Stryper's New Album 'God Damn Evil' will be released 4/20/18

The only way I'll get the new Stryper album is if I see it for cheap in a used CD bin.

Troublezone wrote:

The only way I'll get the new Stryper album is if I see it for cheap in a used CD bin.

Yep. Or in a trade for a scratched Hammerfall cd.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

The only way I'll get the new Stryper album is if I see it for cheap in a used CD bin.

Yep.  Or in a trade for a scratched Hammerfall cd.

lol

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I guess this news would've been cause for concern 10 or 15 years ago, but given the overall decline of cd sales in general and the ease of on-line shopping, I don't see the concern. So some yokel out in the middle of Bumblef*ck, Oklahoma can't get it while shopping for Dale Jr. t-shirts and Cheetos. Big deal.

Yeah, what surprised me was not so much that WM wouldn't be selling it, but that they would even bother to announce that they wouldn't because of the album title. I mean, how many stores were realistically going to have a Stryper album in stock otherwise?

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

The only way I'll get the new Stryper album is if I see it for cheap in a used CD bin.

Yep.  Or in a trade for a scratched Hammerfall cd.

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Yeah, what surprised me was not so much that WM wouldn't be selling it, but that they would even bother to announce that they wouldn't because of the album title. I mean, how many stores were realistically going to have a Stryper album in stock otherwise?

That's why this "banning" is a blessing. It drums up publicity while not significantly hurting sales.

The title track is really the only song I find myself going back to on the new album. Anyone else pick it up yet?

The Valley song is okay.

Yeah, I found it odd that they chose that one to make another MV for and release on the heels of all the other promos that they did. I know it's not like the old days when you needed to be behind one single at a time, but the promotion for this album seems especially scatterbrained. It will be interesting to see what songs they put in the setlist for the tour, which I think begins next week.

I've started to warm up to the mellower songs "Beautiful" and "Can't Live Without Your Love." Michael sounds really good on those. And there is some great axe work on here all the way through.

I will order my copy next week for sure along with the new Ross the Boss and Riot V.

I have it (Amazon Prime) and it arrived on release day. I like it. Not any better or any worse than the last two but it is good. Production is a bit better than the last few albums and the bass is more up front. Other than track 1, I have listened to it a couple of times now.

Speaking of Walmart, I never find new releases there so I was surprised to see "Garage Days Re-Revisited" on CD. I would've grabbed it but I already have an original copy I bought almost 30 years ago so no need to buy that again although I need to listen to it as I haven't played it in over 20 years.

I really like this record. It's my favorite Stryper record since SUC or To Hell. The tradeoff solos are really good. Nice to see Oz more involved. The only song I really don't like is Lost.

mikeinfla wrote:

I have it (Amazon Prime) and it arrived on release day. I like it. Not any better or any worse than the last two but it is good. Production is a bit better than the last few albums and the bass is more up front. Other than track 1, I have listened to it a couple of times now.

Speaking of Walmart, I never find new releases there so I was surprised to see "Garage Days Re-Revisited" on CD. I would've grabbed it but I already have an original copy I bought almost 30 years ago so no need to buy that again although I need to listen to it as I haven't played it in over 20 years.

Garage Days is remastered and only about $7 bucks. If you like the album, I think it's worth getting it as a spare copy. And it doesn't hurt that the sound quality is better.

I think it's pretty good. I like it better than Fallen but maybe not quite as much as No More Hell to Pay. Idk, time will tell I guess. It still doesn't beat Soldiers or To Hell though.

I doubt they will ever top Soldiers or To Hell. But even those albums have some fluffy filler songs that I don't like.

Thrasher73 wrote:

I think it's pretty good. I like it better than Fallen but maybe not quite as much as No More Hell to Pay. Idk, time will tell I guess. It still doesn't beat Soldiers or To Hell though.

Those 2 records turned me on to metal. Nothing they do will top that. But they continue to make records that I like the majority of the songs on. I can't ask for much more than that.

glassprison wrote:

The title track is really the only song I find myself going back to on the new album. Anyone else pick it up yet?

Best song on the album.

Big Rich wrote:

glassprison wrote:

The title track is really the only song I find myself going back to on the new album. Anyone else pick it up yet?

Best song on the album.

I agree, right now it's my favorite track.

I like Beautiful a lot too. Sorry is a Stryper classic. Own Up and You Don't Even Know Me are hitting too.

I like it more and more the more I listen.

Still haven't heard this God Damn album (see what I did there?) .... hoping to place an order for it this weekend.

For me the title track is the weakest song on the album. I can see that if someone enjoys the first 8 tracks on Against the Law would enjoy the title track and perhaps most of the other songs in this album too.

I personally think Against the Law has only 3 great tracks and they are the last three songs. All of them even manage to get into my all time favorite Stryper songs.

Sadly this new album doesn't have a single song I would think of as a modern Stryper classic. The previous two albums had songs like Saved by Love, Te Amo and Yahweh, and all of them are among the best Stryper tracks ever. God Damn Evil has only three songs I enjoy very much: Beautiful, Take It to the Cross and Lost (in that order). And none of them go to my top Stryper tracks list.

Even though I found Fallen a disappointment after the amazing No More Hell to Pay, it still had one amazing instant classic song (Yahweh) and the last three songs were really good too. So I've come to expect every Stryper album to have at least one instant classic for me. This one didn't have one despite all the hype.

Glad to see people enjoy it though.

I kinda feel like this one is being overrated a bit. I found much of the album to be boring. People, including my son, are talking about "The Valley"...I think this song is meh. There are some decent songs on here, sure, but to me it is definitely a step down from the last two albums, owing almost entirely to songwriting. The performances and production are solid. I just think the songwriting is suffering at this point. The songs are written and recorded too hastily without enough work and rework to hone them. Just my opinion. I like a few songs, but I'd give this only 2.5 out of 5 stars.

It seems to me that Mike Sweet is spreading himself too thin on the songwriting. He's written Stryper songs, solo songs, and Sweet Lynch songs. His last solo record was easily the best thing he's done in the last 3 years, while the new Sweet Lynch and new Stryper are both average at best. He needs to pick one or maybe two projects to be involved with, then really write good songs, hone them, really work them out to their full potential, and then record them. But he's just mass producing songs at this point, and it sounds like it.

Weird, I think this record blows away anything they've done since they reunited. I like the other newer records but the other ones never grabbed me like this one has.

BTW, I 've never bought or even listened to one full Sweet/Lynch record. That project did nothing for me.

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BTW, I 've never bought or even listened to one full Sweet/Lynch record. That project did nothing for me.

You're not missing much. The first album was "meh" at best, and what little I heard from the 2nd didn't make me wanna rush to order it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

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BTW, I 've never bought or even listened to one full Sweet/Lynch record. That project did nothing for me.

You're not missing much. The first album was "meh" at best, and what little I heard from the 2nd didn't make me wanna rush to order it.

I've heard a few songs, but nothing I liked. It looks like there won't be a 3rd.