The veteran foursome returns for another project of hard rock/metal. Since the late 80s, Bride has been providing the best in heavy metal to Christian music listeners worldwide. Have they run out of good songs?

Some will say yes. Some no. I say: not yet. Although a few tracks on Oddities should probably be on their next CD of lost rejected songs, some of the stronger tracks and the abundance of songs (14) make up for the weak ones. And even some of the weak ones have some strong riffs and bridges that appear later in the song.

Oddities kicks off with a killer guitar riff in the song "I Ain't Coming Down"- a song that's metal with a rock chorus. "Why Won't He Break" follows next, a relatively disappointing song that is good up till the chorus, but has some good sound towards the end. "End of the World" is among the trio of hard rock ballads and the best of the three, with "Only When I'm Left Alone" being the last. Among the disappointing tracks, "Day by Day" is just totally wacked-out for a Bride song and "Spirit" has just an old, considerably-lame metal influence.

Although a couple of the tracks really lack, some really rock. "Under the Blood" & "Die a Little Bit Every Day" take the cake as the best songs on the record. "Die a Little Bit..." has a little Drop influence, but is mixed in with enough classice Bride to make you feel like this is how Drop *should* have been! "Under the Blood" is near flawless with a new modern feel to the Bride sound. "I Found God" is another good track if you like a song that has a real angst feel to it. A real hard-rockin' tune that sounds like lead singer, Dale Thompson got some frustrations out on.

Some fans may recognize the background vocals and added guitars. Jamie Rowe and Tony Palacios from Guardian lend a hand. Jamie amd John Elefante provide their vocal talents for background vocals while Tony provides his incredible guitar-playing talents.

Oddities can best be described as taking Snakes in the Playground, Drop, and The Jesus Experience, dropping them into a blender, mixing well, and pouring into a CD mold. It's a new step for Bride, and not a bad one. However, as a Bride fan myself, I can't help but miss the power that Snakes in the Playground and Scarecrow Messiah radiated.

- Review date: 12/29/98, written by John DiBiase