Band:	Digger
Album:	Stronger Than Ever
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	1987
Guest review by:	StanXcalibur56

01. Wanna Get Close
02. Don't Leave Me Lonely
03. Stronger Than Ever
04. Moonriders
05. Lay It On
06. I Don't Need Your Love
07. Stand Up And Rock
08. Listen To The Music
09. Shadows Of The Past

Grave Digger found it would be ideal to change up their musical style, name, and lyrics to something more commercially acceptable, by dropping the "Grave" from their name, leaving them simply as Digger. So, their first and only release was Stronger Than Ever, an album that featured a robotic Donald Duck on the front cover. Ironic that they chose the name Stronger Than Ever, when in fact they were only getting weaker. Sounds very ridiculous already.

But the ridiculousness doesn't stop there. The album is packed to the brim with the typical instrumentation of the late 80's. Synths, keyboards, reverb, just as what you'd expect from something of this era. The guitar playing is not as aggressive as their previous albums, but with such a wide array of instruments and sounds it's all put together quite nicely, in a satisfying matter that really makes you feel a bit nostalgic of this time. The drums are airy, the whammy bar pinch harmonics are very abundant, and the vocals by Chris Boltendahl are no different than his previous works, except for touches of more melodic singing. Despite the pros, the quality and compositions themselves sound cheap, like something you'd hear on the radio in a dollar store. At points you can hear their previous speed metal roots break through, but are quickly silenced by whatever electro-sound they have coming next.

The songs are not bad at all; only a few are bad, which I will get to later. However, just because the songs are good, does not mean they are memorable. They really do seem like typical 80's mainstream music, so it's easy to see how this record never got any radio play or recognition. The lyrics themselves are not deep or philosophical, mainly revolving around love and perseverance. It's just lots of cheesy lines, for example: "Now I'm strong as a lion and I can run like the wind". That line was taken from the title track. You see what I mean, right?

The songs are pleasant to listen to, but some are not that enjoyable, such as "Moonriders" and its awful off-key sounding guitar plucking during the verses. It does not fit at all and makes the song rather obnoxious, despite having a wonderful chorus. "Lay It On" is another lame song, with verses and chorus that sound almost identical to each other with bland open note downpicking throughout the entire song.

Now after all this, you're probably wondering if there's a track about cyborg Donald Duck. Nope. While on the topic of that, I really do wonder a lot why that cover was chosen and who made it. Did they have to get licensing from Disney? How did they even come up with such a bizarre and outlandish idea? Anyways, this album does have some great songs, but they just are not memorable. I do enjoy listening to this record every now and again, but the dated sound makes it a low brow album. Grave Digger has much more potential, as seen in their previous and future works. This was indeed a dark time for the band, and don't even make me get into the whole Hawaii band that Chris Boltendahl tried to start, with every band member wearing floral shirts. Sorry Donald, but you weren't strong enough to push this album into the charts.

Top 3 Songs: "Stronger Than Ever", "Wanna Get Close", "I Don't Need Your Love"