Why did THWTD do so much better than IGWT?

Wikipedia says THWTD went platinum, IGWT only went Gold.

My recollection is that the singles from IGWT were played all the time on MTV.   The third single though "Keep the Fire Burning" ... yeah, that one is a dud I'll admit and I can see why it didn't go anywhere.

To me, as a potential crossover hit, "I Believe in You" is about 20 times better of a song than "Honestly".

I don't remember the singles from THWTD getting a TON of play back in the day.  "Calling on Me" and "Honestly" I did see from time to time.  "Free" probably next to never.  Maybe they got played more on Christian TV and shows like Night Flight?

To me, the singing and production were light years better on IGWT too.

So what gives here, Christian metal experts?

I'm guessing (at least in the general public's view) the novelty of a group of Christians playing heavy metal had worn off. It would have taken a heck of a lot more than a bunch of Christian metal-heads buying the album to push them into platinum sales.

Staybrite wrote:I'm guessing (at least in the general public's view) the novelty of a group of Christians playing heavy metal had worn off. It would have taken a heck of a lot more than a bunch of Christian metal-heads buying the album to push them into platinum sales.

That's a very good guess I think.

1) From THWTD "Calling on You", "Free" and "Honestly" were huge MTV hits...bigger than anything on IGWT. So the MTV crowd liked that sound better.


2) A lot of the fans who supported THWTD think IGWT was over-produced and too poppy (including me at the time..and still today). It was a big let down from what we thought the natural progression would be.


3) They became too girly and glam....like a Christian Poison circa "Look What the Cat Dragged In". This turned off a lot of the Christian fans (and metal fans in general).




I mean really, the bottom line is that THWTD is just a better album than IGWT. Obviously, there are people with different tastes that may like IGWT more, but they are overwhelmingly in the minority.

Go to any Stryper concert and ask the fans which they like...heck, even Michael will tell you he likes THWTD a lot more..he has said many times it is one of their best album ever

Michael ranking the Stryper albums

http://sleazeroxx.com/singer-michael-sweet-ranks-his-favorite-stryper-albums-from-first-to-last/

easy...IGWT was..lame

The same reason why Michael Jackson's "Thriller" blew "Bad" out of the water despite Bad still having 9 singles and 7 top 20 hits. The album that breaks the artist is the biggest. Everyone "has to have it" because it's the cool thing. Then when the next album comes out only the people that really enjoyed it continue on.

That's my take at least.

Personally, I liked Thriller a heck of a lot better. And I had both.

Anyways, I always tended to look at it a little different...maybe I'm wrong...lol

I think bands often fail to deliver a follow-up as good as the breakout album, but they still have some level of success with it purely due to people buying it blindly hoping it is as good as the last album.

IGWT simply isn't as good. It benefited from the success of THWTD, and I think the carryover is the only reason people gave it a chance at all.

And Stryper dropped the ball with it.

The first 3 Stryper albums had a more raw and heaver sound with THWTD having a bit more slick sound. IGWT was really slick an polished.

IMO, when Def Leppard released Hysteria in '87 they merged hard rock and pop and kind of ruined it for hard rock and metal bands as record companies were going for that kind of sound. I think that's why Poison Open Up and Say Ahh and Stryper IGWT had that hard rock but slick poppy sound. While Hysteria was a slow seller at first for the first several months, Pour Some Sugar period was what sold the album. I remembe rback in 1988 many commercials on Much Music(Canadian vesion of MTV) had sound bites with the main riff to Pour Some Sugar when they had a commercial.

Also, Calling on You, Free and Honestly was what sustained THWTD. When Always there for you came out as a single, this maintained IGWT but the other singles Keep the Fire and I Believe in You quickly fell oft the charts. Some of the singles form THWTD and Always there for You wa son that dial MTV which probably promoted THWTD more than IGWT.

ALso, the fact that Stryper had a pop music producer on IGWT didn't help either. The true metal fan preferred Soldiers or THWTD sound more than IGWT. THne you have band slike Guns n Roses with that raw sound which wa sa slow seller at first and then broke big. That  totally went against what the music executives expected - that only hard rock records with a slock polished sound would sell big and the raw sounding records would not.  

To this day, both albums are both the best selling for the band. Both are multi platnum selling albums, although not RIAA certified, with THWTD edging ahead of IGWT. I read somewhere that Michael Sweet did a tally of ho much THWTD sold and it was estimated around 5-6 million over the years.

Frozen Fire wrote:The same reason why Michael Jackson's "Thriller" blew "Bad" out of the water despite Bad still having 9 singles and 7 top 20 hits. The album that breaks the artist is the biggest. Everyone "has to have it" because it's the cool thing. Then when the next album comes out only the people that really enjoyed it continue on.

That's my take at least.

Yes, I think this is the best explanation.

Stryper's highest-charting hit is "Honestly".  That's nowhere close to their best song, or even their most accessible, so I don't buy the "IGWT is lame" argument as an explanation of the sales discrepancy.

crucifyd wrote:easy...IGWT was..lame

And you think Honestly wasn't?  That is their highest-charting single ever.

Bought4Life wrote:Michael ranking the Stryper albums

http://sleazeroxx.com/singer-michael-sweet-ranks-his-favorite-stryper-albums-from-first-to-last/

That's interesting, but it's crazy ...

Does anyone really think GDE is the best Stryper album?  Come on.  Maybe he just had the most fun making it because it was drama-free.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Bought4Life wrote:Michael ranking the Stryper albums

http://sleazeroxx.com/singer-michael-sweet-ranks-his-favorite-stryper-albums-from-first-to-last/

That's interesting, but it's crazy ...

Does anyone really think GDE is the best Stryper album?  Come on.  Maybe he just had the most fun making it because it was drama-free.

In his mind, he probably DOES think GDE is his best...The "newest" is usually "the best" because it is the latest and is in tune with him at that moment. I don't think any artist would release a new album and say "it isn't my best work".

Maybe in a couple of years he will view it differently.

IMO, Soldiers is their best, hadn't polished up too much. That and the first album are what I listen to most.

Black Rider wrote:IMO, Soldiers is their best, hadn't polished up too much. That and the first album are what I listen to most.

I definitely agree that SUC is better than THWTD, and is maybe their best. NMHTP is up at the top for me also.

Yellow and Black Attack did not hold up well at all, IMO..except for You Know What To Do. It sounds very dated.

For me...

SUC
NMHTP
THWTD
MBP
ATL
FALLEN
YABA
GDE
IGWT
REBORN

1. The songs overall are better on THWTD.
2. The production was too much on IGWT.

I think IGWT is a (mostly) fantastic album, even if over-produced a bit. It is every bit the equal of THWTD. It's a shame that it didn't do as well. Both albums are very good. 

Personally, Fallen is my favorite album by them. The first two songs and last two songs on that record are easily my favorite music they've ever made, and it's not even close. There are lots of other songs by them that I like, of course, but that album and specifically those four songs are just so awesome, so over-the-top good that I can't get enough of them. I'm also a stickler for the drum sound on an album, especially with a guy like Robert Sweet playing, and of all their modern recordings, Fallen has, by far, the best drum sound in the production.

I never thought there was any mystery here, THWTD was a great album, IGWT, other than the title track, was rather lame.

I think all the 80's stuff sounds dated but the first album has energy, shows them hungry. I'm sure there's nostalgia involved with my opinion. 

I agree with most of the theories here. It had more hits on MTV and as a result was really their break-through album. One thing I don't think that has been mentioned here though is the vast difference in album titles. From a mainstream metal perspective, "To Hell with the Devil" just sounds a lot cooler and more metal. It also had shock value and caused controversy within the Christian scene. Christian bookstores pulled it off of their shelves, forcing the band and label to release new cover art for it. This all added exposure and created more interest. With a title like "In God We Trust", it just sounds very cliche and corny(IMO), no edge, no controversy, and may have turned off the secular metalhead. I really think they nailed it with the title "God Damn Evil". I wouldn't wear the shirt, but my goodness, what a controversy and buzz that caused.

^Did GDE cause much of a stir in the secular scene or only Christian?  It seems like it'd be difficult nowadays to be very shocking/controversial in the secular scene - unless you wore blackface 30 years ago or made a racist tweet LOL.

Wigeon wrote:I agree with most of the theories here. It had more hits on MTV and as a result was really their break-through album. One thing I don't think that has been mentioned here though is the vast difference in album titles. From a mainstream metal perspective, "To Hell with the Devil" just sounds a lot cooler and more metal. It also had shock value and caused controversy within the Christian scene. Christian bookstores pulled it off of their shelves, forcing the band and label to release new cover art for it. This all added exposure and created more interest. With a title like "In God We Trust", it just sounds very cliche and corny(IMO), no edge, no controversy, and may have turned off the secular metalhead. I really think they nailed it with the title "God Damn Evil". I wouldn't wear the shirt, but my goodness, what a controversy and buzz that caused.

Good point!

Even "Soldiers Under Command" sounds cooler.