THE BAND:
guitar – Vic Rivera, Steve Brown, Mike Layne, Keri Keli, Oz Fox, Kelly Keeling, Troy Thompson, Stephen Chesney, Pete Lesperance, Eddie Ojeda, Chris Holmes, Bill Leverty, JK Northrup
bass – justin Murr, Vic Rivera, Doug Odell, Mike Layne, Stephen Chesney, Jerry Dixon, Jeff Pilson, Chris Dickens, Frank Partipilo
drums –Vic Rivera, Mike Layne, Jeremy Thomas, Jerry McBroom, Dennis Zimmer
keyboards – Eric Ragno


TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Light It Up” (Phil Lewis of LA Guns and JK Northrup) – This track opens with the special effects of a hospitals heart monitor underneath the effect of someone coughing.  The musical intro kicks-in with a cowbell count off.  The main body of the musical intro had a very simple hard rock feel to it.  The guys used the same rhythm arrangement for the musical verse as the intro.  Just as soon as the first lyric line of the verse begins there was a drastic musical change.  Basically the guitar rhythm goes from a very intense guitar arrangement to mainly fill-in chords.  Coming from a longtime Phil Lewis fan if someone had of told me he was the lead vocalist on this track I would have call them a liar.  The vocals on the verses don’t sound like Phil at all!!  Phil’s vocal lines of the verse have a small echo attached to them.  The last vocal line of the verse was double-tracked.  There was a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  The vocals of the chorus sound more like Phil than the verse did.  The second verse had a completely different feel than the first.  There was a small breakdown section connecting the second chorus with the third chorus.  This track consisted of no lead guitar solo. 
2.) “The Other Thief “(Dale and Troy Thompson of Bride) – There is a lead vocal scream over the top of the opening of this intro.  The intro consists of two different very intense rhythm guitar arrangements.  The rhythm guitar of the musical verse matches up perfectly with the lyrical lines of the verse.  The lead vocal lines of the verse were double tracked.  There was a small rhythm guitar change for the musical pre-chorus.  The wah-wah effect on the lead guitar solo was the perfect effect for this type of song.  There is a small vocal/drum breakdown section.
3.) “Blink” (Lynn Louise Lowrey of Vixen and Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister) – Lynn sings a vocal accent over the top of the intro section.  The band used the same musical arrangement for the verse as the intro section.  Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed about Lynn’s vocals is she sounds better today than she ever has!!!  There is a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  Lynn overdubbed her own backing harmonies on the choruses.  There is a small breakdown section after the second chorus.  Eddie kept the lead guitar solo very short and simple.  There is a small musical rest connecting the solo with the third chorus.  Eddie plays several lead guitar licks underneath the repeated choruses throughout the rest of the song.    
4.) “Do What You Believe” (CJ Snare and Bill Leverty of Firehouse) – Bill opens this track with a very simple acoustic guitar riff.  Once the lead vocals kick-in there is no doubt that CJ Snare of Firehouse is singing the lead vocals.  The song does not kick-in until the musical chorus.  It is at this time when Bill kicks-in the electric guitar arrangement.  Though the drum & bass line continues Bill reverts back to an acoustic guitar rhythm for the second verse.  The lead guitar solo though short was very huge!!!!  There is a section of the fourth chorus that consisted of just vocals.  There is a minor lead guitar solo underneath CJ’s vocals on the last chorus of the outro.  This is pure Leverty & Snare!!!
5.) “Man vs. Mother Nature” (Ted Poley of Danger Danger and Vic Rivera of Crunch) – This track opens with a female voice laughing & saying, “It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.”  Of all the songs that Ted Poley sings it had to be the one that opens with a sexual female voice.  When you really think about it its kind of fitting!!!  This intro consisted of a single guitar riff/double riff/single/double…etc.  More than likely the double riff was double-tracked.  In many ways the guitar riffs of the intro gives the song an early Danger Danger sound.  The way the verse was arranged has the rhythm guitar riffs in between the lyric lines.  The bass & drum line is the only thing underneath Ted’s vocals.  This type of song arranging lets Ted’s voice become the main focus of the verse.  For me the bass drum kick of the drum line makes the musical verse.  This type of bass drum pattern is very simple to learn and once mastered really gives a song a great sound.  There is a complete rhythm arrangement change for the musical chorus.  The lead guitar solo is after the second chorus connecting it to the third chorus there is a second lead guitar solo.  This solo runs throughout the rest of the song. 
6.) “Treading On Serpents” (Les Carlsen of Bloodgood and Oz Fox of Stryper/Bloodgood) – This intro consisted of two different rhythm arrangements.  Like most songs that has two guitar arrangements you have a rhythm guitar arrangement underneath a lead guitar arrangement.  However, this song was written with the lead guitar playing fill-in rhythm chords.  This is usually %99.9 of the time the opposite of the way songs are written.  There is a vocal accent over the top of the second and third measure.  The guys used the same music arrangement for the musical verse as the one for the intro.  The way the verse was arranged has the lyric lines laced in between the music arrangements.  There is a huge arrangement change for the musical chorus.  The hook of the chorus was amazing!!!  After the second chorus there are a couple heavily influenced Steven Tyler vocal accents that lead into the lead guitar solo.  For one reason or another to a lot of die hard metal fans Stryper was not taken to serious in the eighties which really sucks because Oz ranks up there with some of the best guitarists from that era.  This lead guitar solo proves this!!!  There is a minor lead guitar solo underneath the vocal lines of the last chorus of the outro. 
7.) “Uncle Sam” (Sheldon Tarsha of Tarsha/Adler's Appetite and Jeff Pilson of Dokken/Foreigner) – This track had a very abstract sound to it.  However do not let that fool you.  By the time I heard the chorus I was wiping salsa & cheese off of my goatee from where my bottom jaw had hit my dinner plate.  Though Mike Layne & Justin Murr wrote this song, you cannot deny the musicians especially Pilson & Sheldon Tarsha!!!  It may take days for me to get over this abstract hook the song has!!!!
8.) “Every Reason To Believe” (Kelly Keeling of Baton Rouge/TSO and Kerri Kelli of Alice Cooper) – The intro of this ballad consisted of two different acoustic guitar arrangements.  Kelly sings a small vocal accent to connect the musical intro with the musical verse.  For the musical verse Kerri altered just one of the acoustic guitar arrangements.  The base rhythm guitar he kept as is.  The second lyric line of the musical verse consisted of a backing harmony.  The acoustic guitar arrangements along with the way Kelly sings the lyric lines gives the song a very seventies Gordon Lightfoot feel.  It sounded like there was a key change for the musical chorus.  Though the song has no lead guitar solo it does not really need one.   
9.) “Wrestling With God” (Pete Loran, Steve Brown &Ron Thal a.k.a  Bubblefoot) –This song was very simple and straight forward.
10.) “Best Time You Never Had” (Chris Jericho WWE Wrestler/Fozzy and Phil Collen of Def Leppard) – This intro opens with a drum machine that leads into an acoustic drums.  Fading into the drum line there is an acoustic guitar rhythm.  The intro leads into an opening chorus.  The musical arrangement has a very simple feel to it.  The last lyric of the first verse had a small echo attached to it.  The song has an abstract feel to it.  The highlight of this song is Chris Jericho’s vocals!!!
11.) “Beautiful Decision” (Harry Hess and Pete Lesperance of Harem Scarem) – This track consisted of no intro arrangement.  The drum line of the opening verse consisted of just a bass drum kick.  The song does not kick-in until the musical verse.  Much like track 4 because you have Harry & Pete of Harem Scarem on this track the song takes on a Harem sound.  
12.) “Drunk Dead Gorgeous” (Marq Torien of BulletBoys and Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P.) – This track opens with the special effects of screeching car tires & broken glass.  This leads into a snare fill which basically is the intro.  Chris kept the rhythm guitar of the verse fairly simple.  There was a small rhythm guitar change for the musical pre-chorus.  Marq double tracked his backing vocals for the chorus.  This double tracking gave the vocals a duet feel.  The lead solo is by far one of the best Holmes has ever recorded.    There is a huge minor lead guitar solo underneath the lead vocal lines of the outro section.
13.) “Greed” (Robert Mason of Warrant/Lynch Mob and Jerry Dixon of Warrant) – All I can say is if this track is ¼ as good as what the new Warrant is going to sound like.  Then they are going to sound amazing!!! 
14.) “For Better Or Worse” (Shawn Pelata of Line Of Fire/Waking Jonah and Stephen Chesney of Waking Jonah) – This track opens with just a beautiful piano piece.  As the intro progresses it is accented by several cymbal crashes.  The main body of the intro kicks-in with a huge pick slide.  The engineer in me thinks the electric guitar should have been less over powering and accented the piano.  Keep in mind this is just me and my opinion however I felt the way it was recorded caused the guitar to completely over power the piano.  There is a small drum fill connecting the main musical intro with the musical verse.  Underneath the piano of the musical verse there is a small orchestration arrangement.  There is a lead guitar solo that connects the first chorus with the second verse.  After the second chorus there is a second lead guitar solo this solo is more of the major solo.  There is a second minor lead guitar solo over the top of the outro section of the song.

     From beginning to end ‘Light It Up’ is just amazing!  An absolute must buy!!!