Albums of the year!

I posted this a while back, (in CMR and possibly here) but here it is again with pictures (ooooooooooooh) and a mini review of why I like them!

	1985 - Stryper - Soldiers Under Command Stryper released their first full album in 1985. Michael has great vocals and the tracks give the glory to God. At the time it was something new and amazing, and still today it is a great album that many regard as Strypers best effort.
	1986 - Stryper - To Hell With The Devil Stryper go universal with this album. They put themselves and christian metal on the map. Why did this album do so much? Because it's truly a great album. The title track sums up the album - thumping clear heavy metal with a message of salvation in Christ.
	1987 - Neon Cross - S/T Loud high pitched metal from Neon Cross. They've only done a couple of albums, and this one is one that'll pin you to the ground and make you listen to it again and again. Not the greatest in terms of production, but still an album which is compelling from start to finish.
	1988 - Petra - On Fire Petra lasted from the 70's until 2003 and this is their hardest, loudest album they've ever done. This isn't metal, it's hard rock, and it's Petra through and through. Which means open clear lyrics and catchy choruses. Bob Hartman truly is an amazing guy!
	1989 - Bride - Silence Is Madness Wonderful album by Bride. Not as intense as their previous album (Live to Die) this still packs a punch and has great artwork aswell. Every track (bar one) is furious and loud and the christian metal scene can rejoice in a landmark release from the longest serving christian metal bands around.
	1990 - Tourniquet - Stop The Bleeding Guy Ritter hits the world with his vocals that no one had ever heard of at the time (in the christian metal world). His range was amazing from growls to high pitched squeals. Ted Kirkpatrick on drums, and Gary Lenaire on guitars brings together and awesome partnership that would last for 3 albums, and stun the metal world of it's day.
	1991 - Sacred Warrior - Obsessions Sacred Warrior aren't my favourite band, but this album just works so well. Every track is great, and Ray sings just in the right way that it's not abrasive but truly spellbinding. The lyrics are bold too, and here is an album that I don't have to press skip once!
	1992 - Bride - Snakes In The Playground The album that opened Bride to the world. They've moved away from their almost thrash metal ways of Live To Die and to a lesser extent Silence Is Madness, and release a Guns N Roses style hard rock album. And it goes down a storm. Dales sings like he could bring the house down!
	1993 - Stairway - No Rest: No Mercy Stairway are one of the few remaining Christian metal albums from the UK. They're still kicking out great albums, but this album (which was their first) is their best. Classic sounds and classic artwork from Rodney Matthews.
	1994 - Barren Cross - Rattle Your Cage Oh, the mid nineties weren't agreat time from metal. Grunge was the new thing and it just seemed to destroy the true metal scene. Bands from the 80's that reformed changed their style to suit. But not Barren Cross! They released an amazing album which sounded every bit like their 80's stuff. Classic metal all the way!
	1995 - Siloam - Dying To Live Sometimes accused of being over produced, Siloam's second album is slick and smooth hard rock. Not as heavy as most other albums on this list, it still is very memorable and has plenty of hooks throughout.
	1996 - Impellitteri - Screaming Symphony Great name for an album! Great album! Only nine tracks, but when the nine are this good, who cares! Chris Impelliteri proves that his speed on the solos is pretty much world class. Metal all the way!
	1997 - New Jerusalem - S/T Not a great year for metal (the mid late nineties weren't the best as the world was still interested in grunge) but New Jerusalem produced a different and varied album. Some tracks work brilliantly, whilst others are not so good. Hard Rock, sometimes feeling like Guns N Roses, sometimes a million miles away!
	1998 - Impellitteri - Eye Of The Hurricane Impellitteri's second album in my list. Rob's vocals yet again prove he's one of the best in the business, and Chris' blistering solos are world class. All tracks are either great or better, and there's a bonus cd added to the album which adds to the listening pleasure.
	1999 - Omega Highway - Love In a year when hardly any great christian hard rock or metal comes out, this album turns up. Sure, the quality is lacking somewhat, but those lyrics really are a cut above the rest. It's rock/hard rock with a basic kind of sound but bucket loads of passion.
	2000 - Alice Cooper - Brutal Planet Alice Cooper? Is he a christian? Enough already! This album is Alice the way I like to hear him. Lyrics that are clearly showing that there is a God and that it's not being good that gets you to heaven. Love Alice's vocals, and because of the lyrics this makes it my favourite by him.
	2001 - Warrior - The Code Of Life Rob Rock again, for the 3rd time. Just goes to show that where ever he goes you can pretty much guarantee a top notch album. Bruce from Iron Maiden co-writes one of the songs, which is an added bonus, but Rob, who writes most of them (and from a christian perspective) shows us where his heart really is!!!
	2002 - Seventh Avenue - Between The Worlds Some of the tracks from the german classic/epic metal masters aren't to my taste, but others are so good that it beat many good albums to the top of the pile. Herbie sounds the best to date and the lyrics keep getting better.
	2003 - Harmony - Dreaming Awake Interesting album this one. From Scandanvia comes this melodic and quite relaxing metal album. If ever there's a time when you want to listen to metal, but nothing heavy, then put this on and you'll be pleasantly surprised! Too many instumentals for my liking, but the songs are just awesome.
	2004 - Seventh Avenue - Eternals Yet again Seventh Avenue have another album in my list. Eternals is the best album they've done to 2004. Herbie's vocals have improved again, and Mike writes some great lyrics.
	2005 - Rob Rock - Holy Hell Rob did some amazing albums with Chris Impellitteri and nothing else he's done has been quite as good. That was until now. Holy Hell really puts Robs name on the map. His vocals are truly amazing and just the opening track alone shows how powerful the songs, and his vocals are.
	2006 - Saint - The Mark Saint have released many great albums and this really is their peak. Saint are known for their apocalyptic style and this album is exactly what it's all about. It's the book of Revelation. Saint nail their image totally.
	2007 - Boarders - The World Hates Me Total suprise to find this band, who are from Italy. Never heard of them, but once I'd listened to their 3 songs on myspace I was hooked. Thing is, all their songs are absolutely great. Similar to Megadeth, but some songs have some high pitched lines in them. Just the kind of album I crave! Lyrics are good too.
	2008 - Seventh Avenue - Terium Easily the album of the year. Seventh Avenue have done it again in producing a top class classic metal album. More tracks than before, and a longer album aswell. What's so amazing about SA is they keep getting better with each album. Eternals got 9.5 out of 10 and this is better! I've listened to it countless times and it's still stuck in my cd player.

Nice Fundy with the pics of the albums.

Harmony, I really hope their second CD will be released soon.

Good list, well-written and researched. I have to think of some possibilities for 99 and 97.

I've just looked through my complete collection and came across a couple of good releases for the missing years. I'd forgotten about Omega Highway (hugely underrated as a Christian band if lyrics are your thing) and put them in the 1999 slot. New Jerusalem are the 1997 band with their slick S/T release


Fundy

Quote :

I'd forgotten about Omega Highway (hugely underrated as a Christian band if lyrics are your thing) and put them in the 1999 slot.

Lyrically, they were great. Musically, however, Omega Highway was a total snoozefest. All of their songs, for the most part, are slow. The keyboards walk all over the guitars. Overall, I am glad that I traded this one away.

I agree that their music left alot to be desired, but because the lyrics were standout from pretty much everything else I had at the time, I listened to their stuff quite a bit.

I think it may have been an acquired taste, but I definitely acquired it!

Fundy

This was nice to read.



Thanks.



BTW SAINT is my favorite Christian band and The Mark is my favorite disc by them.