Artist Info:Discography Album length: 14 tracks: 46 minutes, 33 seconds Street Date: 1992
"Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart today." And so begins "Rattlesnake," the first track from Bride's
1992 release, Snakes In The Playground. At the time that I first heard this record, I was into bands like Petra, Whiteheart,
and Degarmo & Key. With all due respect to those bands, Snakes... was a whole different animal - pardon the pun.
Snakes In The Playground had something that most Christian rock records didn't have at that time - aggression. The whole
thing was aggressive. The music, lyrics and Dale Thompson's high pitched wail was aggressive. And that is one of the things that makes
this record so good. Just as the evil in the world is aggressive as it tries to destroy us, Bride gets just as aggressive in return.
Musically, the album is full of great guitar riffs that any band would be proud of - secular or Christian. There is also an
abundance of scorching guitar solos provided by Troy Thompson. It's straight up rock n' roll. The lyrics are aggressive too.
Bride wasn't afraid to take on touchy subjects and do so with a blunt honesty and realism that was new to many listeners of Christian
music at the time. "Picture Perfect" paints an image of the downward spiral of a young girl and includes the graphic line about
abortion, "Coat hangar alley where the doctors work cheap." And in "Don't Use Me," Dale Thompson gives an equally graphic
tale of drug abuse and its consequences, pointing to Jesus as the only way out of such circumstances. In "Love, Money," they take on
the subject of immigration even years before it was such a hot political issue.
Everyone has those records that just blew them away. This was one of those records for me. If you are a fan of Christian rock, this
is a must-have for your collection. It's searing, it's visceral, and it's just simply a great album.
- JfH Reader REVIEW:
Review date: 12/31/07, written by Terry Sexton for Jesusfreakhideout.com
When looking back on certain records from the past where you knew it was good at the time but didn't quite appreciate it's scope
and magnitude until years down the road, Bride's Snakes In The Playground fits the bill as such an album. It was an
incredible achievement for Christian rock at the time and still sounds amazing, if not epic, to this day (especially with elements of metal resurfacing
in today's music). Although Bride hasn't been able to top this record (despite trying to many times), Snakes In The Playground will
not soon be forgotten as it helped make Bride a household name in Christian rock in the early nineties and makes them legendary fifteen years later...
- 12/31/07, John DiBiase
Artist Info:Discography Record Label: Star Song Records
Album length: 14 tracks: 46 minutes, 33 seconds
Street Date: 1992
Buy It:Amazon.com
Artist Info: 
