen re-recordings of
early hits, and is topped off with two brand new songs. In the liner notes the band writes: “30 years
ago we embarked on a mission. A mission
to turn from the temptations of Sunset Strip and turn to the grace, mercy and
forgiveness of God the Father...We took a bold stand and looked conformity in
the face and said ‘To hell with you!’”
SECOND COMING is an impressive 67 minutes and 10 seconds long!
‘Loud N’ Clear’ is one of eleven songs solely written by
Michael Sweet. On this song the band
defends itself against critics: “Hair is long/And the screams are loud and
clear/Clothes are tight/Earrings dangling from the ears/No matter how we
look/We’ll always praise His Name/And if you believe/You’ve got to do the
same/Loud, clear, let the people hear/Scream, shout, show what He’s all
about.” The song is a musical adrenaline
rush! ‘Loving You’ speaks of how Christ
can totally transform a life: “Anger in my heart/Life was such a drag for
me/Then I made a start to serve the living God/Now I’m free/ You’re my whole
life, You’re my lasting dream/Always on my mind/What a blessing that was sent to
me/Together we will shine/I’m loving You.”
‘Soldiers Under Command’
is one of four songs penned by the Sweet brothers, Michael and Robert. This classic rocker is made even more intense
musically here. Lyrically it calls us to
action: “Are you a soldier under
God’s command?/Help fight the good fight/Join up while you can/The battle
that’s waging is fought so easily/Through Him, without sin, there is
victory/And we’re fighting all the sin/And the good book, it says we’ll
win/Soldiers, soldiers, under command/Soldiers, soldiers, fighting the Lord’s
battle plan.” ‘Makes Me Wanna Sing’ is
an exuberant song of faith: “He makes me want to jump around/And pick my feet
up off the ground/Tonight’s the night it spreads throughout the land/We’re
gonna rock for something new/We’re gonna rock for something true/Tonight’s the
night, so let’s lift up our hands/Jesus, King, King of King/Jesus, He makes me
wanna sing.”
A beautiful hair metal ballad is up next. ‘First Love’ calls us spiritual prodigals
back home to the Father: “There is no love like the love of your First Love/It’s
so true, true love will never leave you/Tears in the night/Filled with
pain/You’re running from the love/That you had before you cried out/For your
First Love.” “The Rock that Makes me
Roll’ musically sounds like it was written to engage and energize concert
audiences. The lyrics make it clear that
Stryper is indeed different from many mainstream metal bands: “They say that
rock and roll is strong/But God’s the rock that makes us roll/Don’t need no
drugs to help us push on/We’ve got His power in our souls/Stand up and
fight/For what you believe in.”
‘Reach Out’ showcases the group’s harmonies and is a song of
testimony: “I was looking for the answer all the time/Always looking, never
finding, I was empty inside/Drowning in the darkness, needing the light to
see/Reaching out for shelter, then He set me free.” The old gospel favourites ‘I Surrender All’
and ‘Just as I Am’ share a similar message with the next song,
‘Surrender’. It begins with one of
Michael Sweet’s signature screams, and includes these words: “You can have it
all tonight/Pick it up and make it
right/Oh, you can be free/In the dark you need a light/Do you want to make it
right?/Oh, Jesus Christ is the Lover of your soul/And He wants to give you all you
need/So freely surrender/Open up unto His majesty.”
Unfortunately ‘To Hell With the Devil’ doesn’t here have the
rawness or the memorable vocal delivery of the 1986 original. Nevertheless, the song does make clear
Stryper’s intentions both musically and spiritually: “He’s never been the answer/There’s
a better way/We are here to rock you/And to say/To hell with the devil.” ‘Calling on You’, one of their more cheery
sounding songs, speaks of how each of us has a spiritual vacuum in our lives
that only God can fill: “Inside of me there is a lonely place/Sometimes I just
don’t know it’s there/But when I’m all alone, that’s when I have to face/The
part of me that needs someone/To be by my side, that’s when I call on/You, You
make my life complete/You give me all I need/You help me through and through/I’m
calling on You.”
‘Free’ is one of my favourite rockers of all time from
Stryper. The song points out that each
individual God creates chooses whether they will go to heaven or to hell in the
end: “Free to turn away-say goodbye/Free to walk away-and deny/The gift waiting
for you/Whispers a still, small voice/It’s your choice, you’re/Free, free to do
what you want to/Choose your own destiny/Free to do what you want to.” The electric guitar driven ‘The Way’, penned
by Oz Fox, is a spiritually vibrant song: “I feel His strength come into
me/Reading His Word helps me to see/I feel so new, I want to sing/Feeling His
joy in everything/Oh, what can I say?/Oh, Christ is the Way/Rockin’ for the One
who is the Rock.”
‘Sing-Along-Song’ includes a nice acapella breakdown and is
a song of gratitude: In a land of freedom/God has shed His grace/We’re proud to
live in such a place/With the right to sing song after song/This song’s for you
to sing along.” ‘More than a Man’ is a
particularly strong, heavy metal hymn if you will, serving as a gospel
invitation: “God, I will follow You because You died for me/Gave to me Your
life to set me free/Anyone who asks shall receive/Jesus in your heart/It’s time
for you to start/Giving God all the glory.”
Two new heavy rock tracks close out the album. ‘Bleeding from the Inside Out’ describes the
woeful spiritual condition many of us find ourselves in today: “You’re bleeding
from inside out/Wounded beyond your own recognition/You’re bandaged in fear and
doubt/Brought to your knees by a life and death collision.” The song, which fans of JEKYLL AND HYDE era
Petra will like, does offer these words of hope: “There’s rain that washes
clean the soil that stains your legacy/That means redemption, it’s your
destiny.” ‘Blackened’ is faster paced
musically and appropriately ends with Michael screaming. This song is one of spiritual yearning: “I
can’t run/I’m not gonna hide/In another bottle of wine/I can see my soul in a
different place/I don’t want to go as another case/Of a man whose heart
is/Blackened, blackened.”
To be honest, a lot of the classic songs re-recorded here
don’t sound like vast improvements on the originals. Sometimes they even seem to be missing
something you just can’t put your finger on.
At times, the versions here seem a bit flawed, more like live concert
versions. I would have liked to hear
more artistic creativity and extended guitar solos in their
interpretations. That being said, this
project has the potential to introduce Stryper to a whole new generation of
music lovers to whom the band’s back catalogue is likely largely foreign. There are several strengths to SECOND
COMING. The message is explicitly
Christian. The songs are straight up
hard rock and metal, which is not as easy to find these days as it once was in
Christian music. The electric guitar
solos that are prevalent are well performed.
The CD packaging and photos of the band (and one of Christ) are well
done and should be nominated at least, for an award. Finally, the two brand new songs show Stryper
to still have a lot of life, energy, and passion. This is extremely good news for longtime fans,
as an album of new material is said not to be too far off in the future. I’m rating SECOND COMING 85%. For more info visit www.stryper.com and www.frontiers.it.