Well, this is the beauty of music. I'm just about finished with my first listen to the record and frankly, I'm kind of bored.
Michael Sweet shines vocally and the guitar work is amazing. Musically, it's all there. But the songs are kind of flat and boring. They aren't BAD, per se. But there isn't a lot of excitement in the songs themselves. The spots where Michael shoots off some cool high notes to emphasize are great, the solos are great. But the songs...I'm wondering if they should have taken a little more time. So much going on with that band, with Oz's medical condition and Michael's scary situation with his eye. I know it was for this reason, Michael wanted to push through and get things recorded. But I also feel the material isn't as strong as previous releases, and maybe it would have been better to have demoed most of these, and then looked to write another batch once Michael recovered and Oz was in more solid shape (I don't know where Oz is these days, other than knowing he's had tumors taken out).
I'm not trying to rain on the parade - I'm a big fan of Stryper. But the highlights for me are the vocal embellishments and the solos, not the songs themselves.