- Open Your Eyes
- Reborn
- When Did I See You Cry
- Make You Mine
- Passion
- Live Again
- If I Die
- Wait for You
- Rain
- 10,000 Years
- I.G.W.T
A little over 20 years ago, one of Christian music's most famous pop-metal bands debuted—and became one of the first to find crossover success in the mainstream. But considering that they haven't released a studio album since 1990's
However, metal is enjoying a kitschy revival, and Stryper enjoyed a successful reunion tour in 2003. So it's little surprise that
The singing Sweet sounds a bit like a caricature of his younger self, but that's mostly a matter of style. He still belts the high notes out impressively for a forty-something, resembling Styx's Dennis DeYoung or Petra's John Schlitt. The band rocks capably enough on tracks like "Live Again" and "10,000 Years," a driving and dramatic rocker that adapts the text of "Amazing Grace." More anthemic and catchy are "If I Die" and "Rain," while "Passion" satisfies the need for a power ballad of spiritual surrender.
An updated version of "In God We Trust" is fair, but doesn't quite recapture the band's glory. Too many other songs ("Open Your Eyes," "Reborn") lack melodic hooks, making Stryper sound like a generic metal cover band. And maybe it's just me, but too many of the songs end too abruptly out of nowhere.