Stryper Prepare to Release 'The Covering'

Despite a few push-backs, Stryper is finally ready to release The Covering. The album will be released February 15 via Big 3 Records.

If you haven't heard, The Covering is, of course, an album of covers. Now, I'm going to be blunt: I am not a big Stryper fan. Michael Sweet is a phenomenal musician, but I just really can't heavily get into the band. But, I'm glad I saw them live once (at Rocklahoma) and I can take them in small doses. And, I honestly think The Covering is a brilliant idea because it pairs really famous metal songs with a lesser-known band. What does that equal? Exposure of course.

The first single off The Covering is "Heaven and Hell" (Black Sabbath) and it is basically awesome. You know what else is awesome? The version of "Carry On Wayward Son" (Kansas).

If you check out the album page on Amazon, you can preview the singles. I am going to go out on a limb here and say Stryper's version of the Kansas classic is one of my favorite cover songs...ever. It's just that good. In fact, I'm digging these covers so much I may go back and try to rediscover the Stryper catalog. After all, my whole life is soaring vocals and big guitar solos and Stryper does that pretty well, so maybe I've been shortsighted. It's kind of exciting when I think about it: it's like discovering a band for the first time. Everything is fresh. 

Are you planning on purchasing The Covering when it is released?