Jerusalem
Warrior
©1982 Lamb & Lion

In trying to find the music that represented my early faith as a Christian, I turned to this album. Coming from a Judeo-Christian home and essentially being a "church" brat, all I knew growing up were the hymns and early praise choruses of Dallas Holm and Andre Crouch. That is just the "church" music. As a teenager, I was introduced to and heavily influenced by artists/bands such as Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, Triumph, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. Somehow, my faith didn't have too much of a problem, during the period of "backward masking" and the "devil beat of rock 'n' roll" that the seemed to envelop the church. I believed strongly in a God who forgave me for my wrongs and knew that the world was bigger than four-part harmony.

Warrior for me was, and still is for that matter, a bold statement about grace and judgment from a sovereign God. It's heavy old school metal with enough progressive texture to strike a match at. The thing I've always appreciated about Ulf Christiansson's lyrics and his ultimate motivation seems to be spreading the gospel of Christ to a lost world. Boy, can he preach! I remember seeing the In His Majesty's Service tour with Daniel Amos in 1985. I was heavily convicted then, sensing God's presence in a nightclub.

The album kicks off with "Constantly Changing", a song passionately describing faith that is always growing, especially to the lost. "Warrior" then takes the listener on a head slap rock 'n' roll train that doesn't let up. "It's Mad" tells of the story of Gideon and the 300 against absurd odds in battle. The flip side of the LP shows Ulf telling the lost soul to change his ways quickly in "Man Of This World." "Sodom" clocks in at 12:10. For the timeframe this album came out, a long song of this nature was unheard of! It speaks of this entire world destined for hell because they have turned their backs on God, just as in the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. The album has even the ballad rockers with "Pilgrim" and "Farewell".

Hearing this again reminds me that even though the music seems a little dated by today's standards, the "meat" of the lyrics adds the extra punch to bring the message home. Couple that with a heavy rock backdrop, and Jerusalem's third album is still incredible.

9.5 of 10 clicks
thecannyshark

Aug 2007