The Covering

by Stryper

Overview

Rather than subject yet another album of original material to the by now customary chorus of generalized abuse from the anything but God-fearing heavy metal community, the Lord's own leather-clad bumblebees, L.A.'s long-suffering Stryper, decided to produce an album of favorite covers for 2011's suitably named The Covering. One can almost imagine the "stryped" ones challenging: "Let's see those blasted heathens bash these beloved heavy metal classics!" And you know what? Well played, boys, well played.... Much as Michael Sweet's angelic, soaring vibrato remains a love-it-or-hate-it acquired taste (it's just too chorus-boy clear), who can really resist sneaking a listen to new interpretations of towering pillars of the metal genre like Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell," Deep Purple's "Highway Star" (keyboards included!), Iron Maiden's "The Trooper," Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law," and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"? Less obvious selections included here vary somewhat more between good (the Sweet's "Set Me Free," the Scorpions' "Blackout," UFO's "Lights Out," featuring a note-perfect Michael Schenker guitar solo karaoke) and not so good (Ozzy Osbourne's "Over the Mountain," Kiss' "Shout It Out Loud," and an eerily wooden stab at Van Halen's "On Fire"), but the only really odd choice is Kansas' "Carry on Wayward Son," for obvious reasons. If anything, these versions only sin (sorry, couldn't resist) for being too faithful to the original sources -- but then what more would you expect from a Christian metal band than, well, FAITH? And as proven by the lone original cut on hand, the closing "God," faith is something Stryper clearly has plenty of, no matter how marginalized their career has been by commercial misfortunes and constantly swimming against heavy metal's godless tide. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia

Product Details

Release Date:	10/14/2022
Label:	Amplified Media Services
UPC:	0765105158772
Rank:	81162

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stryper   Primary Artist
Robert Sweet   Drums,Cymbals
Oz Fox   Guitar,Vocals
Michael Sweet   Guitar,Vocals
Tim Gaines   Vocals,Guitar (Bass)
Charles Foley   Organ,Piano,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Kerry Livgren   Composer
Ian Gillan   Composer
Geezer Butler   Composer
G. Simmons   Composer
David Lee Roth   Composer
Lee Kerslake   Composer
Rob Halford   Composer
S. Harris   Composer
K.K. Downing   Composer
Michael Sweet   Composer,Producer
Michael Schenker   Composer
Randy Rhoads   Composer
Ian Paice   Composer
Bob Daisley   Composer
Tony Iommi   Composer
Danny Bernini   Mixing,Engineer
Glenn Tipton   Composer
Herman Rarebell   Composer
Kenny Lewis   Editing
Klaus Meine   Composer
Ritchie Blackmore   Composer
Jon Lord   Composer
Robert Plant   Composer
P. Stanley   Composer
M. Sweet   Composer
Mark Donahue   Mastering
Michael Anthony   Composer
Bill Edwards   Executive Producer
Richie "Britley" Hughes   Art Direction
Phillip John Mogg   Composer
Akaeli Ellis   Illustrations,Graphic Design
Chris Parks   Cover Illustration
Andy Maynad Parker   Composer
Pete Frederick Way   Composer
Sonja Kittlesen   Composer