Michael Sweet states Stryper kind of lost sight of who they were with ‘Reborn’ and ‘Murder By Pride’

Michael Sweet states Stryper kind of lost sight of who they were with ‘Reborn’ and ‘Murder By Pride’

Stryper frontman Michael Sweet was recently interviewed by Alan Sculley for the Detroit Free Press and mainly spoke about the Christian rockers’ new studio album God Damn Evil, which was released last month.

Sweet opined (with slight edits): “Here’s the thing. I feel like we kind of lost sight … of who we were with (the albums) ‘Reborn,’ with ‘Murder by Pride,’ [referring to Stryper‘s 2005 and 2009 albums]… And then you move forward to (2013’s) ‘No More Hell To Pay.’ That’s when I feel like Stella got her groove back. We just sort of started coming back to who we were and remembering that, listening to the old albums and listening to the fans. And we came back to it full circle, and then we followed that up with ‘Fallen,’ and that was maybe a little bit more (old-school Stryper). Then you come to ‘God Damn Evil’ and it maybe is even a little bit more so. And I feel like we’re back in our glory days in terms of the quality,  the songwriting, the production, the sound of the album.”

Wikipedia states the following about Stryper‘s Reborn album (with slight edits): “Stryper‘s next album, Reborn, was released on August 16, 2005, and was the band’s first full-length CD of original material in 15 years. It was produced by Michael Sweet. The new album received a positive response from fans and critics, some of whom labeled Reborn as one of the best albums of that year. With a more modern sound incorporating aspects of alternative rock and grunge, along with fewer guitar solos, the new record updates their style while keeping the Stryper identity. The record was written by Michael Sweet. The lyrics also have returned to the band’s familiar themes of God and salvation.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Sweet at the Detroit Free Press.