To Hell with the Devil
| To Hell With the Devil | ||||
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| Studio album by Stryper | ||||
| Released | October 24, 1986 | |||
| Genre | Christian metal Glam metal Heavy metal |
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| Length | 41:10 | |||
| Label | Enigma Records | |||
| Producer | Stephan Galfas and Stryper | |||
| Stryper chronology | ||||
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| Alternative Cover | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
To Hell with the Devil is the Grammy Award nominated third release, and second full-length album, by the Christian metal and glam metal band Stryper, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music).[2] It was the first Christian metal album to achieve Platinum status, selling over one million copies. It remains the best-selling Christian metal album of all time.
The album was listed at #88 in the 2001 book, CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. The album was the only heavy metal album on the list. Ian Christe, author of the heavy metal history book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (2003), mentions To Hell with the Devil in his book as one of the landmarks of the glam metal movement.[3] Throughout 1987, both music videos for "Free" and "Honestly" ranked #1 on Dial MTV, the nightly MTV list of most requested videos. The video for "Calling on You" also reached #5 on the show.
The original cover of To Hell with the Devil caused a torrent of controversy, and was soon changed to an all-black design. The original artwork depicted four long haired angels throwing the devil into a fiery pit. The cover was then changed on later pressings to a basic black cover with the Stryper logo and the album title in the center.[4]
As the band started to record the album, Tim Gaines left the band. He was replaced by bassist Matt Hurich. That failed, so session bassist Brad Cobb took Tim's place while recording this album. However, before the tour for it began, Tim Gaines rejoined the band.
In 2010, HM Magazine listed To Hell with the Devil #3 on its Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time list stating that "when this album broke, it went multi-platinum, forever raising the ceiling of what heavy Christian music could do."[5] Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it #6 on its Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time list.[6]
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Michael Sweet except as noted
- "Abyss (To Hell with the Devil)" – 1:21
- "To Hell with the Devil" (M. Sweet, Robert Sweet) – 4:08
- "Calling on You" – 3:59
- "Free" (M. Sweet, R. Sweet) – 3:44
- "Honestly" – 4:10
- "The Way" (Oz Fox) – 3:37
- "Sing-Along Song" – 4:21
- "Holding On" – 4:16
- "Rockin' the World" – 3:30
- "All of Me" – 3:11
- "More Than a Man" – 4:35
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Stryper
- Michael Sweet - Lead vocals, guitar
- Robert Sweet - Drums
- Oz Fox - Lead guitar, background vocals
- Tim Gaines - Bass
[edit] Additional musicians
- John Van Tongeren - Keyboards
[edit] Singles
- Free / Calling on You - Released February 10, 1987 (Enigma Records 75001)
- Honestly / Sing-Along Song - Released August 10, 1987 (Enigma 75009)
[edit] Production
- Stephan Galfas and Stryper - Producers
- Stephan Galfas and Dan Nebanzal - Engineers
- Stephan and Michael Sweet - Arrangers
- Eddy Schreyer - Mastering
- Robert Sweet - Cover design
- Brian Ayuso - Art direction
- Ray Brown - Costume design
[edit] References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Thompson, John J. (2000), Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll (First printing ed.), Ottawa, Ontario Canada: ECW Press, ISBN 1550224212 Pages 152-155.
- ^ Christe, Ian (2003), Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (First printing ed.), "10: Glambangers of Hollywood", p. 154. HarperCollins., ISBN 0-380-81127-8
- ^ Brett Christensen. "Enigma Vinyl Pressing". stryper.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080107193033/http://www.stryper.com/articles-enigma.html. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- ^ HM Staff. "Top 100 Christian rock albums". HM Magazine. Open Publishing. http://www.hmmagazine.com/2010/07/top-100-christian-rock-albums-of-all-time/. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
- ^ Heaven's Metal Staff. "Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time". HM Magazine. Noise Creep. http://www.noisecreep.com/2010/09/06/hm-magazine-top-christian-metal-albums/. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
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