Favorite BRIDE album?

LIVE TO DIE

Hell No and Whiskey Seed are two of my favorite metal songs period. The entire album is a classic.

After that, I couldn't get into them which was really disappointing to me as I was SO big on them with LTD and couldn't wait for the next one. I got Snakes and then KF and they just didn't hold my attention.

kmorg wrote:

The weird thing is that Bride was always about the message, more then the music. The Thompson brothers were never metal fans, or even very knowledgable about the scene at all. They just set out to reach souls for Christ. Thus I find it really strange how they managed to capture the whole 80's metal thing so good.

Another band doin' the same was Messiah Prophet. Their 'Master of the Metal' album is a classic, yet none of the band members were ever into metal. That's why there was never a true follow up to that album. I guess the same can be said about Bride and 'Live To Die'.

No wonder they changed styles every five minutes...

kmorg wrote:

The weird thing is that Bride was always about the message, more then the music. The Thompson brothers were never metal fans, or even very knowledgable about the scene at all. They just set out to reach souls for Christ. Thus I find it really strange how they managed to capture the whole 80's metal thing so good.

That's interesting. Personally I think their earlier (Pure Metal) material is the best. While I like much of the Star Song catalog, I felt it was all rather halfhearted. Rather "spotty" as others put it.

I remember "Ministry" being a big deal in interviews with a bunch of artists. Seems like back in the day everybody felt that the ministry was more important than the music. To the point that if ministry wasn't involved, the music was pointless. Sadly this led to many records that sucked, but had great ministry potential. The only people who liked it were like minded Christians. The "lost souls" didn't want to waste their time with music that sucked.

Fortunately Bride did not suck. However, in retrospect I can see where focusing on lyrics more than music may have cost them.

Okay, now that I'm done venting... favorite Bride albums...
1. Silence is Madness
2. Show No Mercy
3. Live to Die
4. Snakes in the Playground
5. Kinetic Faith (yes, I actually like this one)
6. Drop (who knew?)

Outside of these albums the band does have their moments, but that material gets real spotty IMO.

[quote="ryanmetalman"]

kmorg wrote:

The only people who liked it were like minded Christians. The "lost souls" didn't want to waste their time with music that sucked.

No clue what you're basing this statement on but I for one can tell you that's not true at all. In my case and in a large group of young Christian metal heads I hung out with. We dropped musically crappy Christian metal bands like a bad habit if they were not good enough for our current liking, period....and there were plenty....but not NEARLY as many in the "Christian" label as copy cat/poorly skilled secular bands bombarding the masses during the 80's and to this day. Anybody that chooses not to listen to Christian music because of the message/ministry that's fine. But degrading the quality of musicianship and skill because of that is pathetic. And that's not directed at you...that's a general statement.

Every time I exchanged tapes and music with metal heads at school that had no clue what "Christian" metal was, they were not only surprised but impressed.

[quote="T-Roy"]

ryanmetalman wrote:

kmorg wrote:

The only people who liked it were like minded Christians. The "lost souls" didn't want to waste their time with music that sucked.

No clue what you're basing this statement on but I for one can tell you that's not true at all. In my case and in a large group of young Christian metal heads I hung out with. We dropped musically crappy Christian metal bands like a bad habit if they were not good enough for our current liking, period....and there were plenty....but not NEARLY as many in the "Christian" label as copy cat/poorly skilled secular bands bombarding the masses during the 80's and to this day. Anybody that chooses not to listen to Christian music because of the message/ministry that's fine. But degrading the quality of musicianship and skill because of that is pathetic. And that's not directed at you...that's a general statement.

Every time I exchanged tapes and music with metal heads at school that had no clue what "Christian" metal was, they were not only surprised but impressed.

I think he is referring to the fact that bands like Bride and Guardian kept havig a decent following, even though they totally changed styles. And they kept selling record to other Christians, rather then to the lost they were trying to reach. If they had continued to release the stellar metal they began doin', I think they would have won in the long run. Metalheads continue to follow their bands, but at least the secular market usually stops if the bands "sell out".

Live to Die

kmorg wrote:

I think he is referring to the fact that bands like Bride and Guardian kept havig a decent following, even though they totally changed styles. And they kept selling record to other Christians, rather then to the lost they were trying to reach. If they had continued to release the stellar metal they began doin', I think they would have won in the long run. Metalheads continue to follow their bands, but at least the secular market usually stops if the bands "sell out".

i hated that bride changed styles to fit in. Do what your good at and I agree - they would have been much better off. I hesitate to buy anything from Bride because i have no idea if i would like it.

I think their peak was '88-'92 starting with "Live To Die" being my fave and the next three being a 3 way tie. I like all of their albums, even "Oddities" and "Bees" but I dont listen to their '97-present catalog as much as I used to anymore. I'm kinda sick of Bride. However, I did listen to their '87-'95 catalog about a month ago and it sounded great.

[quote="T-Roy"]

ryanmetalman wrote:

kmorg wrote:

The only people who liked it were like minded Christians. The "lost souls" didn't want to waste their time with music that sucked.

No clue what you're basing this statement on but I for one can tell you that's not true at all. In my case and in a large group of young Christian metal heads I hung out with. We dropped musically crappy Christian metal bands like a bad habit if they were not good enough for our current liking, period....and there were plenty....but not NEARLY as many in the "Christian" label as copy cat/poorly skilled secular bands bombarding the masses during the 80's and to this day. Anybody that chooses not to listen to Christian music because of the message/ministry that's fine. But degrading the quality of musicianship and skill because of that is pathetic. And that's not directed at you...that's a general statement.

Every time I exchanged tapes and music with metal heads at school that had no clue what "Christian" metal was, they were not only surprised but impressed.

Perhaps I should have been more specific...
Though we are discussing the "metal" genera (specifically Bride) my statement about ministry being more important than quality (or musicianship) was aimed at Christian Music in general. I am not saying that there were those who degraded the music because it had Christian lyrics. I am saying that some artists focused so much on ministry and lyrics that they did not bother to make decent music. Therefore they sucked, and their only fans were Christians and most non-Christians didn't want to listen because the music sucked.

The "like minded Christians" I am referring to would be the average church goer. I was venting about this because I have met so many Christians who love something just because it has the name of Jesus repeated 50 times or because it is a musical version of a scripture, or just because it is labeled "Christian" when the singers can't harmonize to save their lives or don't know how to write a decent song. This includes a lot of Christian metal bands as well, which T-Roy was probably referring to. For instance, I think I learned to stay away from most of what Wonderland and Ocean Records was putting out at the time.

Perhaps my rant was inappropriately placed here.

I was trying to get at where some artist were more about the message than the music. Which someone mentioned Bride operated that way. It made sense since I feel that some of Brides music is halfhearted. But Bride were more 'successful' doing it because they were decent musicians.

kmorg wrote:

I
think he is referring to the fact that bands like Bride and Guardian
kept having a decent following, even though they totally changed styles.
And they kept selling record to other Christians, rather then to the
lost they were trying to reach. If they had continued to release the
stellar metal they began doin', I think they would have won in the long
run. Metalheads continue to follow their bands, but at least the
secular market usually stops if the bands "sell out".

Though that is not what I was trying to get at, that is an excellent point, and one of the things that perplexed me at the time. Granted, many were limited due to the record deals they made, but so many who were flailing to keep up with the trends were selling just to Christians, Christian Bookstores and Youth Groups, and not to the lost that they were supposedly trying to reach. I think most of these bands are referred to as Youth Group Rock bands, which I feel Guardian and others became. Though now I am getting off-subject.

Many of my non-Christian friends dug any and all of the Bride that I played for them, though most of these friends were more interested in Mortification, Tourniquet, and even Stryper...believe it or not.

Live to Die and Snakes... are my favourites. Every song is a winner on both albums. Silence is Madness has some great stuff on it (All Hallow's Eve.... man, that was fast and dark.... much like Show No Mercy, really). But LTD and SITP both nailed the sound of the time in every department: songwriting, attiude, exceution, lyrics.... the most consistent in their large catalogue.

I had no idea the Thompson brothers were never metal fans.... I'm still learning something new each day, obviously .

Live to Die would definitely be my favorite. Like Ult, I like the speed and thrash hints thrown in. I also enjoyed Show No Mercy, Silence Is Madness and Snakes In The Playground. Everything else was either too trendy (Fistful..), too much filler (Scarecrow..), or just too boring (Kinetic..) in my opinion.

Drop, for me, was too "light". Bluesy rock instead of straight-up metal. I only listened to it twice before shelving, and eventually trading, it. Never bothered with the 2 or 3 latest releases. The songs I heard on MySpace were ok, but just wasn't really doing a lot for me.

My 2 favourites were:

Snakes in the Playground

Shotgun Wedding

For sheer songwriting & overall quality, it would have to be Snakes. But if we're talking strictly Bride's metal period, then "Live To Die" would be the one. Fantastic album!

Listening to Scarecrow Messiah right now. I tend to forget about it due to how much I loved their previous 3, but this one still rocks. Man, the glory days of Bride.

WOO-HOO!! Bride Thread!!

My first experience with Bride was when they won a Dove award for "Snakes." I heard the clip of the title track and was blown away! this was awesome! I promptly bought "Snakes" on cassette and played it to death. My first CD ever was "Scarecrow Messiah." I didn't like "Scarecrow" as much as "Snakes." I found a cheap copy of "Kinetic Faith" and was sorely disappointed so I never went farther back. I bought "Drop" as a new release. I hated that album then, but over the years it has grown to become my mellow go-to album. It is a fantastic album, just not a metal album. After "Jesus Experience" I gave upon them altogether... until recently.

A couple of years ago I was in the local Christian Bookstore and they had a retrospective greatest hits that has "Same ol Sinner" and "Hell NO" on it. I bought the album and these two tracks prompted me to search out the older stuff. I still do not have them in my collection yet, but I am keeping my eyes peeled.

I heard about "Skin For Skin" when I was repo-ing cars. My boss, who was a Christian Metal Fiend told me about the (then) new album. I have not heard it yet, other than on Spotify but "Skin" and "This is it" sound fantastic. "Tsar" is still to fresh to form an opinion on but it is not grabbing me like the others.

My first Bride cd was Scarecrow. I got it cheap and loved it. I got End of the age used from a cd store and then had to get the rest.

i am the worm. or better said, 'woym'

Got my first bride album today. Silence is madness just showed up in my mailbox. Can't wait to hear it.

Snakes in the Playground followed by Kinetic Faith

Gilbert - look forward to hearing what you think. Not only is it my favorite Bride album, it's one of my top-5/10 metal albums of all-time.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Gilbert - look forward to hearing what you think. Not only is it my favorite Bride album, it's one of my top-5/10 metal albums of all-time.

Man this sure will rank in my top 10 albums ever. Breathtaking. Those screams

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Gilbert - look forward to hearing what you think. Not only is it my favorite Bride album, it's one of my top-5/10 metal albums of all-time.

You are crazy

It`s ok, nothing special at all IMO. I never heard it back when it was fresh, maybe i would feel different if i heard it back in the day, and if i could relate to their message

It's their best, wish they would've developed this sound.

I am checking out their first two albums for the first time. The singer is very good but so far these riffs are not grabbing me at all. Anyone else think the riffing is quite generic?

I assume you're talking about Show No Mercy and Live to die which I would agree on in the riffing department. Silence really stepped things up.