I have been following STRYPER since their 1985 album "Soldiers Under Command". So, that makes 40 years of White Metal being allowed and able to enter and reprogramme my brain. It hasn't worked in that I'm still not overly religious, but I just like the way that STRYPER makes music. And I really love how the band sounds, simple as that. In the year I started following them, they produced the best cover version of a Christmas song ever, which is "Winter Wonderland". I have the European as well as the USA version of the EP it was on. Now, some 40 years, the band have finally decided to make a full album with Christmas music. And in true STRYPER fashion, they not only have rearranged some old classics, they also wrote some songs themselves, in order to produce a 40 minute long album, which they named "The Greatest Gift Of All".

The first thing that does make me wonder is the way that Michael Sweet sings on the album. His vocal sound has become a lot more nasal than it used to be. That doesn't necessarily have to be a problem, because he still can sing like not other, but it is rather noticeable on "The Greatest Gift Of All". I don't know if it has anything to do with his health problems (he has just been diagnosed with cancer), but it surprised me nevertheless. For the rest this is STRYPER from start to finish. Melodic Heavy Metal/Hard Rock that will have you singing along in no time.

I lived in Canada when I was rather young, and one of the first songs that I sung in school was "Little Drummer Boy". It therefore has a deep and emotional meaning for me. I was quite apprehensive when I started listening to the version on "The Greatest Gift Of All", but soon I found that the slower pace plus the emotional baggage that especially the guitars give out had me producing tears of joy before the song ended. As for the renditions of the classics, if you know what STRYPER stands for, you'll enjoy them in full force. Then you have the tunes that they wrote themselves, they fit in like the proverbial glove. Plus, you can't fault the lyrical content of the title song. STRYPER hit the nail on the head with their message in "The Greatest Gift Of All". As a whole, the album is solid and quite decent and definitely worth the listen. But not special or outstanding enough to go out of your way. Unless, like me, you're a fan of STRYPER. Or if you're a big fan of Christmas music....