Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The follow up to last year's 'Drop', a label change and a new release propel this Bride into the heart of the hard'n'heavy alternative rock market. Produced by the Elefante brothers, this is the usual excellent rock'n'roll that we've come to expect from Bride but this time the energy levels are way up! Lyrically, Dale Thompson paints bold and fascinating pictures and musically there's plenty to get your choppers into. From the initial attack of "I Love You" and the single "The Worm", the band are clearly in full flight. "Love Hate" pounds at a hundred miles an hour and "I Live For You" is a passionate anthem with some great wah wah guitar! The musical peaks and troughs of "The End" give Troy Thompson the chance to show off his guitar skills but it's the lyrics to this one which will prove controversial. When Jesus promised never to forsake us to the end of the world, that includes those struggling with suicidal thoughts and drug habits! Not one for the judgmental! Dale Thompson pulls no punches on "Tell Me" which is an explosive exhortation for the church to be uncompromising and grow up into the hard truth that Jesus preached, not the immature soft sugary milk of easy answers. Not an album that'll leave you feeling comfortable but a set of songs that rock out whilst challenging the listener, like the title suggests, to a greater experience of Christ.

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