Wow, Stryper. There is a name I have not heard in a long, long time. They were a band that had its fair share of fans in the 1980s, but they also caught a lot of flak for the music they made. They here a hair band playing pop metal, but that isn't what led to their notoriety — it was their faith.
Yes, that's right, they were a Christian band making music that did not try to hide their faith, they wrote songs that glorified God and was the antithesis of bands such as Slayer and Venom. Now, more than a decade out from their last album, 1990's Against the Law, the band reunited and took the yellow and black attack back on the road. Along the way, they recorded this concert in March 2004, now released their first ever live DVD.
I remember back in the 80's when I was but a wee lad just discovering music, one of the bands I was attracted to was, you guessed it, Stryper. I was intrigued by a band that sang for God and was in the rock genre that I was getting into. The music was a little flashy, punctuated by upper register vocal gymnastics, and was just different than the other bands I was listening to. It didn't hurt that I was, and am, a Christian. Well, as the years went by, I grew out of my hair metal phase, and my To Hell With the Devil and In God We Trust albums went by the wayside, collecting dust. I can honestly say I have not listened to a single Stryper song in well over a decade. That is, until I pressed play and watched this live recording.
As I watched, the concert memories of my childhood came flooding back. Now, I don't remember all of these songs, but there were plenty that I did, and the band was as tight as ever. The stage was covered in the traditional colors of yellow and black. The original four took the stage and broke into song. Gone is the gigantic hair, and probably much in the way of spandex clad dramatics, but their performance was spot on.
Frontman Matthew Sweet can still hit those high notes, his voice is powerful and he isn't shy about showing off his pipes. That leads to something that Stryper was always great at, and that is vocal harmonies, and even after all these years they still pull together nicely. Behind Sweet are guitarist Oz Fox, bassist Tim Gaines, and drummer Robert Sweet. They had great stage presence and the performance is first rate.
Article comments
1 - Mike Koehler
glad i preorderd this!! #1 Fan
2 - Rick
Just a little FYI, The name of the frontman is MICHAEL Sweet,not Matthew Sweet.
3 - JC Mosquito
Which came first - Stryper or John Belushi singing the blues and dressed as a giant bee on SNL? I mean, are there copyright issues here?