A killer album with some very special songs.

Originally mooted to be under a band name, the "super-group" featuring Stryper front-man Michael Sweet, Dokken/Lynch Mob guitar virtuoso George Lynch, White Lion/Megadeth/Black Label Society bassist James Lomenzo and Billy Idol/Whitesnake drummer Brian Tichy, now has just Sweet & Lynch as the project name. The pair have written the songs and undoubtedly given Frontiers a Stryper/Dokken hybrid, but that doesn't lessen the role of the rhythm section in renewing the understanding they had in Pride & Glory.

The album's style isn't a million miles away from what you would expect from the main protagonists, with Lynch providing the riffs and solos and Sweet moulding them into songs and writing the lyrics. Now I'm sure some of you might have two problems there, but I can assure you that all Lynch's work is old-school Dokken and not in line with some of his recent heavier, down-tuned leanings, and Sweet's lyrics aren't like his work with Stryper – if there are religious themes here then I haven't spotted them. Anything with Sweet's vocals on will undoubtedly have that Stryper feel and his distinct melodic style, but Lynch's guitar sounds are more expansive and the mix works well.

The layered guitars on 'The Wish' certainly have an 'Under Lock And Key' feel, right down to some familiar bits in the solo, but still has that Stryper melody and power. I could go on to say that the ballad 'Me Without You' has hints of 'Alone Again' or that the groovy 'Dying Rose' sounds like Lynch Mob playing a Stryper song, but that's exactly the point of the project.

It's not all familiar territory, 'Love Stays' is less intense and quite a departure for both of them, 'Rescue Me' is cleverly arranged with a pounding rhythm and a tuneful verse, and 'Recover' is pretty heavy with a screaming vocal that's high even by Sweet's standard. 'Strength In Numbers' has big keyboards that take it into Symphonic Metal territory and 'Divine's grinding verse and Beatles-like chorus is interesting, but it's probably the more "normal" Hard Rockers 'Time Will Tell', 'September' and the title track that will be favourites of the duo's long-standing fans.

Over the last few Stryper releases Sweet has proven himself to be pretty handy in the studio, his production here being comparable with the big budget releases of the eighties (bar maybe a slightly flat drum sound). The bottom line is that this is a killer album with some very special songs that will hopefully have some legs and enable this line-up to play live. Sweet & Lynch have made an album that I can't see anyone with an interest being disappointed with, and you really can't ask for better than that.

Phil Ashcroft