Bride - "Snake Eyes"

Bride - Snake Eyes
2018, Retroactive

1. Intro
2. Fake News
3. Famous When I'm Dead
4. John the Baptist
5. Think I'll Build the Bomb
6. The Real Jesus
7. Lost Within a Song
8. The Laughter of It All
9. The Painter
10. Call Out His Name
11. Other Side of Suicide
12. There's Always Tomorrow

Wow... so...Bride really wants you to associate this album with Snakes in the Playground. To the point that the intro is literally a recap of that album. It was made specifically to recall that time period - something they said while they were crowdfunding the recording. They've even dug up the old Kinetic Faith logo (which I always liked). Of course, the problem with that is you're not just trying to recapture a sound. You're have to capture the feeling of an era. I remember seeing Bride at Kingdom Bound in '92 just before Playground was to come out. They put on an amazing show. They were a band at their peak and they knew it. It was electric. We eagerly anticipated that release and when it came it remained in heavy rotation throughout my youth group. Snakes in the Playground remains a classic to this day. That zeitgeist is part of the magic of that time and it's almost a fool's errand to try and recapture it. Honestly, when that opening riff to "Fake News" kicked in I thought, "Dang...maybe they've done it." But alas...

The previous paragraph probably leads you to suspect that I don't like this album. That is not the case. I really enjoy this album and I want others to enjoy it too. I just want to manage whatever expectations people may have. No, it doesn't match Playground, but it's still a dang fine hard rock album and certainly the best since their heyday. Dale can't quite do the unrestrained screams of yesteryear, but he still sounds great and there's a lot of variety in his delivery (he does do a few screams here and there). Troy's riffs are infectious and heavy. I mentioned the opening of "Fake News" and there's a lot of that old fire here. While Playground remains the primary influence, there's also a good bit of Scarecrow Messiah. More than I expected. Heck, in a couple songs ("There's Always Tomorrow" being the best example) the band reaches way back, dipping into Live to Die-era. It's fleeting but it's there. The band has said this is their final release. If it has to be the end, this is a good one to go out on. Snake Eyes might not be the sequel to Snakes in the Playground that everyone wanted, but it's a good and fitting celebration of the band's career.

Useless Fact: I guess Dale lives in New Zealand now? Anyway, I pre-ordered and got an album cover sticker signed by Dale and Troy.

Bride - "Scarecrow Messiah"

Bride - Scarecrow Messiah
1994, Starsong

1. Beast
2. Place
3. Murder
4. Scarecrow
5. Crazy
6. Time
7. One
8. Doubt
9. DadMom
10. Thorns
11. Questions

I think this marks the beginning of the end of my affection for Bride. I suppose this is an okay follow-up to Snakes. I mean it retains that trademark sound and some of the songs sound like they could have been extra tracks on that disc ("Beast" "Scarecrow"). But I don't know... it almost sounds like they're bored. As if Star Song said, "Hey, make another Snakes!" and the band rolled their eyes in frustration, pulled down their pants, and crapped out this mediocre collection. After this Bride would change with just about every album - each one being suckier and more laughable than the last.

Useless Fact: I think Dale's son wrote the lyrics to "DadMom." Um... I'm not sure that was a great idea, but who am I kidding? If my daughter came to me with lyrics they would be on my album post-haste.

Bride - "Snakes in the Playground"

Bride - Snakes in the Playground

1992, Star Song

1. Rattlesnake

2. Would You Die For Me?

3. Psychedelic Super Jesus

4. Fallout

5. Saltriver Shuffle

6. Dust Through a Fan

7. I Miss the Rain

8. Don't Use Me

9. Picture Perfect

10. Love, Money

11. Some Things Never Change

12. Goodbye

Bride were kings in the Christian metal scene after Kinetic Faith came out. So what do they do? The altered their style a little so they sounded like Guns N' Roses. Eh... okay, I'm game. Truth be told I think they did GNR better than GNR did by '92. Seriously, this is one awesome hard rock platter. I think Dale Thompson's writing improved by leaps and bounds as well. There's some pretty cool wordplay and the lyrics are creative without being cliche or preachy. Of course, we've got some label-pandering ballads but even those aren't too bad. All in all a classic. I got to see the band live when they came to Kingdom Bound at Darien Lake. They totally rocked the house.

And as for my odd affinity for detailing my strange associations with music, I'll tell you this. I went on a field trip to Gettysburg with my eighth grade history class in the fall and listened to this and The Choir's Circle Slide all the way there and back. Guess what I think of when I listen to this disc?

Useless Fact: Some editions of this CD came with an extra disc with extra tracks on it. I never got one of those though. One of those extra tracks was "Same Ol' Sinner." I'll never understand why they didn't put that rippin' tune on any official album. Fools!

Bride - "Kinetic Faith"

Bride - Kinetic Faith
1991, Pure Metal

1. Troubled Times
2. Hired Gun
3. Ever Fallen in Love?
4. Mountain
5. Ski Mask
6. Everybody Knows My Name
7. Young Love
8. Kiss the Train
9. Crimes Against Humanity
10. Sweet Louise

This marks the first time Bride redefined themselves - a practice that would become a downward spiral prompting them to make complete garbage albums like Fist Full of Bees. Luckily, this change is actually pretty good. Kinetic Faith is a solid hard rock/metal album that revels in the blues influence we saw foreshadowed on the "best of" and Madness. Songs like "Troubled Times" and "Ever Fallen In Love?" are pretty heavy. "Hired Gun" starts off acoustic then ends with an explosive hard rock finale. I also like the lyrics and theme of that song (about an assassin) - very creative! They also threw a ballad in there "Sweet Louise" probably so they could get some radio airplay. It's at the end so feel free to skip it... I know I do.

Useless Fact: Hey, look! The explanations are back! I don't think they're as necessary on this one as they might have been before. At this point Bride wasn't being so opaque with their lyrics.

Bride - "Silence is Madness"

Bride - Silence is Madness

1989/2002, Golden Hill

1. Fool Me Once

2. Hot Down South Tonight

3. Silence is Madness

4. Until the End We Rock

5. Evil Dreams

6. Under the Influence

7. All Hallow's Eve

8. No More Nightmares

9. Rock Those Blues Away

Bonus Tracks:

10. Everybody Knows My Name

11. Same Ol' Sinner

Silence is Madness has the distinction of being the very first Christian metal album I bought after I got saved (again). For that reason alone it will always have a special place in my heart. Luckily, there's plenty of good ol' fashioned metal goodness here to enjoy too. Madness continues in the tradition of dark, goth-infused metal that characterized the last release. Though now they're expanding their sound a bit to include some bluesier numbers like "Hot Down South Tonight" and "Rock Those Blues Away." "Under The Influence" has been a Bride concert staple for years. My copy is the rerelease from some Brazilian label called Golden Hill. It's got the two tracks that were on Bride's "best of" CD, The End of the Age, as well as some Dale Thompson solo material. The Age tracks are nice to have, but the other stuff... it's terrible. I didn't even bother to list those tracks as a conscious display of my disdain for them.

Useless Fact: "All Hallow's Eve" is about Halloween. It's not about the Great Pumpkin though...

Bride - "Live To Die"

Bride - Live To Die

1988, Pure Metal

1. Metal Might

2. Hell No

3. In the Dark

4. Out For Blood

5. Live To Die

6. Fire and Brimstone

7. Whiskey Seed

8. Here Comes the Bride

9. Heroes

Live to Die is a pure metal masterpiece. Every song rocks. Dale Thompson's pipes could annihilate metal posers with a scream. You want an example of why people go on and on about the glory of metal? This is it.

Useless Fact: The band included some explanations for their songs on this one. My dad was absolutely convinced that "Hell No" was about Vietnam, even after we sat down and looked at the lyrics. Yeah, that's my dad for you!

Bride - "Show No Mercy"

Bride - Show No Mercy
1986, Pure Metal

1. Evil That Men Do
2. Now He Is Gone
3. Fly Away
4. Forever in Darkness
5. Follow Your Heart
6. Show No Mercy
7. I Will Be With You
8. Thunder in the City
9. No Matter the Price
10. The First Will Be Last

I remember going over to a friend's house when I was eleven with a bunch of Christian tapes because I wanted him to hear all this cool Christian metal I'd found. His mom grabbed the tapes and poured over the lyrics to each one. Show No Mercy was one of those tapes. She just couldn't understand why a Christian band would call their album Show No Mercy. To be honest, I'm not really sure why they called it that, but then Bride was never much for clear-cut lyrics back in the day. I got this disc after having had Silence is Madness and Live to Die and it didn't make much of an impression on me. It still doesn't after all these years. I absolutely love some tracks: "Evil That Men Do," "Forever In Darkness," and "Thunder in the City" to name a few, but the rest just don't register. Cool cover art though!

Useless Fact: M8 rereleased this CD, but they're out of business - good luck finding one!