In the
days of yore, when pop music meant something, it was filled with nourishing
musical ideas and showed the tides of progress.
But then something happened, the ability for it to fill our soul has
nearly vanished, and the masses are starved on good music. There’s the occasional quality track that
stays good after multiple spins, but it has gotten to the moment where even
good pop music gets stale. We live in a
white-bread world in mainstream music.
However, there’s salvation from the drek that the masses need to know
about. In the words of Marie Antoinette,
or more accurately The Rods quoting her: “LET THEM EAT METAL!”
Hello degenerates,
heathens, weirdos, and deviants. I am the Rock Otaku, and I’m here to
show you worlds such as hard rock, metal, punk, alternative rock, movies, TV,
anime, video games, and anything that makes us scream, shout, and let it out in
the name of the Lord.
This series is dedicated
to the best that heavy metal can offer.
As you will read, I will take you on a journey though the annals of
heavy metal’s storied history from its beginning in early 70s, its
crystallization in the late 70s and early 80s, its breakthrough into mainstream
conscience in the early to mid-80s, its maturation in the late 80s and 90s, its
dominance (sort of) in the 2000s and even today, and the rare moments that very
few talk about unless in the company of like-minded fans. Not in that order, but I’ll be looking at the
footnotes of metal history in the order I
desire. In short, this series is about
metal, plain and simple.
But why just stick with
one album? The world of heavy metal is
vast, diverse, loaded with amazing talent and interesting movements. I can’t catch up to it all if I stick with
one album at a time. It’d take eternity
to review the amount of metal I’d review.
Or even share a spotlight with multiple artists at the same time. This is where the Ring comes in.
The Metallic Ring of Rock ‘N’
Roll Hellfire is a battleground where rock bands, past, present, and future,
prove themselves to see who the top of their class is. This is where I will judge albums not by
themselves, but compared to their competition.
There are many categories for this series, depending on the number of
albums entering the ring. The main four
are best three opening tracks, best closer, best lyrics, and best music being
the closing category, with others depending on the albums as well as how many
to ensure a fair fight where every album gets a shot at points.
But before I reveal this week’s contenders, I
have a question for the church goers, people of faith, and religiously inclined
in my pitifully small readership: is heavy metal offensive to your
beliefs? While the reach of metal and
hard rock today has gotten so big that even the church doesn’t mind it, there
are still a few belief systems that I know about or consider that’d still
protest a Cannibal Corpse show, a Mayhem show, a Napalm Death show, and even a
Black Veil Brides show. When you get
right down to it, metal is inherently a dark genre of music, both audibly and
visually. The concept of sunshine and rainbows in the genre is always shunned
upon by a very vocal (if not stupid) group that demands everything darker,
heavier, angrier, and more evil, to the point where some bands push the word of
the Prince of Darkness.
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| No, not that prince of darkness. |
But what about metal
bands and artists that are spiritually inclined. Those that love the sound and fury but are
uncomfortable with the unintentional Beelzebub promoting. There are many metal and hard rock acts whose
members are of the Christian faith and are devout, but are open-minded enough
to interact with Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, rival Christians, Atheists,
Agnostics, Satanists, Lovecraftians, Jedi, and Trekkies (once that becomes a
religion). Heck, there’s a necessity of
open-mindedness to appreciate heavy metal and hard rock in general. But sometimes, you find enough material in
the Bible instead of the works of Tolkien, Lovecraft, King, Hemmingway, and
other famous genre writers to write songs about, but it’s not the messed-up Old
Testament. It’s the more comforting New
Testament, and you want to spread that message of kindness, charity, and
worship. That’s where Christian metal
comes in.
So what are my
thoughts on Christian metal? It’s
alright by my book. First is batting average,
there are a bunch of hits, a bunch of misses, and times where a good melody is
set to very preachy material. Yes, I’m
the kind of guy that likes his metal black, but I do put cream and sugar in it
most of the time, and isn’t half bad.
The issue with Christian metal depends on the band and artist and if
they hammer their messages into our heads.
But that’s an issue with most Christian rock anyway, and of course when
I listen to the genre, I aim for the heavier side of the spectrum due to the
tendencies to sound less like Protestant, super-preachy, ultra-conservative,
Trump-apologist, lame duck sissies and have more of a fiery, passionate,
slightly more open and Catholic tone to them (even if most of them are
Protestant). And even then, there are some
bands in the genre (initially) vilified for their sound despite having a more
positive, faith-friendly message. But
enough with the ranting, let’s discuss two major bands in the genre that
attained mainstream attention in two eras of rock, 80s glam metal and 00s butt
rock, and still have massive followings and devout (no shame here) fanbases.
Yes, while I have
covered what was once mainstream metal/rock in the past, its origins, and even
a Japanese kawaii take on it, I am discussing the former as well as the genre
that is the epitome of mainstream radio rock: post-grunge. Also known as butt rock due to its sludgy
guitars, attempts at emulating Eddie Vedder and Layne Staley in the vocal
department, and (in the second and third waves) overuse of clichés from glam
metal, crunk, country, and contemporary Christian music in the lyrical
department, the genre, which is also called flyover rock on the softer and more
mainstream-friendly side, is derided for being safe, bland, generic, meat and
potatoes rock without any spices like shred solos (which tend to be meh on that
front), falsetto singing, and a dash of LGBT-friendliness. This is a genre for backwards-ass rednecks
and the red-state equivalents to SJWs, who don’t like to be offended by
anything “new.” In short, think of the
fanbase including the drive-in owners in Alabama that refuses to show a
PG-rated movie over a supposed “gay scene” that’s so short that I called it a
“gay shot,” or a brief piece of footage between cuts when the “offensive” stuff
happened (I’m still a little peeved that Bill Condon and Disney blue-balled me
there, I can recommend the feature to conservatives as a result you damn
blabbermouths!). And I’m comparing one
of the many Christian-tinged acts in this genre, to the point where they’re
part of the Christian rock scene in America, to THE Christian hair metal
band. Now for the introductions.
From Orange County,
California, this band of bards preach the name of the lord and his good works
while shredding your face off. Inspired by
the music of Judas Priest and Van Halen, but also devout to the words of Jesus,
they take the wild, intense, and heavy sound of heavy metal and take it to
church. Their attitude is righteous in
the name of Jehovah, their sound has the power of a church organ at full blast,
their melodies are divine, and their hooks can even convert heretics to the
word of God. They are:
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| STRYPER! |
The Yellow and Black
Attack come to LTEM’s Metallic Ring of Rock ‘n’ Roll Hellfire with their
breakthrough album, easily one of the bestselling Christian rock albums of all
time:
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| No words have been spoken so lightly. And plus, this cover is better than the retail version. |
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| Yes, the same Arizona-based epitome of elitist metalheads thinks Stryper is a part of the story of power metal. That reaction is earned. |
From Memphis, Tennessee,
this family-based band of followers of the good book have entered the rock
scene to preach the good will of God. At
the same time, their music and lyrics evoke feelings of disaster and woe
brought on us by dark times and influences, and with Jesus, we’d be saved. But don’t let their appearance and sound fool
you, their music hits hard, fast, and with enough symphonic elements to become
a catalyst for many AMVs. With
hard-hitting anthems of righteousness and soft ballads of faith, they are:
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| SKILLET! |
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| There is a reason for this, hear me out. |
Now for the
categories. Obviously are best three
opening tracks, best closing track, best lyrics, and best music in that
order. But between the opening and
closing tracks are the best anthems, best ballads, best singles, and best deep
cuts in that order. Then for the
second-to-last category so there can be an even number of categories and no
possibility of a tie, I will have, because best music will always be the last
category, best Christian message, which means that I will judge how well
presented any pro-Christian messages are in both albums, whether they’re not
obnoxious, overt, or obvious (as in, a super-Atheist like Crash Thompson needs
to be able to take something positive out of it and possibly have a viewpoint
of “better than meh” for it to win).
So let’s rock in the
name of God:
Best Three Opening
Tracks:
For this category, I
was considering cheating with Stryper because the first three anthems after the
moody intro track are so awesome, but to give Skillet a challenge, I felt that
I really should take this category literally.
So “Abyss (To Hell With The Devil),” “To Hell With The Devil,” and
“Calling On You” (gee, I wonder what the last one is about? There are only two options there) from the
California hair band will take on “Hero,” “Monster,” and “Don’t Wake Me” from
the Tennessee flyover rock stars. And
plus, if I did bring in “Free,” then “Awake and Alive” would have been a part
of this fight, and for my one or two Japanese followers, having four tracks
would be both overkill and a bad omen.
So those two tracks will have the anthems and singles to bring their
A-game. For this, let’s get to the
individual artists here.
For Stryper, when you
hear the words “Christian metal” you’d expect heavy metal in FAVOR of the
Church rather than having a morbid curiosity in the stuff mainstream Christian
media likes to gloss over. That and
“Christian metal” sounds like something along the lines of Nickelback at their
heaviest (expect more burns). But “Abyss
(To Hell With The Devil)” really doesn’t sound uplifting. At all.
In reality, it’s dark, ominous, brooding, and very, very gothic in its
execution, with only keyboards, organs, and sound effects creating this sort of
hellish musical landscape. Then the song
segues into the album’s title track, which is as dark, brooding, and gothic as
the preceding opener, but with the ominous terror replaced with fist-pumping
fury, giving good old Beelzebub the bird ala. Star Lord. And with this declaration of war on Lucifer,
the band goes for a mid-tempo, headbanger friendly, commercial metal anthem
that includes razor-sharp guitar riffs, thick bass, steady drums to give off a
marching beat on the path to beat Satan’s ass further into his fiery
prison. Matching that fury is Michael
Sweet’s angelic vocals, loaded with metal screams (he sure can scream). And the guitar licks and solo are a testament
to Michael’s and Oz Fox’s guitar wizardry.
But beyond any signs of witchcraft.
You get into the next track, “Calling On You,” which feels like a sort
of, “Hey, we need an uplifting Christian song praising Jesus after our
hard-hitting anti-Devil song. Any
ideas?” from Michael, than either Robert Sweet or Oz said “I had this song
about how a Japanese girl that’s a little above the age of consent in Georgia
makes me all warm and fuzzy, does that help?” which Michael replies “Let me
change the girl to Jesus and we have a song, guys. Thanks, (insert Robert or Oz based on your
perspective).” And we get this mid-tempo
song with more razor-sharp guitars, thick bass, pounding and steady drums,
soaring vocals, and with more heavenly guitar licks and solos, but I do feel
that the last tracks guitar moments were better. And as if this song felt like a slight
downgrade from the previous track in metallic bite, it has the same tempo and
drum beat, as if they wanted to sell this drum beat to the faithful who weren’t
sold on the “screw the Prince of Darkness” mentality of the previous
track. Weird, but not bad as the three
songs do feel like two due to “Abyss” and its relationship with the following
track. Can Skillet top it?
Surprisingly, due to
the first two, there’s a shot they could have.
With “Hero,” you get an initial blitzkrieg of guitars, bass, drums, and
electronics before the vocals come in with John Cooper bellowing about the
injustices of the world while Jen Ledger provides various lines to match with
the singer/bassist. And throughout, the
song stays at your traditional post-grunge beat of fast enough to be rock and
tap-friendly enough for mainstream radio play, with the instrumentation being
at one intensity during the verses and building up to a very loud, in-your-face
chorus that’ll have you chanting along.
That and the vocal interplay used here is distinctive enough to give it
an identity in the snarling, yarling post-grunge scene. Too bad there’s no guitar solo. But the next song, “Monster,” is
stadium-made, with its driving beat, heavy riffs, pounding rhythm section, and
scorching vocals about feeling like a demon resides in you. If there’s one issue with it, it sound’s way
too much like Three Days Grace’s seminal rocker, “Animal I Have Become” and
relies on the same themes. If it wasn’t
for that, it could have easily been considered a rock classic rather than a
cheap, Christian-themed knock-off. For
“Don’t Wake Me,” the band slows things to a crawl and decided to go for the
ballad. After two hard-hitting rockers,
you’d expect a raging animal in a cage with a Christian message, but this song
is a precursor to the album’s major flaw: the overuse of ballads on this
album. And they’re “butt rock” ballads
with Christian themes, so the sting of white, safe, blandness really starts to
strike the wrong nerves in most audiences.
And plus, it really is an issue when the song is about as dangerous and
in-your-face as a hamster and you want to sell your band as hardcore Christian
metal. And that’s why I said they could
have had a shot at winning our hearts.
Instead, they waste it.
So, with both albums
having two big anthems to start, it’s clear that there’s some kind of a draw. However, while ripping off another song can
be an issue most of the time, ripping off yourself if you have the ability to
make it distinctive will be better than ripping off another song and not
bringing anything substantial to the table.
That and not having the third track on your album to be a bland, boring
ballad. Point goes to Stryper.
Stryper: 1
Skillet: 0
But what about the
rest of the anthems on both albums. How
do they bring us closer to God? And no,
not in the way you’re thinking, Trent Reznor fans.
Best Anthems:
For Stryper, the last
two songs I’ve mentioned, “Free,” “The Way,” “Sing-Along Song,” “Holding On,”
“Rockin’ The World,” and “More Than A Man” will be counted for this category,
so we have 8 anthems to choose from. And
to make it fair for the competition, I’ll be judging the average score I give
each on a 1-5 scale. And currently, “To
Hell With The Devil” and “Calling On You” rate at a 5 and a 4 for me,
respectively. So how does “Free”
continue the charge? Well, it’s the same
drum beat again, so there’s that, but at least the opening lick is melodically
powerful. And the song is more about
having the choice whether you want to go on the righteous path or not deny the
forces of evil. While, obviously, it’s
more about having the freedom to choose the path of Christ, I do get the sense
that most secular-minded, non-religious listeners will be able to get something
out of it. But for those with an
appreciation for the supposed grandeur of church choirs, the end of the song,
after the main guitar solo, is fantastic.
After “Honestly,” which I’ll get to in the next category, is “The Way,”
a song that has more in common with speed metal than the last three anthems
mentioned, and it shreds hard with a great hook. Before I get to “Sing-Along Song,” let me say
that “Holding On” is practically “Calling on You” with lamer lyrics, and the
continued sense that this was written about a girl before it was edited to be
about Christ. “Rockin’ The World” is a
massive improvement, with a loud, stadium-friendly hook and some wild guitar
work. But after that, and a dip into
enough sugar to cause brief gender-bending in men, we get “More Than A Man,”
probably the album’s biggest argument for Razorfist’s point about them and
their contributions to power metal, as it’s more of a power-metalish song
(definitely on the light European/Japanese side of power metal, though), and
it’s epic sound, licks, riffs, rhythms, hooks, and solo. And that’s how the album ends. But before Skillet can fight, my scores for
the song’s I’ve talked about in this paragraph are, respectively, 5, 5, 3, 5,
and 5, adding to the previous scores for the songs I’ve mentioned.
Now for Skillet, we
have the first two songs reviewed, “Awake and Alive,” “It’s Not Me It’s You,” and
“Sometimes.” The reason, everything else
to my ears is a ballad. So for that,
it’s extremely apparent that I’m working with three songs here, with the grades
for the two I’ve already discussed to be a 4 and a 3 respectively. But if there’s an anthem that screams
spiritually uplifting anthem, it’s “Awake and Alive.” With its modern rock elements being only an
issue for nitpicking, it’s a very passionate, driving, heart-pounding song that
will get you screaming the chorus, and the vocal interplay between John and Jen
is among the best on the album here.
Plus you have stellar guitar work from rhythm guitarist (and John’s
wife) Korey Cooper and lead guitarist Ben Kasica (who’d later leave the band)
anchored by excellent keyboard and string arrangements, thick bass, and
pounding drums, the latter two from the singers. And that song has a great guitar solo. But then you get “It’s Not Me, It’s You,”
which is probably one of the whitest songs that played on rock radio I’ve
heard, and the worst part is that it’s so emo about it. It’s as if the song is trying to appeal to
the emo crowd and people who feel that songs about having bad relationships
relate to them. And it’s a surprisingly
dull song. “Sometimes” feels like a
weird name for a song, because it proves that sometimes, this band is capable
of creating a killer anthem that doesn’t even get released as a single. However, it’s still a generic post-grunge
anthem that’s about being a jerk and admitting that. But where it feels great is in its placement
on the album, feeling like an oasis in a desert of contemporary Christian
ballads. On its own, the song is okay,
with okay guitars that include okay riffs and an okay solo, okay bass, and okay
drum work. As a result, the rest of the
songs score at 5, 2, and 3 respectively.
Ouch! Especially considering what
Stryper did.
They made a legitimate
song with the title of “Sing-Along Song,” and that requires effort and
guts. What do I mean, the song is a
basic, low to mid-tempo, stadium rocker with sharp guitar riffs, pounding bass
and drums, and epic feel, and Michael Sweet dialing up the catchy epicness to
11. And yes, the chorus is just “Whoa”
repeated over and over with “along” following it, but it’s a surprisingly
intense, mesmerizing, and catchy song that’s, let’s face it, dedicated to
God. And while it doesn’t have a shredding
solo, the one it does have matches with the simple, straightforward tone of the
rest of the song. It’s just a simple
song played larger than life, and it’s somehow interesting throughout the
entire 4-minute runtime. A definite 5
for effort.
So with that, based on
8 anthems, the average score for Stryper is 4.6 while Skillet has an average
score (based on 5 songs) of 3.4. So yes,
Stryper is the winner for best anthems.
They rocked harder, had more meat, had more muscle, and are more
melodically interesting. And this can be
attributed to something I’ll bring up at the end regarding their place in 80s
metal versus Skillet’s place in late-00s modern rock.
Stryper: 2
Skillet: 0
But a commercial,
Christian-tinged metal album can’t all be anthems. You need sappy songs for CC (Contemporary
Christian) stations for promotional reasons.
So which ones are the most tolerable.
Best Ballads:
Here, Stryper come in
with two tracks, while Skillet have a staggering seven. SEVEN BALLADS ON AN ALBUM! How does that affect that album’s heaviness?
First with Stryper,
the two ballads are “Honestly” and “All of Me.”
If there was a Nostalgia Critic-esque show dedicated to 80s hair metal,
then there’s a shot that the first track will be mercilessly mocked. Why?
Because it’s probably one of the sappiest things to come from the hair
metal scene, and compared to its spiritual frat-boy child, it’s Cheetos-level
dangerously cheesy. How? Let’s dive in. The song is practically a love letter to
either a girl Michael Sweet likes or Jesus himself. And it’s driven by keyboards rather than
guitars, the ultimate sign of 80s cheese that screams soft, sensitive, and
sappy versus loud, dangerous, and manly.
And as a result, it sounds cheap, manufactured, and commercial, i.e.
lame. And that’s not to say that it
can’t be great (there are many great keyboard-driven songs I’ve heard), but
that, in this case, it’s pretty lame, and the fact that Michael sings like a
girl here doesn’t help. At least the
chorus is punched up by guitars, bass, and drums. However, “All of Me” has all the same
problems as the last track, but it’s somehow even worse. And there’s no guitar, bass, and drums to
salvage that wreck. So the scores here
are 2 and 1, respectively.
As for Skillet, EVERY
OTHER SONG IS A BALLAD! So that means
the song I’ve already mentioned, “Don’t Wake Me” to be exact, “One Day Too
Late,” “Should’ve When You Could’ve,” “Believe,” “Forgiven,” “Never Surrender,”
and “Lucy” will be analyzed here individually.
And here, the first song’s analysis was above, and I gave it some heat,
giving it the equivalent to a 2. For
“One Day Too Late,” it’s a slow, brooding ballad dealing with themes of faith
or something with basic guitars, bass and drums with an explosive chorus. “Should’ve When You Could’ve” is also a slow,
brooding ballad dealing with themes of faith or something with basic guitars,
bass and drums with an explosive chorus.
“Believe” has the same structure, being a slow, brooding ballad dealing
with themes of faith or something with basic guitars, bass and drums with an
explosive chorus. “Forgiven” may have
some pianos at the beginning, but it’s a slow, brooding ballad dealing with
themes of faith or something with basic guitars, bass and drums with an
explosive chorus. Despite its badass
title, “Never Surrender” is a slow, brooding ballad dealing with themes of
faith or something with basic guitars, bass and drums with an explosive
chorus. And “Lucy” is… wait a sec, it
deals with the aftermath of an abortion on a couple? It’s still a slow, brooding ballad with basic
guitars, bass and drums with an explosive chorus, but Holy Moses is this a
relatable song. It’s not something nice,
but it’s at least about a relevant issue, especially in the Christian world
being overtaken by agnostic liberalism, something I have some stake in
somewhat. But this falls definitely in
the pro-life camp, as it deals with trying to move on after doing the
deed. Scientifically, there’s nothing
wrong with an abortion as long as it’s done in a certain time frame, but
there’s also nothing wrong with crying over it, especially if the likely child
might have shined a light on the family.
It’s a tough decision to do so, and there are consequences either way,
may they be spiritually, personally, or fiscally. And this is coming from someone who views
himself as pro-choice. It’s nothing
special in practice, but the chosen key is a relief from the other ballads, and
it’s an okay song. In general, the
scores here would count, for the songs reviewed, as 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, and 3 for
“Lucy” to have the balls it did. If it
wasn’t for the saddest song here, this could have tied with Stryper due to how
boring the ballads got to insufferability.
As a result, due to
the legendary awfulness, and ultimate guilty-pleasure possibility, of
“Honestly” and me feeling that “Lucy” is underrated, Skillet get the point with
an average of 1.71 versus Stryper’s 1.5.
Stryper: 2
Skillet: 1
And while the album is
worth more than a single song, sometimes these singles can gauge our
interest. Which songs sold the album
better to both Christian and non-secular audiences?
Best Singles:
So for Stryper, the
songs they bring to the table are “Free” and “Honestly” with “Calling On You”
only brought in if I feel that they need this part. Skillet will have “Hero,” “Monster,” “Awake
and Alive,” “Forgiven,” “Lucy,” “It’s Not Me, It’s You,” and “One Day Too
Late.” And for this, it will be judged
on an average scale for the obtaining of the overall score.
For Stryper, they can
easily have this in the bag in two ways:
One, the fact that the ballads by Skillet, while mediocre, may actually
be better as single songs rather than part of an album. Two, the inclusion of “Calling On You”
pushing the scale towards the God-praising hair band. But as I’ve mentioned, “Free” is such a great
track in my opinion and is one of those examples of Christian metal where I can
ignore the overt religious themes and focus on the more universal ideas of the
song, such as having the choice to do good.
As a guy that values choice over destiny, I can heavily relate to the
song’s message and its chorus, going “Free/Free to do what you want to/Choose
your own destiny/Free to do what you want to.”
And both the first take on it and the more choral take after the key
change are equally effective. And this
is some of Michael Sweet’s manliest singing on the album, even with the
choir. That and the solo, when you hear
it, is musical ecstasy. And you also get
the song bookended by the same guitar lick, which is a great lick in both keys
it’s played in on the song. But if
there’s a reason why Skillet could take the prize here, it’s because of
“Honestly.” It’s a crappy song and a
painfully-sappy ballad, all at the same time, and it’s so bland and unoriginal
that it hurts the band’s overall credibility.
A 5 and a 2 for them.
As for Skillet, their
singles go like this. “It’s Not Me, It’s
You” is the weakest anthem single, due to it being a blatantly generic, very
immature track. Despite its strengths as
a stadium and sport-friendly Christian hard rocker, “Monster” is still a
blatant “Animal I Have Become” knockoff.
“Hero” is a great way to have started the string of singles as well as
the album, but the lack of a guitar solo keeps it from perfection. Said perfection is “Awake and Alive.” And for the ballads, you can say that they
improve in quality with distance from the anthem. While I may have considered “Forgiven” a 1 on
the album, on its own, it’s a generic, cookie-cutter ballad that somehow is
slightly improved by a piano intro at the beginning. While pianos in ballads won’t save them,
there are moments where, like with most of X Japan’s ballads, it is essential,
and it works a little here. It doesn’t
make the song more enjoyable to me, but it does help with the sentiment. For “One Day Too Late,” it isn’t a great
ballad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s rather interesting on its
own, as it’s more about John Cooper’s family life and how it affected his time
to do other things. It isn’t a great
sentiment, but it’s nice to know that he’s trying to make them happy. And “Lucy” is a surprisingly great ballad on
its own, despite any possibly uncomfortable undertones. Overall, they did a good job in what songs to
pick. For the singles in release order,
the scores are 4, 3, 5, 2, 3, 2, and 3.
And yes, the scores did suddenly increase thanks to extra thoughts on
them.
For this as a result,
Stryper have a average score of 3.5, with Skillet bieing at 3.14. Yes, ultimately Stryper had a better sense of
quality singles than Skillet, even worse when you realize what else could have
been considered. So Stryper get the
point.
Stryper: 3
Skillet: 1
But what about beyond
the singles?
Best Deep Cuts:
As I’ve mentioned,
Stryper only released two technical singles, both of them having equally strong
b-sides (if not stronger in some cases) while Skillet, due to having 7 singles,
have 5 tracks that will provide their score here.
In the case of
Stryper, let’s start with “Calling on You” and “Sing-Along Song,” as they were
B-Sides to “Free” and “Honestly.” In the
former’s case, it’s weird since it got a music video that got play on MTV, but
I can see the band going with “Free” as the big track. Specifically, it’s a good track that follows a
massive issue (or a great joke) with Christian rock, one that has been mocked
on South Park at some point.
Specifically, the whole idea that Christian artists, at their laziest,
take songs about a girl they like and change the subject of affection to God or
Jesus, with changes to the innuendos to make it family friendly. And this song does feel like that, as in if
you didn’t tell me this is about his relationship with God or Jesus, you’d
assume that this is a tame dedication of love to a girl he likes. And to a certain degree, it makes sense
considering what everyone else in the glam genre were doing, making this a song
of virtue disguised as a song of vice.
And I did mention that the guitars are great and the instrumentation is
awesome as well, with credit to the guitarists for the great solo. But arguably the biggest gamble, and the most
surprising track, is “Sing-Along Song,” with a surprisingly heavy, marching feel
that makes it closer to a war anthem than Radio Disney fluff. With its heavy guitars, pounding drums, thick
bass, marching groove, and soaring vocals, choir included, this is a song,
despite its blatant Christian themes, to take with you on a dungeon quest in an
RPG and inspire your party to victory.
And also despite the chorus being “whoa” being overextended and overused
than in a Keanu Reeves movie, this is still an epic track. For the rest, “Abyss” and “To Hell With The
Devil” are a two-way epic of epic epicness with the former’s eerie synths and
organs and the latter’s pounding heavy metal glory. “The Way” is the first of the albums
surprisingly stellar speed metal forays, with “Rockin’ The World” and “More
Than a Man” proving the band’s heavy metal credentials in being catchy, fast,
heavy, and epic as well. “Holding On” is
a bit of a dud, but it’s still a rocking track with strong musical elements
despite being another mid-tempo rocker about how Michael loves Jesus. And where “Honestly” sucked, “All of Me” is
worse, as the lack of heavy metal instrumentation puts this squarely in the
crappy Christian Adult Contemporary fluff that plagues the Christian music
scene with its lack of edge or guts.
Overall, scores, in track order for the songs mentioned, are 5, 5, 4, 5,
5, 3, 5, 1, and 5.
Skillet are more of a
mixed bag on album cuts, as the tracks they released as singles make sense as
singles. You can easily make the claim
that these songs are pure filler rather than essential tracks, and since most
of them are ballads, that claim is even more justifiable. “Don’t Wake Me,” as I’ve mentioned, is not a
good way to kickstart an anthem-laden album dedicated to the lord and
worshiping him. It’s a painfully
mediocre ballad musically, and the lyrics don’t feel very essential. “Then “Should’ve When You Could’ve” feels
very painfully thin, definitely pushing the filler angle and coming across as
white noise when I listened to it. And
despite some elements of drive, “Believe” is a significantly boring track that
somehow equates Jesus and/or God with a chick and angsting about how much of a
bad idea it was to cut ties with him/her.
Even if it had a guitar solo, which it does, it’s still a bland
track. Even worse is “Never Surrender,”
which fails on principle rather than execution.
Not to say that being a ballad hurt it, but having a ballad that’s a
generic ballad with a title for an anthem, it really feels like the band is
trying to blue-ball me into giving a dud a shot. Even if the song is mediocre in execution and
practice, I still don’t like being fooled into thinking that a possibly-amazing
track is hampered by modern rock clichés.
I’d stick with other songs of the same name from the 80s, they knew how
to sell that ideology. At least
“Sometimes” had some punch, and being an anthem in a sea of dull ballads is a
great way for me to forgive the sense that it’s just okay. Overall, the scores in order of song listing
would be 2, 2, 2, 3, and 1.
So the averages for
both bands would be counted as 4.22 and 2 for Stryper and Skillet,
respectively. Not surprisingly,
considering the route of the songs themselves and how the genres they’re a part
of define what kind of sounds they have.
And I’m starting to get the sense that Skillet’s album is proper
material for a Regretting the Past episode from Rocked. Point goes to Stryper.
Stryper: 4
Skillet: 1
But can either album
end with a bang or a whimper? Was God on
their sides to the very end?
Best Closing Track:
Based on previous
words of mine, the winner here is pretty much Stryper. I’ll assign them the point after I explain
why.
As far as musically,
this song is an absolute headbanger. If
there was a secret weapon to hair metal that put it squarely in the heavy metal
camp of the 80s, even when it incorporated elements of punk, blues, and pop, it’s
that the musicians were capable of playing as fast, and sometimes faster, than
their 70s metal, hard rock, arena rock, progressive rock, punk rock, and NWOBHM
predecessors and their thrash, power, progressive, speed, and neo-classical
metal contemporaries. And Stryper is not
an exception here, playing this song at breakneck speeds that would be seen in
speed and power metal, with the melodicism of what would come from Stratovarius
and Sonata Arctica. And that’s simply
from the opening, both the slower, more melodic first few seconds and when the
drums enter the proper tempo for this, and the song continues to be like
that. And for this song, Michael sings
about Jesus came to Earth to save us, and having him in our hearts will save
us. It’s silly, but the mix of the wild
instrumentation and the epic tone that’s usually reserved for songs of war
manage to sell this idea. Even if you
don’t follow the gospel, this musical drive is nothing short of inspiring. That and there’s a great guitar solo after the
bridge that showcases the technical ability, melodicism, and feel of Michael
Sweet and Oz Fox, being one of the best solos on the album. And if you’re a hardcore Christian or someone
who sometimes practices religion, the chorus is still catchy regardless. Plus, it does feel like that it’s the
ultimate moment where Stryper had to sell the idea of a commercial Christian
heavy metal album to the masses, and this is how they ended. Outright divine.
But that doesn’t mean
Skillet’s closing track on their album is awful. Like “More Than a Man,” “Lucy” follows what
is arguably the worst track on the album, which, like in Stryper’s case, is a
bad ballad. But unlike Stryper, instead
of putting effort into rocking our socks off, Skillet go in a more somber, understated
direction. With its piano intro and John
Cooper’s vocals, we go into a song about a man who’s lost a woman (or baby
girl, if you’re going with the abortion angle) and dealing with the loss and
trying to move on. And like the other
ballads on the album, it’s a slow, melancholic ballad with some beautiful
moments, even if it comes across as bland and generic, that’s somehow more
beautiful due to how it’s about loss rather than faith. Its themes, as I’ve discussed, involve, in
essence, losing someone dear, thinking about what could have been, but having
to live with the choices made and trying to let go, even if it’s
difficult. And even with the abortion
angle (which is going to make this uncomfortable for most of you, I’m sure),
there’s also this sense that it’s more about the man mourning his wife rather
than a possible daughter, or even his daughter, with said angle making it seem
as if the choice SHE made either killed her or driven her suicide. That and another angle could be presented:
it’s just the wife or girlfriend who died, and he’s mourning her while trying
to move on with his life, knowing that they’ll reunite in Heaven. Regardless of your beliefs or views, it’s a
very sad song with some sort of hopeful spirit, despite the bland instrumentation. And whatever view you do have, I’d like to
know what yours is on this track. It’s a
beautiful, engaging song, but there’s one issue that I’ll explain towards the
end.
I feel like Skillet
had the safety net of both their entire career at that point as well as trends
in hard rock to end like that. For
Stryper, they had more going against them, so they put out probably one of the
most epic “hair metal” songs put to tape, and that should get them more credit. So overall, I feel that Stryper outright
deserves this point. Skillet did a great
job with “Lucy,” but “More Than A Man” is a much more impressive track overall.
Stryper: 5
Skillet: 1
Now that we’ve
discussed the songs, let’s discuss what they’re about overall.
Best Lyrics:
For this, it’s rather
interesting, as both bands have different lyrical styles that match with the
ethos of their respective eras: Stryper for hair metal and Skillet for
post-grunge.
Hair metal lyrics,
like them or not, are about lust, gluttony, pride, greed, and the philosophy of
carpe diem. As a result, you get a lot
of songs about girls, drugs, booze, materialism, bad behavior, rebellion, and
the occasional political statement as well as your traditional metal songs
about dark forces, epic battles, and genre fiction (the last few lyrical themes
come from the faster and heavier bands in the movement, by the way). For Stryper, their lyrics follow not just the
sleazier side of commercial hair metal in concept but the darker and more epic
side of traditional metal with tales of swords and sorcery, all of it being
used instead to preach the word of Christ.
And that’s where I feel they were able to stand tall with bands like
Judas Priest, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken, Iron Maiden, Twisted
Sister, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P., Saxon, Def Leppard, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising
Force, Manowar, Jag Panzer, Queensryche, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, Manilla
Road, Impellitteri, Poison, Warrant, Winger, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Whitesnake,
Skid Row, Tesla, Ozzy Osbourne, and others. They were both sheep in wolves’ clothing
(singing about God in the guise of heavy metal odes to violence and romance) as
well as wolves in sheep’s clothing (bringing heavy metal to a very
conservative, very easily-offended, most likely Protestant Christian base, for
us Catholics wouldn’t have an issue with epic metal, I think). By redoing traditionally metal lyrics as song
about Christ, replacing girls with God, Satanic terror with Christian comfort,
hidden pessimism with blatant optimism, and a few other changes, Stryper
successfully made a career out of pro-God heavy metal and gained a global
fanbase of worshippers in the process.
If there’s an issue, outside of “To Hell With The Devil” and “Free,” the
lyrics either come off as blatantly Christian or can easily have God or Jesus
replaced with a girl and the songs would be the same. It’s not terrible, but it does feel that they
subscribed way too much to the hair metal formula at times in how they approach
Christian themes.
Skillet is based more
in post-grunge lyrics, which deal with, initially, the attitudes and life-story
of one’s self, their problems and worries, as well as abstract logic, then it
started taking lyrical cues from commercial hard rock, hair metal, country, and
contemporary Christian, leading to sludgy, dirty-sounding songs about girls,
drugs, booze, white-trash lifestyles, parties, societal values, getting closer
to God or whoever they worship, relationship woes, life stories, and whatever a
washed-up music executive thinks still sells, even when critics demand rock
lyrics to be as dangerous as Radio Disney fluff because of the cancer of
political correctness (even if I’m left-wing or right-wing, I believe that
clever vulgarity can cause us to think and learn something more than forced cleanliness
and kumbaya bullshit). As a result, you
have a lot of alternative metal and post-grunge acts with Christian lyrics and
attitudes that may have led to the rock scene being a slightly trashier, more
honest, and more fun version of what Nashville was dumping out; the
Jägermeister to modern country’s Coors Light, it may taste slightly better, but
it’ll not make you as fat and will lead to more exciting parties and wilder
ideas after a nasty hangover. And now you
know my views on modern country, I’d rather listen to Saving Abel, Hinder,
Taddy Porter, or Black Stone Cherry over Luke Bryan (and so should you). Rant aside, for Skillet, this has the effect
of having two modes to their lyrics, personal and relatable at their best
(“Hero,” “Awake and Alive,” and “Lucy” are this, with “One Day Too Late” likely
this for dads) and pretentious and immature at their worst (“It’s Not Me, It’s
You” is likely the worst offender here).
There are times where it feels either too emo or too blatant in its
symbolism in what it’s trying to say, and some of the songs feel like Christian
knockoffs of better alternative metal and post-grunge songs, right down to the
lyrics. As a result, the lyrics can get
a little grating.
So for this, this is a
close tie, but while Stryper’s lyrics can be more epic, I’m more respondent to
the instrumentation and the hooks. For
Skillet, when it’s emo or grating, it can hurt, but there are times when I
listen to the words and realize that they can relate to where I’m at, and I
feel that they relate to me more sometimes.
With Stryper, I can relate to “Free” the most, but most of Skillet fits
my life more so and lyrical focus, surprisingly. Point goes to Skillet in a very close match.
Stryper: 5
Skillet: 2
But if there’s an
aspect of the lyrics I’ve mentioned, it’s that they have a Christian bent. How do they present the will of God?
Best Christian
Message:
This one is a lot
tougher than you’d think, but there are some ways to look at this.
First, just how overt
is the message and how they believe in God?
In Stryper’s case, it’s very clear that they follow scripture, go to
church on Sundays when not performing, and view God and Jesus as the ultimate
companions in their life. It’s more
“shun the allures of evil, and God will allow you to enter the pearly gates
above. And you can choose if you want
to.” In a certain way, it’s a good
message, but one of the most basic ones that they can make. I mean, it’s really easy to say God is the
one I love most other than my waifu and I will live my life to his word. But to make an entire album out of that
sentiment, it’s rather exhausting if you pay attention to lyrics about how God
makes them all warm and fuzzy, they’ll never betray him, and that they rock out
to spread the word of Christ. In short,
if you are super-secular, and lyrics matter to you as much if not more than the
music, then this will get super exhausting to listen to after a while.
Second, does the
sentiment of God giving you the strength to face day-to-day struggles work for
you? Then Skillet is more up your
alley. Their message is more “I’m a
colossal screw-up, I have issues, but if it wasn’t for my faith, I would have
fallen to my demons.” It’s tougher,
darker, and, even in the crappy ballads, something to admire to say that you
have the self-will to continue, live on, and fight your demons another day
while dealing with the stresses and pressures of life. And at the same time, God is there beside
you, providing encouragement to keep on going.
To a certain degree, it’s more of a bro-friendly message that paint’s
God as more of a life-coach rather than the righteous leader of man, and it
will have detractors from the agnostic, atheist side of things. But it’s a message that I feel combats
feelings like worthlessness and depression more than “God is great, and you
really should follow him.” I don’t know
why, but despite me following the belief system of “what you do is in your
hands,” there are times where I feel that another power, a higher power, is not
screwing with me but giving me enough hope in my times of despair to live
another day. And sometimes that’s my
optimism for the future and the idea that things WILL get better. And whereas the music doesn’t affect me, the
lyrics, and what I feel John Cooper is saying, relates to me more than
ever. As a result, I feel that the
butt-rock band singing in the name of God, who have honed their craft and
understand what relates to people, relates to me on a personal level message
wise.
Sometimes it’s great
to just follow God. Other times, he’s
just there for us when we don’t know it, or when we don’t know we need
him. And that’s a sentiment I find more
interesting as a person. And this can
apply to anyone who isn’t Christian. Are
you of another faith, do you feel that current religions suck and that modern
nerd culture can lead to a better, more inclusive one? Then the modern band’s message is the one
that, I feel, is the better of the two.
More personal, more relatable, and why I feel that mixing Christian with
grunge is as pertinent, if not better than with metal message wise. Skillet gets the point.
Stryper: 5
Skillet: 3
But now for the most
important part of this battle, the sounds of it all.
Best Music:
As you have noticed,
there is a pattern to how I review music from a sound perspective and what
sounds appeal to me more. For this, I’ll
give my praises and criticisms for both bands from a sonic perspective.
For Stryper, they
definitely got the hair metal sound down while adding a little edge to it. The producers on this album were Stephan
Galfas and the band themselves. The
former is known for working with many acts, from pop like Cher to metal like
Saxon. As a result, you get a
hard-hitting, melodically focused production style that emphasizes the sound and
fury of the guitars, bass, and drums, making it sound as if they’re played
live, with lots of reverb and punch to the guitars, especially when they
squeal. He definitely knows how to make
metal sound good, and so do the band considering this album is theirs to
make. Adding to that is the impressive,
almost-virtuoso playing by both Michael Sweet and Oz Fox, dishing out riffs,
licks, and solos that follow the Judas Priest and Van Halen formulas with
aplomb and give them a distinctive sound as well. And their sense of melody on the guitars is
stellar as well. For bass, apparently,
despite being credited, Tim Gaines never played, so that role went to a session
bassist, and it’s arguable that the basslines are very standard and are there
to serve the guitar riffs, which they do.
But for the drums and the beats, Robert Sweet is surprising versatile
and skilled, adding variations to certain drum beats, going for different
types, having clarity in the drum and cymbal hits, and providing some excellent
fills in the songs. No major solos, but
definitely a good performance. As a
result, the band is solid at their worst and amazing at their best. If there’s a problem, it’s how keyboards are
used. Sometimes they work and either
punch up a song or create a great atmosphere for the song (or are practically
non-existant), or they are used to add to the sappiness and lack of bite to the
ballads, turning them into sappy disasters.
But most of the album is guitar-driven, so there’s some great skill
here.
With Skillet, when the
band is going for muscle, it works. The
production for that album was by Howard Benson, who’s a name you need to
memorize if you’re going to study second and third wave post-grunge because he
shows up a lot as producer on a lot of albums.
Of course, while he’s a versatile producer, his forte is mainstream hard
rock, providing the sheen to make the songs great for radio and punching up the
volume, guitars, and rhythm section to ensure that hard rock fans are
satisfied. As a result, the anthems hit
hard with heavy guitars, thick bass, and pounding drums, all of which can wreck
your stereo if you’re not careful. And
the vocal clarity is also strong here, with them at the forefront, which works
when analyzing the lyrics and concepts of the songs themselves. And to fit with the band’s direction of
symphonic Christian hard rock, the use of strings, orchestras, and synthesizers
do add to the grandiose, cinematic atmosphere of the album. For the musicians, John Cooper is a good
singer/bassist, capable of the modern rock howls and strong basslines, Korey
Cooper, his wife by the way, is a strong rhythm guitarist, able to play some
biting chord passages, Ben Kasica, who had his last go-round with the band on
this album, manages to add to the six-string fury while playing some decent,
though short, guitar solos. And Jen
Ledger is arguably strong as a drummer with her ability to play modern rock
beats with skill while her vocals add to the songs she’s a co-singer on. If there’s an issue, it’s very workmanlike
and designed for radio-play, and issue with Howard Benson productions, as he
aims for making the songs sound great on rock radio as well as pop and adult
contemporary radio, very basic, meat-and-potatoes rock. And it’s not a good style to craft ballads,
as there’s a sense where more effort was put into the lyrics there rather than
the music, causing them to feel forced, uninteresting, and like filler. It’s an issue where your album is trying to
appeal to the Call Of Duty and Halo bros and most of your album is loaded with
ballads that serve as background noise during multiplayer matches. As a result, this ends up feeling more
plodding, sludgy, and all-around boring when listening to it in its entirety.
And if you already
guessed by now, you should know the winner based on my thoughts. While I have a soft-spot for 00s alt. metal
and post-grunge, I am a bigger hair metal fan than a fan of flyover rock. Heck, I prefer grunge over its commercial
clone. Worse, if I have to choose
between a thrash metal song and a butt rock song, I’d go thrash. As a result, despite some gains from the
other album, I feel that To Hell With The Devil is a better album from a
musical perspective, and that’s even more important considering this: can you
name a Christian heavy metal band before Stryper? If you’re focused on the underground, maybe,
but most people are going to say that Stryper were the first band to combine
metal riffs with Christian messages, as well as the first legitimate Christian
metal band. They had more to prove with
their work that they were spiritually clean but musically hard and heavy, and
based on their legacy, and the quality of their breakthrough album at its
heaviest, they pulled it off. Skillet,
on the other hand, came around a while after Stryper’s breakthrough, and the
Christian rock base was already huge and capable of bringing out success. And in their case with Awake, they really
didn’t need to do much, as Red state Christians were more than willing to
accept positive themes in harder rock, and they were nominated for a Grammy
before this. As a result, they were less
hungry than they were fed, and it’s clear that they were focused on appealing
to their fans as well as the mainstream here, no need to prove themselves
musically. Heck, the only two things
that needed to prove their worth were guitars and drums, since there was a
lineup change both before and after this album, and both Ben and Jen pulled it
off somewhat in the confines of the band’s style for their final and inaugural
performances respectively. But the rest
of the band didn’t and offered an album that’s both a starting point and,
sadly, a way to create haters. As a
result, I feel that Stryper are not just the dominant artists musically, bit
overall. They get the point easily.
Stryper: 6
Skillet: 3
And the winning album
is:
|
| Enjoy your success, Stryper. |
To Hell With The
Devil: 200 views
Awake: 300 views
I have a sense that these
won’t change and be added to my queue of albums to review.
So those were my thoughts
on 6 hair metal albums. What were your
thoughts? What did you thing should be
the winner? Did your respect for me drop
because of all this? Do you feel that I
gave Christian metal too much credit? Do
you feel that I should have left modern rock to other reviewers? Feel free to leave all of this in the
comments.
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Also, Happy Easter for all you Christians out there.
Also, Happy Easter for all you Christians out there.
Next Time on Let Them
Eat Metal: Incoming music from a galaxy far, far way.
Until
next time, this is the Rock Otaku. Live
Loud, Play Hard, and Eat Metal.
All used references
are done under the rules of fair use and are owned by their original creators.
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