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Track Listing: Set Me Free [Sweet] Blackout [Scorpions] Heaven and Hell [Black Sabbath] Lights Out [UFO] Carry On Wayward Son [Kansas] Highway Star [Deep Purple] Shout It Out Loud [KISS] Over The Mountain [Ozzy Osbourne] The Trooper [Iron Maiden] Breaking The Law [Judas Priest] On Fire [Van Halen] Immigrant Song [Led Zeppelin] God

Soon after celebrating their 25th anniversary with a hugely successful world tour, Christian hard rock veterans Stryper decided to do something special for not only their fans, but fans of old school hard rock and heavy metal in general. The full original Stryper line-up of Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Oz Fox and Tim Gaines came together for the first time in more than two decades and recorded "The Covering", a set of 12 covers plus one original tune. This rendition of some of the most glorious rock anthems proves the influence they've had on Stryper, throwing light on the very foundation on which their musical journey began in the early 80s. But the powerful song selection is not the only thing that raised my curiosity. I was mainly interested in finding out the manner in which they'd executed these covers.

The album starts off on a fun, rollicking note with "Set Me Free", originally belonging to the band Sweet's 1971 album Sweet Fanny Adams. Stryper's version is faster and hence shorter, but sounds quite close to the original. Scorpions' "Blackout" comes next. Michael Sweet hits all the right notes with his vocals while an improvised guitar solo adds a degree of uniqueness to their version. Black Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell" follows, and for me it's one of the highlights of the entire album as they've done an excellent job enhancing the song with some well-crafted rhythm guitar and keyboard arrangements.

Back to the 70s we go, with a delightful rendition of UFO's "Lights Out". Oz Fox has done complete justice to Schenker's guitar solo, and like most other songs on this album, the vocals and overall tempo of the song perfectly suits Stryper, and it almost feels as if they were somehow always meant to play this song. "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas is an interesting choice, considering its slightly progressive nature. It's a great change-up on an album otherwise plentiful with flat out rockers. Talking of which, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple comes in next, a flawless cover from the first note to the last.

With KISS' "Shout It Out Loud", Stryper remind us that 70s was a fun period in rock 'n roll, with simple and enjoyable tunes like these at the forefront. The album then takes a wild 80s metal turn, starting with Ozzy's "Over The Mountain". I commend them for selecting this tune rather than going with one of the more obvious choices from the Ozzy catalog. No hard rock covers album can be complete without an Iron Maiden song, "The Trooper" in this case. It's easily the most improvised cover on this album, as the vocals are aided by a lot of backing vocals, unlike the original. The solo is almost completely different as well. It's fascinating in the sense that two guitars and the keyboard combine for the harmonies, and this is pretty close to what a modern Iron Maiden recording of this song would sound like, with the three guitarists.

Moving from one legendary British group to another, Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law" follows, another excellently enhanced cover. The roller coaster ride continues as Van Halen's "On Fire" is next, another not-so-obvious choice, which makes it way more significant than your typical Van Halen tune that has already been covered by 25 other bands. The last cover is quite befittingly that of a tune by Led Zeppelin, the all-time greatest band on the planet in my humble opinion. After "Immigrant Song", the album ends with a new original Stryper tune, "God". Through this song the original line-up has been able to capture the same levels of creativity and energy they had a couple of decades ago. This ends the album on a powerful note and only leaves the fans expectant of more from this line-up.

"The Covering" is an endearing throwback to the glorious tunes of the 70s and 80s, and it's effect on me was such that it actually made me rediscover the music from those golden years and fall in love with it all over again. This album showcases the timeless quality of those songs and genuinely comes across as a respectful, expressive tribute.

A hugely entertaining, fun-filled and excellently crafted album, "The Covering" is a befitting tribute to the Who's Who of hard rock.