Stryper's New Album Is Now Available, And Here's What It's All About | “The Greatest Gift Of All” Is Now A Reality
Finally, Stryper has its “Christmas” album, and of course, “The Greatest Gift Of All” is now available. Apparently, it’s only available in physical format, in the old-fashioned way, as it should be. Available through the Frontiers Music label, as with their last release, this new album has a few things worth noting.
Stryper’s last album, “When We Were Kings,” wasn’t one of our favorites. In our review, we pointed out that the band was repeating itself, and that the songs included on the album made us miss the old Stryper. Well, forget about that. “The Greatest Gift Of All” is something else, or at least it tries to be.
Thanks to the Frontiers Music label, and while waiting for our physical copy, we were able to listen to this new material in its entirety, and the truth is that, in principle, Stryper is determined to return to its roots. That’s what we noticed. Not only does the released single, “On This Holy Night,” sound heavier, but there are plenty of reasons to think that “The Greatest Gift Of All” is not only the path Stryper should take from here on out, but also a nod to the past, including new versions of two old songs, “Reason For The Season” and the famous “Winter Wonderland” (which had never before been officially released on a band album, only live and single).
Regarding the new album, Michael Sweet commented that “The Greatest Gift of All’ is an up-tempo song with a little bit of a pop/punk. It’s different for STRYPER for sure, yet with the signature STRYPER style. Lyrically, it’s about the greatest gift of all time – Jesus. He came to set us free and to save the world. There’s no better gift than that!”
The title track has a power that seemed like a thing of the past. Stryper’s classic sound is present. Of course, everything has a more or less “Christmas” feel, given the tone the band gave to this album, as can be heard in “Go Tell It On The Mountain” or the traditional “Silent Night.” “Still The Light” is another must-hear track. It’s about time Stryper seems determined to return to the more traditional heavy metal sound and style for which they are already known. Excellent news!!!
Regarding this “Christmas” album, Michael Sweet also noted that “We have wanted to record a Christmas album for many years. Ever since we released our first single (‘Reason for the Season’) back in 1985, the fans have been asking for a full length Christmas album. Well, the time has finally come. We wanted to make an album of five traditional songs and five original songs. To put our own spin on our own Christmas album and not follow the pack so to speak. We could not be more pleased with how it turned out!“
Of course, when we have this new album in our hands, we will do a more in-depth and complete review, but for now, we recommend an album that is clearly on the path of Stryper’s most classic work….
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