To Hell with the Devil

''To Hell with the Devil'' is the third studio album, by the Christian metal band Stryper, released in 1986. It was the first Christian metal album to achieve platinum status, selling over one million copies. It remained the best-selling Christian metal album until P.O.D.'s ''Satellite'' in 2001.

The album was listed at No. 88 in the 2001 book, '' CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music''. The album was the only heavy metal album on the list. Ian Christe, author of the heavy metal history book ''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal'' (2003), mentions ''To Hell with the Devil'' in his book as one of the landmarks of the glam metal movement.Christe, Ian (2003), Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (First printing ed.), "10: Glambangers of Hollywood", p. 154. HarperCollins.,
Throughout 1987, both music videos for "Free" and "Honestly" ranked No. 1 on '' Dial MTV'', the daily MTV list of most requested videos. The first single/video video for "Calling on You" also reached No. 2 on the show. "Honestly" was the biggest single from the record peaking at #23 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart.

The original artwork depicted four long haired angels (closely resembling the band members) throwing the devil into a fiery pit. The cover was then changed on later pressings to a basic black cover with the Stryper logo and the album title in the center.

According to Michael Sweet's autobiography, as the band started to record the album, Michael felt Tim Gaines wasn't the right bassist for the record. He was replaced by bassist Matt Hurich, who eventually ended up not working out. So session bassist Brad Cobb took Gaines' place while recording the album. However, before the tour began, Sweet asked Gaines to rejoin as he felt it wasn't right performing as "Stryper" without him.

In 2010, ''HM Magazine'' listed ''To Hell with the Devil'' No. 3 on its Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time list stating that "when this album broke, it went multi-platinum, forever raising the ceiling of what heavy Christian music could do." Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it No. 6 on its Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.

Track listing

All songs written by Michael Sweet except as noted
# "Abyss (To Hell with the Devil)" – 1:21
# "To Hell with the Devil" (M. Sweet, Robert Sweet) – 4:08
# "Calling on You" – 3:59
# "Free" (M. Sweet, R. Sweet) – 3:44
# " Honestly" – 4:10
# "The Way" (Oz Fox) – 3:37
# "Sing-Along Song" – 4:21
# "Holding On" – 4:16
# "Rockin' the World" – 3:30
# "All of Me" – 3:11
# "More Than a Man" – 4:35

Personnel

Stryper
* Michael Sweet – lead vocals, backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, arrangements
* Oz Fox – lead guitars, backing vocals
* Robert Sweet – drums

Additional musicians
* John Van Tongeren – keyboards
* Brad Cobb – session bassist

Production

* Oz Fox – producer
* Michael Sweet – producer
* Robert Sweet – producer, cover concept
* Stephan Galfas – producer, arrangements, engineer
* Dan Nebanzal – engineer
* Eddy Schreyer – mastering
* Brian Ayuso – art direction
* Ray Brown – costume design
* Annamaria DiSanto – photography
* Anna Revenge – photography
* Neil Zlozower – photography

Singles

*"Free"/"Calling on You" - released February 10, 1987 (Enigma Records 75001)
*"Honestly"/"Sing-Along Song" - released August 10, 1987 (Enigma 75009)

Videos

* "Calling On You"
* "Free"
* "Honestly"
* "All of Me" (on the documentary ''Stryper: In the Beginning')

Certifications

References

{{Authority control

Stryper albums
1986 albums