No Life 'til Metal - The STRYPER cd collection

The
STRYPER BOOTLEG Collection

Stryper-Live in California (cdr bootleg)
Recorded live in Concorde, CA, 10/3/85

DISC ONE
1. "Battle Hymn" (2:08)
2. "Soldiers Under Command" (5:15)
3. "Makes Me Wanna Sing" (7:08)
4. "Reach Out" (7:35)
5. "Reason for the Season" (7:43)
6. "First Love" (7:30)
7. "Together Forever" (8:50)
DISC TWO
8. "Surrender" (4:08)
9. "Together As One" (5:49)
10. "Loving You" (10:12)
11. "The Rock That Makes Me Roll" (6:17)
12. "Co'Mon Rock/Battle Hymn" (10:40)
13. "Loud n Clear" (4:23)

Excellent bootleg recorded on the "Soldiers Under Command" tour. Sound quality is excellent, athough not perfect. The track listing features almost every song theband had written up to this point, including the Christmas song "Reason for the Season."

Stryper - Live in Japan (BootRock)

1. "Intro" (2:38)
2. "Make Me Wanna Sing" (3:49)
3. "Loud 'n Clear" (3:35)
4. "From Wrong to Right" (3:50)
5. "Spreading the News..." (:54)
6. "You Know What to Do" (4:33)
7. "Surrended" (5:45)
8. "Together Forever" (3:55)
9. "First Love" (6:16)
10. "Loving You" (4:26)
11. "Soldiers Under Command" (5:36)
12. "C'Mon Rock" (5:57)
13. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1:54)
14. "Message from Stryper" (1:48)

Nicely packaged bootleg recording of the officially released "Live in Japan" video that has been out of print for many years. I keep hoping it will eventually get re-released on DVD along with the "In the Beginning" and "Burning Flame Live" videos. Perhaps Stryper will do like Queensryche and release this entire CD as bonus tracks on a re-release of their first EP. Now that would be sweet! (Uh, yes, the pun was intended.) In anycase, the sound here isn't exactly album quality, but isn't bad either. Actually I have heard officially released live albums that were inferior in sound quality. The track selection is cool too as it features all material from the bands first two albums, being that this show was recorded on the "Soldiers Under Command" tour. The insert includes lots of still shots from the video and is professionally printed. Not sure whether this one was mass produced or not though as the CD itself is a CDR with a printed label.

1. "Battle Hymn of the Republic" [intro] (1:04)
2. "In God We Trust" (3:56)
3. "Calling On You" (3:51)
4. "Rockin' the World" (3:05)
5. "Sing-Along Song" (5:46)
6. "Lonely" (5:17)
7. "Makes Me Wanna Sing" (3:41)
8. "Drum Solo" (1:13)
9. "Keep the Fire Burning" (4:00)
10. "Bass Solo" (2:22)
11. "Guitar Solo" (2:41)
12. "The Writings on the Wall" (4:25)
13. "Always There For You" (4:58)
14. "Honestly" (5:06)
15. "Free" (3:48)
16. "Soldiers Under Command" (5:20)
17. "The Way" (3:25)
18. "Abyss" (:50)
19. "To Hell With the Devil" (4:56)

On May 21-22, 2001 I attended the 2nd Annual Stryper Expo. I must confess I never knew there were still so many Stryper fans. The place was packed! In anycase, while there I picked up this live rarity. My friend Jeff, who traveled 12 hours to California with me, showed the disc to Robert Sweet. Apparently he was totally unaware that this disc existed so he ran over to the table that was selling them at $25 each to purchase his own copy. Unfortunately for him, they had sold out. Bummer! As bootlegs go, this one is listenable but not top notch. The sound is a bit tinny. It seems to me, however that this must have been taken from the soundboard. I know for a fact that this show was recorded for video but never officially released, so perhaps this was the source. Actually I think this show may have been broadcast over Japanese TV. In any case, there were only a few of these discs available and now I own one. The copyright date on the back is 2000. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's the only info I have, so I will assume this is the release year of this cd. Bootleg VHS video copies have been around for much longer however. I should also mention that this is not a silver cd, rather it is a cdr wrapped in a nicely designed front and back cover. As far as I know, a mass produced copy of this disc does not exist. The autographs on this disc are not real, they are printed on the cover as part of the artwork. Looks cool though.

OK, someone from 777 Records in France contacted me and informed me that all the copies they have sold are CDR copies. Apparently, however, there are two versions. The first pressing has poor sound quality and the second pressing has a far superior sound quality that is almost as good as an official album. I finally have this remastered version and it does sound top notch. He also sent me a copy of the original cover without the autographs, so I guess there is at least one copy floating around with original autographs, but mine is not it.

Stryper-Cornerstone 2001 (CDR bootleg)
Recorded live at the Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, IL July 7, 2001

Killer show that took place a short time after the 2001 Stryper Expo. This was only the second, and last show, Stryper did as a full band that year. Excellent array of songs from all the band's catalog, including "Can't Stop the Rock" and an off the cuff version of the Christmas classic "Winter Wonderland." This disc must be a sound board recording as very little crowd noise is heard. This sounds a bit bizarre in tracks like "Honestly" where the crowd is left to sing. You can faintly hear the large crowd singing, but it would have been cool to hear the crowd at these points. Unfortunately this CDR bootleg was not recorded 'disc-at-once' so it has gaps between the songs. Anyone know how to fix this problem?

1. "Lady" (4:54)
2. "I Believe In You" (3:17)
3. "Honestly" (4:10)
4. "Together As One" (4:03)
5. "You Won't Be Lonely" (3:43)
6. "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" (3:30)
7. "Lonely" (4:11)
8. "All Of Me" (3:11)
9. "First Love" (5:43)
10. "My Love I'll Always Show" (3:38)
11. "All I Wanna Do" (3:58)

Not a live bootleg, as are most of the discs listed on my bootleg page. "The Ballads Collection:" is a nicely put together collection of Stryper ballads. Can't say that I am as intersted in the ballads as in the heavier material, but what peaked my interest here was "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", which was only ever released on an obscure Christmas compilation and "All I Wanna Do", which is a song that Micheal Sweet had written for Stryper in the early 90's. The version here is the exact same version that was released on Micheal Sweet's "Unstryped" CD. However, it fits on this collection rather well. "Together As One" is probably my favorite ballad of the bunch, especially since this was my wedding song back in '89. The packaging here is complete with color inserts, tons of photos of the band, a color label on the disc itself, but I don't think this disc has ever been mass produced, despite the UPC Bar Code and Hollywood Records logo that appears on the back panel.