Only recently have I come forward and publicly declared myself
\nto be a “recovering Catholic” – something which has totally
\ndisappointed my mother, who is very religious. It’s almost as if I
\nhad come home and declared I wanted to become a high priest in the
\nChurch of Satan.<\/p>\n
Yet I think not all hope is lost for me. I still believe in God,
\nthough I have my own opinions about what the hereafter has in store
\nfor us. I still pray – although I don’t do it often\u2026 and,
\nno, my prayers aren’t for a divine revelation of six numbers for
\nLotto.<\/p>\n
And possibly the most telling sign of all: I still like
\nStryper.<\/p>\n
I can’t help it, really. Sure, Michael Sweet and company were
\ncamp even in their heyday. Though they weren’t necessarily the
\nfirst religious metal band out there, they were the most notable,
\nboth for their music (which swung between sappy ballads and
\nsemi-metallic leanings) and for their yellow and black stage
\ncostumes. Oh – and let’s not forget their penchant for throwing
\nBibles out into the audiences at their shows.<\/p>\n
But one thing about Stryper which I appreciated, even when I was
\npracticing my Catholic faith, was that Stryper could be religious
\nwithout being preachy. Their debut mini-album
\nThe Yellow And Black Attack!<\/i> serves as proof of this – and,
\nsurprisingly, still sounds fresh nearly 20 years after it was first
\nreleased.<\/p>\n
Granted, drummer Robert Sweet usually kept a rather simple
\nrhythm chugging out from his kit, and guitarist\/vocalist Michael
\nSweet often seemed to rely too heavy on the falsetto vocals. But
\nthere was some serious musicianship behind the brothers Sweet,
\nguitarist Oz Fox and bassist Tim Gaines, and they didn’t have to be
\ncramming a religious message down your throat either.<\/p>\n
The opening track “Loud ‘N’ Clear” is solid proof of this, even
\nwith subtle religious overtones placed in the lyrics. Likewise,
\n“You Know What To Do” is a powerful number which carries a pretty
\nsolid musical punch to it. Even the ballad “My Love I’ll Always
\nShow” is pleasing — having a feeling like it is a love sonnet
\nyou’re lucky enough to eavesdrop on.<\/p>\n
If there is one weakness that Stryper shows on
\nThe Yellow And Black Attack!<\/i>, it’s the lack of real powerful
\nlead guitar work from either Fox or Michael Sweet. Yes, there are
\nsome real tasty lines interspersed throughout the album, especially
\non “Loud ‘N’ Clear,” but for a heavy metal band, Stryper seemed
\nmore concerned with laying down the rhythm without going to the
\nflash. Let’s face it: in 1984, metal was all about flash and image,
\nas well as guitar solos which could peel paint. As much as I sit
\nback and complain about how some songs don’t have a strong enough
\nrhythm section, I know that me complaining about not enough leads
\nmay seem a little hypocritical. So be it.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, it has been a long time since I have listened to any
\nof my Stryper albums — and I don’t really know what motivated me
\nto dust off
\nThe Yellow And Black Attack!<\/i> at this particular time. I do
\nknow, however, that I’m glad I did get a chance to rediscover it,
\nas well as what made me want to listen to Stryper in the first
\nplace. It was all about the music – music which still sounds good
\ntoday. And if someone gets an inkling to pick up a Bible and start
\nreading because of their songs, all the better to Stryper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6937],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-37759","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-stryper","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37759"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}