STRYPER – In God We Trust [Japan HR/HM 1000 Vol.2 reissue series] (2020) *EXCLUSIVE*

A couple years ago we featured a lot of albums from the Universal Music Japan campaign ‘HR/HM 1000‘, that meaning Hard Rock / Heavy Metal long time out of print record from their catalog at the price of 1000 Yen = about 10 USD.
Now 2020 the label started the “HR/HM 1000 Vol.2 reissue series”, including some awesome titles you need to own is a superior Japanese CD press for only 10 bucks.
And we have here in exclusive the 1988 STRYPER album “In God We Trust“.

”In God We Trust” was the band’s follow up attempt to the successful ‘To Hell With The Devil’ and in his book, singer Michael Sweet called the album the band & the record label attempt to be on the radio, with commercial poppy AORish tunes.
It was 1988, you needed a glossy production & mix, and ”In God We Trust” dis the trick: the album was a success, being played on MTV constantly and selling very well.

The title track is a good opener for the album, with guitars coming in from a distance and then blaring into the forefront. The vocals are high and strong, like many of Sweet‘s work on the records, but only has two verses right after each other. The rest of the song is guitar solos and choruses.

The second song, the hit “Always There For You” is one of my favorite of the Stryper singles. The song is somewhat similar in structure to “Calling On You” from the previous album, and in his book, Sweet mentions he literally wrote this album’s songs by listening to the last album, just trying to give the record label the same songs, but with more production.
This song was a hit on MTV because it was not just a preachy song, it could have been about friendships or relationships, which resonated with the listeners, instead of some of their other songs, which was up front about God. It’s a great harder edge pop-metal song.

Even more radio friendly is the catchy “Keep The Fire Burning”, the you have the hair metal power ballad “I Believe In You”, which in the opposite, it’s followed by “The Writings On The Wall,” the harder song on the album. The drumming is big and the guitar solos are nice, which is something that was the signature of Stryper‘s sound — the melodies and solos.
“It’s Up 2 U” is a classic ’80s arena type song, while “Come To The Everlife” has a dynamic rhythm with strong keyboards on it.

“The World of You And I” is a hidden treasure on the album. It has an acoustic feel at the beginning of the song, with a few time changes during the track, from mid tempo to the normal Stryper beat that they usually incorporated. However, Robert Sweet‘s hi hat fills double in parts of the song that makes the song full, and is different from his signature style. This is one of the better songs off the album.

“Lonely” is another ballad, more mid-paced. There are nice guitar solos on the melody, and it has a typical ’80s feel to it. Michael Sweet‘s voice is a pleasure to listen to on this track, not overtly religious, which the non-Christian listeners would enjoy, without the Biblical overtones of many of their songs.
The album ends with “The Reign” a heavy short rocker, at less than three minutes long, and is just solid, driving metal. The band was known for ballads and pop songs, but this song is for the harder fans. It’s a nice track to end on for rockers.

“In God We Trust” is the most commercial Stryper album, a product of its era. As an ’80s rock polished sound production’ fan, I love this album, and while many prefer Stryper at its heaviest, there’s great rockin’ songs here as well.
A catchy, glossy album with a commercial sound and catchy melodies. An ’80s Classic
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01 – In God We Trust
02 – Always There For You
03 – Keep The Fire Burning
04 – I Believe In You
05 – The Writings On The Wall
06 – It’s Up 2 U
07 – The World Of You And I
08 – Come To The Everlife
09 – Lonely
10 – The Reign

Michael Sweet – Lead vocals, guitar
Robert Sweet – Drums
Oz Fox – Lead guitar, background vocals
with:
Billy Meyers – keyboards
John Van Tongeren – keyboards
Steve Croes – synclavier
Brad Cobb – bass

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www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICH-9008