MICHAEL SWEET: "Ten"

Rating: RRRR
Label: Frontiers 2019
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Heavier than thou. "Part of me is searching for the holiness in thee". It's the better part of me, according to the soldier under command aka Michael Sweet. "Ten" features an all-star guest line-up that includes appearances by Jeff Loomis of Arch Enemy, Gus G of Firewind, Rich Ward of Fozzy, Joel Hoekstra of Whitesnake, Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns, Mike Kerr and Ian Raposa from Firstbourne, Todd La Torre of Queensryche, etc. etc. On the subject of guest musicians Michael comments: "There is a different player appearing on every song. It started out where I was just going to have a couple of guest appearances on it, then I decided that it would be really interesting to bring in different players for every song".

Before I forget and start rambling on about To Hell With The Devil or the yellow and black attack... what's your definition of "solo album"? Or rather... what's the meaning of releasing a solo record that sounds like the previous two Stryper albums? Don't get me wrong. Merely asking out loud. It's a rather good and powerful metal album. I'm not saying that "Ten" - there is a title track on here about the Ten Commandments - should be banned and thrown off the edge of the world. But I do find it a wee bit strange when the main character and sole writer of Stryper releases a solo effort in the same style and formula as "Fallen" or "God Damn Evil".

Conclusion? I'd much rather hear something completely different from band members' going solo. Regarding the musical direction of the album, Michael states: "I'm very excited about this release, there are old-school, straight-ahead metal ideas in the vein of Judas Priest, Dio and Iron Maiden, all the stuff I love listening to!". Indeed. If you're not up to date with the Stripes as of lately, they've been on steroids for the last couple of albums (Jesus Juice?) and everything is slightly harder, heavier, faster, than in their MTV days/daze. The same goes for Ten vs. All This and Heaven Too.

It's never quite as old skool or progressive as the bands' mentioned above and Michael may still think otherwise though. The trademark harmonies are still there, just not crazy over-the-top. I'd say the sound is harking back to the first mini-album (Stryper) only with a modern sound and production. Ozzy Osbourne (in the 2000's), Metal Church, Sacred Warrior, are three acts I'd also put next to Sweet. Not a perfect "Ten", but a very impressive effort and you simply can't go wrong here if you enjoy the last couple of Stryper albums.
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