Robert Sweet should be a familiar name to fans of Christian heavy metal as well as anyone who watched MTV in the 80's. Mr. Sweet was the drummer extraordinaire of 80's metal band Stryper. With wild looking drum kits turned to the side, and arms flailing in perfect time, Robert established himself as a great rock drummer. That was then and this is now.
The new CD Love Trash is ambitious (Sweet plays all the instruments) but not altogether successful. The guitar work really isn't bad, in a 90's kind of way. The crunch is there but needs a bit more power to bring it into the modern sound arena. The mix and production on the record are also disturbing. More attention to the drum sound from such a great drummer and less bass would be expected, but, in fact, the bass sometimes overpowers the songs.
Then there are the songs. Why name a song "The F Word?" Even though the "F" word turns out to be forgiveness, it's still just there for its shock value. You also have to wonder about "Love Trash," "Sweet Betrayal," and "I'm ?@#$%&!." ( "I'm Screwed, without you...") hmmm . . .
Still, dig past the questionable production and the strange song titles and you hit a solid rock and roll root. If anything redeems this project, it is that shining root in the form of hooks and rock melodies.
I played the new CD for my friend Kenny, a super Stryper fan (he still wears a Stryper jean jacket) and he enjoyed the record quite a bit. But since this is my review I'll rate it by my ear.
2.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Zik JacksonStryper lives! Besides the occasional appearances of the once-bumblebee-resembling metalheads, the spirit of God-rock lives on through former Stryper drummer Robert Sweet and his solo project, Love Trash. Pulling triple duty on all guitars, bass, and of course drums, Sweet deigns to sing and gives that responsibility to Larry Worley, who shines, yet doesn't quite compare to Robert's brother…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestMany of you will know that Robert Sweet used to be drummer for the eighties metalband Stryper, the band that sold its millions. Robert was the driving force of much that happened around the band while his brother Michael wrote the majority of the songs on the six Stryper albums. This solo effort of Robert is the first time to really get to know his songwriting skills. To be honest I had to get…Similar sounding releases
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