Stryper - The Covering

01. THE SWEET - "Set Me Free"

02. SCORPIONS - "Blackout"

03. BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven and Hell"

04. UFO - "Lights Out"

05. KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"

06. DEEP PURPLE - "Highway Star"

07. KISS - "Shout It Out Loud"

08. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Over The Mountain"

09. IRON MAIDEN - "The Trooper"

10. JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law"

11. VAN HALEN - "On Fire"

12. LED ZEPPELIN - "Immigrant Song"

13. "God" (Original)

It can't be easy being Stryper. The fact that they chose to stand for something as unpopular in metal as Christianity, has meant that most of the time you couldn't notice the music for the amount of flak firing from detractors everywhere. Still, these guys must really enjoy the strife as, 28 years after the band's formation, they decided to release an album that is all about the music, with a lignup of songs which is sure to raise a few eyebrows among some of their followers.

You see, “The Covering” is a covers album where they decided to pay homage to many of the bands that have musically influenced them: and you do get a veritable who's who of the early days of hard'n'heavy here: from 1970's Led Zeppelin to early 80's Iron Maiden, you journey through Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen and Judas Priest to name just a few.

So, how well did they fare? Well, quite well in my opinion: Unlike a lot of covers by other bands, Stryper stayed quite true to the original songs, opting only to give them the occasional twist to make them cohesively sound like... well, Stryper. So, on top of the fuller sound that today's production allows, you do get extra guitar harmonies and vocal layers (that have always been the band's signature) placed for good measure here and there. The whole band sounds extremely tight, the soloing is fierce and a special word has to be said on Michael Sweet's voice: unlike, say, Dave Coverdale or Axl Rose, it's amazing how well this guy's pipes have held up after all these years. Seriously, he will still send your dog running with those high notes as he did in the 80's!

Highlights are hard to pick and they will mostly depend on how much you like each original and how inflexible you are to, say, hear “Heaven and Hell” not sung by Dio or the solo of “Over The Mountain” played by someone other than Randy Rhodes. In my opinion, these two songs do rank as some of the best here, together with the ubiquitous “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas and “The Trooper” by personal favourites Iron Maiden. Conversely, the cover of Kiss' “Shout it Out Loud” is probably the most indifferent to me because I'm not a huge fan of the original.

They opted to close the album with an original track, which is the closest they have been to their early sound this side of 1990. A solid (if unspectacular) song that leaves little doubts to where they still stand both musically and ideologically: a fast, heavy song simply called “God”.

A truly atrocious cover hides a surprisingly good album, that may be of interest to both fans of the band and classic-rock lovers alike.