Triumphant Return - Whitecross

I picked up Triumphant Return by Whitecross on CD finally after having it only on tape for years and years. Man I forgot about how good of an album this is. Good for repeated listens in the car. I going to say I might like this album a bit better than Hammer and Nail. Not sure if I like it better than the debut though. They are two different kinds of albums. The debut has more great riffs from Rex, but TR probably has better songwriting.

"Triumphant Return" is easily their best in my opinion.  It has the songwriting, great riffage, and awesome production.  "Hammer & Nail" is a bit muddy to me.  The debut was great, but there is just something about "Triumphant Return" that has that total package thing going for it.

For me, it seems like many times that my first real listen to a band ever became my favorite.  Perhaps that is my thing here as well.  TR was the first album I listened to by Whitecross.  I bought their first three all at one time but just randomly picked TR first.  I loved it and quickly devoured the other two.

I still like their s/t more than Triumphant Return, but it's close. The songwriting was better for the s/t IMO. The band was hungry and it showed. TR is a terrific album, though! One of my all-time favorite WC tunes is on this record - Down. I was in the minority that even liked Simple Man. I thought it really worked. However, the album is not without it's blemishes, too. Over The Top is just a bad song.

Good album.  Not a fan of most Whitecross ballads and this one has too many.  Down is a great song.

Triumphant Return is my all time favorite Whitecross album. Absolutely fantastic record!

The first 3 albums are my favorites from Whitecross. TR is a great album with great production.

Well, it is a good album, but it doesn't get even close to Hammer and Nail and mainly to the s/t.
It has too many ballads, and to be honest whitecross was never good at ballads.

Love this album

It only has 2 ballads (right?)

Easily my favorite Whitecross album the first 4 songs alone make it worth the price of admission

Hardcore Christian wrote:Love this album

It only has 2 ballads (right?)

Easily my favorite Whitecross album the first 4 songs alone make it worth the price of admission

I dunno.

But 2 is too much, anyway. LOL

Thiago-Brazil wrote:

Hardcore Christian wrote:Love this album

It only has 2 ballads (right?)

Easily my favorite Whitecross album the first 4 songs alone make it worth the price of admission

I dunno.

But 2 is too much, anyway. LOL

I agree, they dont do much for me either but they done make the album any less of an album compared to the others

In The Kingdom was a great album and had twice as many ballads if I remember correctly

A few years ago I purchased In the Kingdom, listened to it a couple of times and never had interest to listen to it again. Such an overated album. The worse of the first four, undoubtedly.
One day I will purchase High Gear, and then I will be able to compare all the Whitecross classic albums.

After Rex's departure, I only got Flytrap and One more Encore (the best of...). I kind of like them both as Scott's voice evolved a lot during that time, even though I prefer Whitecross with Rex Carrol, of course.

I don't get the whole "it has to many ballads" with only two.  A lot of bands in this genre would have had 3 on a 10 song album trying for more radio play.

alldatndensum wrote:I don't get the whole "it has to many ballads" with only two.  A lot of bands in this genre would have had 3 on a 10 song album trying for more radio play.

Exactly!

alldat, it's because Whitecross ballads from that era are weaker than most.  To be fair WC improved with time (I like In the kingdom and Your Love from later releases).

Thiago, High Gear has by far the most ballads.  It's the slowest and my least-listened to of the classic albums.  I personally think you got the worst of the post-Rex albums.  Unveiled is a good rock album and Equilibrium is a grungy-modern rock album but they actually pull it off ok (most of the time).

To me, Whitecross can write just as good of a ballad as any other band. songs like Behold, Simple Man and In the Kingdom are great songs. I prefer their first 3 albums (referring to 1987 remake of their first album) where they have more of a heavier edge and has less ballads.

In the Kingdom and High Gear are decent albums but has more ballads than necessary. 3 or 4 are too much for a hard rock band and should of kept it to 1 or 2 per album.

Unveiled was also a decent album that had 2 or 3 ballads. I Keep Praying is one of their better ballads and Mark Gershmel's vocals adds a nice touch.

I didn't care for Equilibrium, Flytrap and the One More Encore compilation that much. The album I like the least is Equilibrium.

The debut will always be my favorite, for the groundbreaking guitar sound and memorable vocals.  Triumphant Return is #2, and a solid record for sure.

The ballads get a bad rap (and Holy War - while not a ballad - is a bad rap.. Hah!)

Anyway, the ballads get a bad rap, but as eatbugs mentioned above, they improved with time. I actually like "Behold". Scott's vocal delivery isn't the greatest but I love the lyrics. Very worshipful.

Unveiled is a very underrated album. Once you get past the fact that it's Whitecross without Rex, and that isn't easy to do, and just judge it based on how it sounds, it's a terrific record. Quite unlike anything before it in terms of it's sound, it remains one of WC's best albums (though it can't touch the s/t or TR).

True enough, the ballads get a bad rap.  But I do love "Your Mine" and "Walk With Me".

alldatndensum wrote:I don't get the whole "it has to many ballads" with only two.  A lot of bands in this genre would have had 3 on a 10 song album trying for more radio play.

You know, some things in music just aren't that simple.
I would listen to an entire album of ballads from bands such as Guardian, Bloodgood, Crystavox, just to name a few.

Most Whitecross ballads are boring. Of course, In the Kingdom is an exception, I love this song (in fact, I only started to care about In the Kingdom when I saw Whitecross playing it live).

Since I took some singing classes, I start to respect Scott Wenzell as a singer,  but I do think his voice doesn't fit in any of classic Whitecross ballads (again, In the Kingdom is an exception).

P.S.: Nice to come back with a good discussion from a band we all love...

One point I have to make is, I think Equilibrium is better than Flytrap

One redeeming point on Equilibrium is we got this beast of a song:

"You Will Find it There" has always been a great track to me, that being said, I don't think there is as much of a problem with Whitecross writing ballads, as there has been with Scott singing them. His voice was never cut out for it.

I'll admit I am only familiar with the first two albums and that's about it (and 1987 which I prefer over the original). I also have the songs "No Second Chances" and "Good Enough" but I don't even know what album those are from but they are excellent songs and I like the production on them.

I don't think there is as much of a problem with Whitecross writing ballads, as there has been with Scott singing them. His voice was never cut out for it.

True!  They tried to do these quiet, pretty songs.  Scott's gravely voice just didn't work with simple piano & guitar songs.  When they ventured into full production with the ballads bringing in the drums, more rock guitar, etc., Scott worked with that.   You needed something to cover that his voice wasn't pretty on ballads like say Mike Sweet's was.

I also have the songs "No Second Chances" and "Good Enough" but I don't even know what album those are from

Man, we have GOT to get you to get "Triumphant Return" and "In The Kingdom".  ITK has too many ballads to me but is still a strong album.  I'd get both of those if you like the first two.  Beware that they may be a bit harder to find unless you go with digital downloads.

I guess I'm in a minority, I don't mind their ballads nor do I think Scott's voice ruins them. Now, granted, not ALL of their ballads are good, but 'Walk With Me' is one of my favorite songs on Hammer And Nail. I also liked the ones on In The Kingdom as well. Cheesy and keyboard ridden?Absolutely, but me like. 

I think the only Whitecross album I never got into is Unveiled, so far its only one I've never updated to cd. I'm also one of the few people who likes Flytrap, it helped me through a spiritually trying time, so I guess I'll always have a soft spot for it.