my review of Stryper's Murder By Pride

Murder By Pride – by Stryper … my album review by Dredd Sweet.





CD Case – Personally, I prefer a case that closes and stays closed, and one not made of cardboard that will break down and ruin faster than one made totally of plastic.

Artwork – The artwork is good. It means something, which is nice.

Liner notes – Lyrics are very hard to read at times. A full photo of the band would have been nice, too.


Track one –
Eclipse For The Son –
Has the raw guitars and vocals of The Yellow And Black Attack, but the smooth gang vocals and slightly 90’s sounding chorus of In God We Trust. Good break-down at times where the music quiets and almost stops while Michael screams some of the lyrics. Excellent guitar solo. A very good track. Great lyrics, very meaningful. May have made a better track two than a track one, though. Love the bass-guitar solo right at the end by Tracy Ferrie, very cool stuff. Robert’s drums sound very…ordinary, I wish he had put a little more into it (or they had done the drum production on this album differently). I will give this track a 9/10.

Track two –
4 Leaf Clover –
Guitars start off reminiscent of a mid-tempo track from Soldiers Under Command, but when the vocals come in they sound way too polished, they do not match the guitars. The song starts great, but the vocals change the entire song into something other than what it originally was. Again, it is that In God We Trust influenced vocal style. For me, the lyrics are fairly weak, dealing with fantasy and fairy-tale themes, not very typical Stryper stuff. When the vocals are not present, the guitars sound good, just a tad over-produced. Again, an awesome bass guitar breakdown in this song, followed by one of Michael’s better screams. I will give this track a 7/10.

Track three –
Piece of Mind –
This is a Boston cover track, and features guitarist Tom Scholz of Boston. This is an excellent song when performed by Boston, and a close-to-excellent track when done by Stryper. Lyrically, you cannot go wrong with this. I think Robert’s drumming on this song is better than what he displays on the first two tracks. Lots of good screams by Michael, it sounds like he really has fun with this track. Guitars, of course, are excellent. The bass is buried quite a bit in the mix, but listen to it on headphones and you will appreciate what Tracy brings to this band. I will give this track a 10/10, as they did a bang-up job with this cover tune. It rocks, it is fun, and the band’s enthusiasm and professionalism show throughout this song.

Track four –
Alive –
Opens with piano. Michael’s vocals here are the best they have ever been on a ballad. The lyrical content is incredibly emotional. I will have to give this highly-charged ballad a 10/10.

Track five –
The Plan –
Good guitar tone to start off. Vocals start off sounding like their last album, Reborn. Again, the song could have been so much better, but it has been over-produced to a slickness. Shades of In God We Trust era production values. This song could have been a really great song, it had the potential, but instead it sounds more like something off of Against The Law, some mid-tempo song that doesn’t know what it wants to be, and neither the producer nor the band know what to do with it. So much potential, so wasted. I will only give this track a 5/10.

Track six –
Murder By Pride –
Good Soldiers Under Command style guitars riffs to open the song. Excellent lyrics. Great vocals, especially on the chorus. The chunky rhythm guitar sound makes the song great. This song definitely gets the full-bore treatment, they held back on the production just enough to keep it sounding raw and emotional. Guitar solos are top-notch. Just wish Robert Sweet had gone a little more nuts with the drumming, instead of playing it safe. All told, when it is all added up, this is THE song of the album, and fully earns its rating of 10/10.

Track seven –
Mercy Over Blame –
Starts with Michael yelling his lyrics, and the guitars going for it; makes me think they are having fun, right out of the gate. Very strong lyrics on this one. Again, the bass guitar is buried in the mix, but still does a bang-up job. Mr. Robert Sweet does a little better job with this song; they brought his drums forward in the mix a little more, which helps to make him sound a little bit angrier. Michael’s screams are controlled but still hit hard. I do wish the guitar solo could have been a bit longer, it was over way too fast. I will give this track a 10/10, in spite of the IGWT gang-vocals at the end. We are definitely at a good place in the album at this point. Keep it goin’, boys!

Track eight –
I Believe –
Michael’s wonderful voice, and a soft electric guitar bring this song to life. Drums come in and fit right in perfectly. Soft and quiet, then it unleashes in the chorus. Cannot get better lyrics than these ones, folks! After the chorus, back to the controlled fury of the quietness. This song could very easily have fit into To Hell With The Devil, and from me that is a high compliment indeed! Nice solo-ing, of a tasty enough length. Michael Sweet’s screams are at the top of his game in this song. I will have no problem giving this song another 10/10.

Track nine –
Run In You –
Starts off with an almost jazz-rock feel, like something Bruce Hornsby might do. Beautiful lyrics. This seems to be an up-tempo ballad. Lots of acoustic picking, keyboards, great bass line throughout. I will give it an 8/10.

Track ten –
Love Is Why –
Some IGWT-type guitars start off, then fall away to acoustic. This probably would have been better off as a ballad, instead they made it into a pseudo-soft-rock song, and it doesn’t really work for me. The lyrics are nice and all, but listening to them there is really no question that this should be a piano ballad, not what they went and made it into. Sorry boys, but this one is a failure in my books. Too bland, too passé; it’s 4/10 for this one. Michael should have kept this for one of his solo albums…

Track eleven –
Everything –
Starts off with semi-strong guitars (looking for more muscle here, Oz!) and some of Michael's screams and grunts. Again, cannot fault the lyrics at all, they are extremely strong again. Not only that, but I like how Michael arranges the lyrics and sings them on this tune. I wish the producer had brought the guitars a little further forward in the mix. Robert again sounds a tad bit better on this song. I love the chorus, it really hits you at gut level. Once again, have to pass out another 10/10.

Track twelve –
My Love (I’ll Always Show) –
This is the song from The Yellow And Black Attack album, but this time recorded how it was originally written; not as a ballad, but as a rock song. I have to admit, I like it. I didn’t think I would, but I really do. This has the raw sound that I wish some of the other tracks here had. The fact that this got ballad-ized on their first album shocks me; whose decision was that?! There isn’t much to say about this song; think Yellow And Black Attack meets Reborn, and you’ll get an idea, although the sound (of course) is much closer to their original sound as a band than anything else here. Got to give this one only a nine, I cannot rate it a ten because it really does not match anything else on the album! Then again…it is one of my favourite tracks, so 10/10 it is!


Okay then. A total of twelve tracks, each track rated out of ten. So out of a possible 120, this album rated a very strong 103. Only tracks 5 and 10 did not work for me. With a little less over-production, some longer guitar solos, and less reticence by Robert Sweet to really hammer on those drums, this album could have been their best ever. As it is, I feel it still rates a long ways below both To Hell With The Devil and Soldiers Under Command. Also, I would have considered putting Mercy Over Blame first on the album, following it with Eclipse For The Son and then Peace Of Mind, thereby giving the album a little bit of a stronger start. Track four then could have been Alive, followed by 4 Leaf Clover and The Plan, and going on from there.

I do have to admit, with an album this good, Stryper has shown that they are not just back to do a reunion tour, they are back for as long as they want to be.