Michael Sweet cleared up his thoughts about Stryper’s ‘Against The Law’ album, which he described as a ‘sellout,’ in a new Facebook post.
“I try to explain this, yet sometimes people just don’t understand,” he wrote. “The best way to put it — we were running from everything that we were. Everything that made us who we are. Our sound, our message, our image. Our spirituality. Everything that put us on top. This is why I look at ATL with regret.”
“Our band broke up because of it, our marriages were destroyed because of it, our lives were bankrupt because of it. Literally. When I want to feel the energy and be reminded of the legacy of Stryper, I’ll listen to ‘Soldiers Under Command’ or ‘When We Were Kings.’ Far superior albums on every level. And I’ll never sellout again.”
Sweet shared his regret about ‘Against The Law’ in a recent interview on Rock Talk With Emily, saying it departed from Stryper’s original sound despite being a good record.
“We had one of the best producers in the world, Tom Werman. One of the best engineers, Eddie DeLena. We recorded it at the Record Plant, some of the best studios in the world. It turned out great,” he explained.
“The thing I’m not proud of with that album is as I was just saying selling out, I feel like we sold out. Lyrically, we started trying to be another band, talking about going to parties, hanging out, ‘Two Time Woman,’ all this stuff. It didn’t feel right for me singing it.”
Sweet also highlighted how the album felt like a ‘sellout’ both lyrically and musically, resembling Van Halen at times: “We lost the yellow and black which is such an important integral part of who we are. We kind of threw everything out the window and said let’s start over, which is weird. So, that’s why I have regrets about and for that album.”
Stryper’s fifth album saw release on August 21, 1990. It marked a noticeable change in the band’s image and music, as they replaced their iconic yellow and black outfits and Christian lyrics with leather outfits and songs about rock and relationships, while maintaining a Christian perspective.
The album didn’t sell well compared to their earlier releases. Two years later, Sweet left Stryper, citing artistic differences. The band reunited in 1999 and released their latest album, ‘When We Were Kings,’ in September this year.
