Customer Reviews

Triumphant Return

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I completly believe that this is the best album of all time! I also believe in there message! its a great everything! i got the vynyl version, and i have the sleve up on the wall in my room, a little tatered, and the album its self was warped a bit, but it sounds great!!!! i would highly recommend this for anyone who is a Christian, and even kind of likes metal music!!! best WhiteCross album, best Christian album, best metal album, best album ever!!!!!!

Their 1987 self titled debut "Whitecross", though lacking good production, started their career together in fantastic fashion. Although the production was better and I loved it at the time, 1989's "Hammer & Nail" was a slight downgrade in their song writing. 1992's "Triumphant Return" combines the best of the prior two releases. It matches their debut's excellent song writing and surpasses "Hammer & Nail" with outstanding production.

Whitecross accomplishes the demand implied in the title of first song, "Attention Please". From the moment the opening chords to the main riff blares through the speakers, they caught my attention. What a way to kick start a CD. Two aspects that were immediately noticeable were the drumming and bass playing as compared to the first 2 releases. In a word, outstanding! Both finally matched the wizardry of Rex Carroll's guitar playing. "Red Light" and Straight Thru The Heart" continue what was started on the first track. These two are excellent songs with memorable hooks. The next track takes a slight detour in style. While the first 3 tracks are fast paced, "Down" is slower but no worse a song. It also marks the first time that Rex varies the guitar sound within the song. Next is "Behold" and if you're a fan of Whitecross' ballads, you may consider this track to be among their best. The song radiates with a sincerity that all too commonly is missing from the ballads of other metal bands. "Shakedown" appeared on a Christian guitar oriented compilation in 1989 but this CD's version crushes the original. The call and response style riff is given greater impact with a slight difference in chord placement which makes it absolutely fantastic. I especially enjoy the first half of Flashpoint" which is this CD's guitar solo. The second half takes a completely different direction in style. It's interesting and quite effective. "Simple Man" is great. Rex takes the lead vocal chores on this song and it's a nice change of pace. The style isn't really a ballad. It's more of an acoustic driven song styled similarly to songs you might've heard on AM radio during the 1970's. "Over The Top" jockeys for position with "Shakedown" as the best song on this CD. The main guitar riff makes great use of "hot space" (a term coined by the rock group Queen who also named an album "Hot Space"). Defined, it simply means playing a riff that makes use of places in measures where no notes are played. When done in a certain fashion, it makes the notes/chords played around those "hot spaces" have much more impact. Fantastic song. "Heaven's Calling Tonight" closes this CD nicely.

Whitecross were often compared to the metal group Ratt and that's mainly because of Scott Wenzel's vocals. However, if you're familiar with Ratt, you'll notice that on this release less of a comparison can be made between the two bands. The song writing style bares little resemblance to their secular counterparts, not to mention that Ratt's guitar players couldn't dream of playing in Rex's style.

A combination of excellent playing by Rick Cua and Frank Liva and the great production give the bass and drums much greater impact than they've had on the previous 2 releases. Scott Wenzel's vocal shrieks are even more prominent on this CD and it goes without saying that Rex's guitar playing is outstanding. Half of the riffs are very good while the other half are just flat-out great. All of the songs have an incredible guitar solo. All of these elements combine to make Whitecross' "Triumphant Return" their best.

I was alone and very depressed as a young man just out of high school. Luckily I loved the Lord, but I hated life and didn't see much use in it. I went to a Christian book store and was looking for some music. The owners were not there that night but there teenage son was. He had long hair and looked like the heavy metal type. I asked him if they had any good Christian music. He went in the back and brought back Whitecross - Triumpant Return, Bloodgood - Rock in a hard place, and Rez - Innocent blood. he told me this was the best music out there. He also said his Mom and Dad hated this heavy metal stuff but he sold it when they were not around. Well, these three albums saved my life. I really didn't want to live, this music gave me the fight to keep going.

In my humble opinion, there are only 4 great Whitecross CD's - 1987, Hammer and Nail, Triumphant Return and In the Kingdom - Rex Carroll makes EVH look like a school boy. Being a guitarist myself, I see the influence that he had on Rex and Rex took it to the next level - great Christian songs and well thought out phrasing with his lead guitar work. Buy at Amazon.com - the only place you can find Whitecross CD's......

I have to correct what the previous reviewer said. Actually Triumphant return was released in late e 1989. Hammer and Nail was released in 1988. Anyway, this is a very strong Whitecross album. They came to play Bethel Temple in Hampton in May 1990 touring for Triumphant Return. I still have the poster from that show signed and framed. The music is like any given commercial metal band of the day, but their shows were outstanding. The musicianship was top notch. If I can recommend any Whitecross album to the new listener, I would strongly suggest Triumphant Return, along with Hammer and Nail, and the Debut. The 1st 3 rock the hardest.

while nightmare records were very helpful and tried to hunt down a rare CD for me, they were unable to.

Well yes it still sounds like Ratt, but the songwriting's more stronger, and their message is clear. It kicks off with "Attention Please", and then shifts into overdrive with "Stop Light" one of my top 5 favorite Whitecross songs, and then there's "Down". The ballads aren't bad either with "Behold", and "Simple Man", and the album closes out with the classic "Heaven's Calling Tonight". I used to have this on cassette, so now I will replace it with the cd. Classic 80's metal here folks if you loved it then you'll love it now.

I'm quite familiar with the Whitecross catalog and secular rock as well. This CD along with their "Equilibrium" are THE best offerings by Whitecross and possibly by all Christian metal bands. The aforementioned 2 albums are to Christian metal as AC/DC's "Back In Black" is to secular metal.

Rock-On for the King of Kings!

This is the third album from Whitecross. As their first album was great, and the second was a disappointment - the third one is something between them. Already the songs "Attention Please", "Red Light", and "Straight Thru the Heart" rock immeadiately. After that the song "Down" seems to be another disappointing basic track. "Behold" is a slow one - but not their best ones. "Shakedown" is a return to the better songs. "Flashpoint" is a great instrumental track. Then, "Simple Man" - it's a great song! A great slow one! "Over the Top" and "Heaven's Calling Tonight" are safe true Whitecross. Not their best - but not their worst either.
Stars: Simple Man, Red Light, Attention Please

1989's The Triumphant Return was the third album in as many years from Christian rockers Whitecross. Whitecross always struck me as the band you'd listen to when your parents wouldn't let you buy a Ratt cassette (that was the case in my house growing up). Still, the band was in pretty good form on this album. The musicianship and songwriting were tight, as were Scott Wenzel's Pearcy-esque vocals, and perhaps most notably the production values were greatly improved from previous efforts. Even the House of Lords style cover art was better. My only real compliant is that with their Sunday sermon lyrics, the band continues to wield their faith like a blunt instrument.

One of the best things about bands like Stryper and Barren Cross is that you didn't have to be a Christian to enjoy their music. You just had to enjoy hard rock and metal. Like Christian rock pioneers Petra, Whitecross was always in full evangelical mode with their music, and while that's certainly their prerogative, it seems that could turn off the type of casual listeners that the band was presumably trying to reach in the first place. At that point, the band is left preaching to the faithful. There's definitely a sense that if you're not already on board with the band's message, you aren't going to be welcome.

In the end, your enjoyment of Whitecross in general, and the Triumphant Return in particular, is going to come down to one factor - whether your musical tastes are driven more by the music or the message. Whitecross was certainly a competent rock band, but I have a hunch that most people bought their albums because they were a Christian band than because they were a good rock band. For my part, I know that when I reach for a Barren Cross CD it's because I want to hear some solid American power metal, and when I listen to Believer it's to hear some truly innovative death metal. Their religious convictions are merely an interesting aside to their music. Aside from an unwavering commitment to their faith (which I can certainly admire even if I'm not a believer myself), what does Whitecross really offer that you couldn't hear from dozens of other 80's hard rock bands?