Sometimes an album finds you at the right time in your life... even if it takes 32 years...
When I was in junior high school, “hair metal” bands were in the midst of their musical heyday. The music was big, bombastic, and — in some cases — controversial.
I grew up listening to Christian music. My brother Jay worked many years for a national Christian bookstore chain (Zondervan). During that time, he was able to procure albums, cassettes, and compact discs from a variety of artists. He also supplied me with promotional materials including standees, posters, prints of album artwork, and t-shirts.
I remember one particular instance when he sent me a mix tape he had made of various Christian artists. One of the songs included on that mix was “Calling On You” by Stryper.
I soon figured out that many of the kids at my junior high school — who seemed to have endless wardrobes of Iron Maiden and Motley Crue t-shirts — liked Stryper. Apparently, the band’s Christian faith wasn’t a “deal breaker” for my metal-loving classmates.
At the time, I longed for a Stryper t-shirt to wear around school. More importantly, I wanted the band’s 1986 multi-platinum album “To Hell With The Devil.”
I never could exactly put my finger on why, but my mom wouldn’t get me the album. It wasn’t that she was in any way strict about these things.
I loved seeing Stryper’s music videos on MTV during that time (they were a fixture on the channel's daily call-in show countdown) — “Calling On You” being a particular favorite:
Like many metal bands of that era, the sound sometimes tended more towards arena rock and pop — wrapped up in big hair, mascara, and spandex.
I abandoned my crusade to get the “To Hell With The Devil” album at some point during my eighth grade year.
I still loved the band. In 1988, I purchased the band's fourth studio album, “In God We Trust,” and it has continued to get rotation in my personal music lineup ever since.
By the early 90s, Stryper had broken up. Today they are back together — as strong as ever.
Nearly 32 years has passed since the release of the “To Hell With The Devil” album. Despite purchasing countless albums in the intervening years, I never added “To Hell With The Devil” to my collection.
The other day I found a Stryper concert video on Amazon Prime Video. I remembered loving Stryper’s music. I started watching the concert and was taken back to 1986.
I don’t know if the guitar-laden chords triggered a long-dormant memory in my mind, or if it was divine intervention. In that moment I thought, “I’ve never actually listened to the whole ‘To Hell With The Devil’ album...”
So I opened up the YouTube app on my Apple TV (the box is hooked up to our Vizio TV, with the sound pumping through a JVC receiver I’ve had since 1993, and four Yamaha speakers), found the official Stryper channel, and pulled up the “To Hell With The Devil” playlist (which has all the tracks neatly segmented):
Sometimes long-gestating "likes" from your youth don’t always live up to expectations in the intervening years.
But as the meaty chords of the title track pounded out over the speakers, I realized I’d been missing something special the past 32 years.
“To Hell With The Devil” is a terrific rock album. The 11 tracks illustrate why Stryper became a popular act in the 1980s — and why they continue to endure to this day.
One particular highlight is “Sing-Along Song” (track 7) — a pulsing anthem that is brilliant in its simplicity:
Overall, the entire album benefits from the fact that it doesn’t feel “over produced” like the band’s follow-up album, “In God We Trust” (which is still a favorite of mine).
After listening to the entire “To Hell With The Devil” playlist on YouTube, I asked my wife if I could order the album. This time, I wasn’t denied...
There have been a number of discouraging things going on in my life recently. Listening to the songs on “To Hell With The Devil” took my mind off those irritations, and helped me escape to a simpler time when the music was big, and the hair even bigger.
In the liner notes, each band member has a Bible verse next to his respective photo. One of those scriptures — 2 Timothy 4:7-8 — includes the following:
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness...”
Sometimes words of inspiration can come from the oddest places.
After spending the week becoming reacquainted with the band Stryper, I felt like I finally had the answer to why my mom didn’t purchased the “To Hell With The Devil” album for me in 1986.
I wasn’t meant to experience it then. I was meant to experience it at a time, 32 years later, when I needed to hear those words the most...
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