I guess this had to happen at some point, and in many ways, it is somewhat surprising that it has taken more than 40 years for the band to finally release a Christmas album. When their debut EP, 1984’s ‘The Yellow and Black Attack’, was reissued two years later as an album it included some additional tracks, including their first single “Reason for the Season” and in Japan it had “Winter Wonderland”, both of which have been re-recorded for this along with some band originals and Christmas classics. It has been many years since I called myself a Christian, and I am certainly not going to be changing that now, but I have always had a soft spot for Stryper, buying both the reissued debut album and ‘Soldiers Under Command’ not long after they were released 40 years ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them in concert a few years back. I think you can guess there is a “but” coming, and there is. But just because I have enjoyed their music over a long period of time, does not mean this is something to which I will soon be returning.
I think the word I am looking for is “bland”, as it feels as if they have decided that by taking some classics and adding a rock arrangement they can come up with something enjoyable, but that is certainly not the case. Bing Crosby was 73 when he recorded “Little Drummer Boy” with David Bowie, dying just a month later, but there is way more passion and enthusiasm in that 1977 performance than what we have here in 2025 as it is simply boring. If you are going to turn a song into a rock number, then there is way more to it than just playing it with Americanised rock guitars. Who really owns “This Flight Tonight”, Joni Mitchell or Nazareth? They changed it so dramatically and made it so much their own that Mitchell used to announce it as their song, no-one is going to be doing that with anything on here.
I mean, “Silent Night” and “Go Tell It On The Mountain”? What were they thinking? Michael also appears to be struggling somewhat with the vocals, especially in the slower sections, and all I can say is that the only audience for this release will be diehard fans, but I cannot imagine any of them playing this more than once, and then only for curiosity.
Rating: 5/10
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Track list:
1. The Greatest Gift Of All
2. Go Tell It On The Mountain
3. Heaven Came (On Christmas Day)
4. Little Drummer Boy
5. Still The Light
6. Silent Night
7. On This Holy Night
8. Joy To The World
9. Reason For The Season
10. Winter Wonderland