(7/10) Michael Sweet is known as being the frontman of legendary Stryper, a band that got attention due to tossing bibles during live shows, being dressed in their bumblebee like yellow/black striped stage clothing.
Next to the releases with Stryper Michael Sweet released solo albums too of which the newest one is entitled ‘Ten’. It’s, what a surprise, the tenth longplayer and it features twelve new Melodic Rock/Metal songs being the musical chapters of this record.
The Christian background is also present on ‘Ten’ with the title track addressing the Ten Commitment. The song itself is with a slower pace a rhythm-focus slightly different than most of the other songs.
Other songs are ‘Forget Forgive’ with a starting riff reminding of ‘Foxy Lady’. ‘Shine’, one of the best songs on the album, is an uptempo rocker that brings back an ’80s Melodic Metal spirit and in general I had to think of bands like Dokken more than once while listening to ‘Ten’.
Michael Sweet’s solo release is certainly not a bad one and it’s not a jaw-dropping experience either. It’s an album that’s entertaining while listening to it, but also doesn’t leave a lot of traces on the musical road map. Solid from start to end.
Tracklist:
- Better Part of Me
- Lay it Down
- Forget Forgive
- Now or Never
- Ten
- Shine
- Let it Be Love
- Never Alone
- When Love is Hated
- Ricochet
- With You Till the End
- Son of Man
Label: Frontiers Music
Genre: Hard Rock
Release Date EU: October 11th, 2019