More news of bands.

Subject: More news of bands. Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:38 am

Michael Sweet news.

Hello Everyone!

Looking back on the past five months I've realized that I've been a little more on the reserved side regarding updates and staying in touch. To be completely honest, it's been nice being more on the reclusive side but for some reason, I felt inclined to write today, 2/1, and I seem to have a lot on my heart so here goes........

The tour has been a tug of war so to speak - pros and cons, ups and downs and an exhausting run that has certainly taken its toll physically and emotionally.
Although we all enjoy our time on stage sharing the music and the message that God has blessed us with, the road life is very difficult at times and can be quite draining. Plain and simple - it can beat you up! We are all feeling the effects. I’m handling the touring life a little easier these days due to eating healthier, staying conditioned and taking care of myself (or at least trying to). God has taken care of us and answered prayer in terms of keeping us healthy and strong throughout the tour. There has been some sickness here and there but for the most part, by comparison, we've been healthier and stronger this time around.

The fans have been incredibly supportive and I've asked the same question night after night - "How many people have seen Stryper before?” and "How many people have never seen Stryper before?” Surprisingly, just as many hands, if not more, went up for question number two at every show! I've never personally seen that before and it confirms the incredible number of new fans out there who are following the band. It really is amazing and encouraging to see. I want to give recognition to our crew – Rick Pietila, Dave Allen, John McCormack, Brett Walker, Ellena Sweet and Shane Martin. They worked incredibly hard, despite the circumstances and the bitter cold, and they made this tour work plain and simple. Without them, we would be lost. We love you guys and we are thankful for all that you do! I also want to personally thank each and every one of you who made it out to a show and for your undying support and enthusiasm and for helping us accomplish what we set out to do. We are eternally grateful and we’ll always acknowledge the fact that we are nothing without all of you. Thank you! :-)

I want to touch on the future of Stryper and give you some insight of things to come and things that may not come. At this point, we should be touring on and off throughout 2010 but possibly not as much as originally planned. Due to unexpected expenses, it is very difficult to continue touring and "pay the bills" and it can become virtually impossible to continue touring, even if the band wants to, and we do! We will do our best to plan and confirm more shows but there is the remote possibility that it may not be as extensive as originally planned. We will of course keep all of you up to date as details come in and as shows are confirmed, they will be posted at www.michaelsweet.com and/or www.stryper.com

I also want to address the possibility of a new Stryper record and any plans to tour in support of a new record. I’m confident that there will be a new record and a tour to follow but we need to make some changes in order to reach our full potential. Stryper has the most loyal, diehard fans around the globe and it amazes me how many fans we have. We see it when we tour and literally thousands upon thousands of fans show up, worldwide! It is astonishing. Unfortunately, the number of people that we see at our shows doesn’t translate to record sales and because of this explainable phenomenon,
We will be making appropriate changes in order to advance the band and progress instead of regress. We made one of the best records in the history of the band with “Murder By Pride”. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and we should be able to build this as we did back in 1984, when we first began. It was a lot of hard work and sacrifice on our part but we saw the band go from clubs to theaters to arenas in a 2-3 year period. I know times have changed and it’s a difficult world in a hurting economy, but I still believe in my heart that the potential of this band is limitless. God has blessed us with a unique, one of a kind ministry and so many lives have been touched, changed and renewed through the power of music and the power of Gods word!!! We are all very proud to have been a part of the past and to be a part of the future of this band and we are excited about the things to come. I know there is so much if we make wise decisions and wise choices in everything that we set out to do from this day forward. It is promising and very, very exciting and I’ve learned over the years to never, ever limit God.

A video – oh yes! A video? We’ll, we have been making changes in the editing and trying to put together a video that is as visually powerful as it is musically and it just hasn’t panned out quite like we expected it to do. We are working hard to get this video to the point where it will be what it should be. We’re just not there yet. Hopefully we will be soon. Until then, we don’t want to release anything that’s below our expectations or yours. We were always a “video” band and known for our videos so it’s important to us to release something that holds up to our videos of the past. Trust me when I say that we are working hard and we will get it right……….

And last but certainly not least, I want to personally thank all of you for your kindness, your love, your compassion and your support in my recent marriage to Lisa. After going through the most difficult time of my life, you all have shown me what it means to be a brother, a sister, a friend, and an example of Christ through your words, your smiles, your emails, your posts and your letters. I do so appreciate your love and support and I will always be eternally grateful. You have helped me through what seemed to be the most impossible situation to come out of. May God bless and guide you and I look forward to the future, and to seeing you all very soon!!!

In Him, Always,

Subject: Re: More news of bands. Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:41 am

This thread is started for all the other news about our favorite bands we can find than "new CD news "
When you have cool other news of our favorite bands, maybe prayer requests, post them in this thread.
Then we all can read the other news.

Subject: Re: More news of bands. Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:46 pm

Very cool to hear that Stryper plans on making another album. I thought Murder By Pride was definately one of their better efforts.

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"I used to be indecisive.......... Now I'm not sure."

Subject: Re: More news of bands. Tue Feb 16, 2010 9:56 am

More news from Stryper and This Beautiful Republic

Stryper.

Hey Everyone, Just as promised, I wanted to outline some more details regarding the new Stryper record. We grew up listening to many different styles of music and there is a list of bands that influenced us throughout our musical education. Bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Van Halen, UFO, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Kansas and many others, helped to shape our sound and make us who we are today, musically speaking.
We grew up on the streets of LA playing every club in town from Gazzari's to The Whisky to The Troubadour to you name it. We played covers from all the bands mentioned above and we shaped our own sound from listening and performing songs from these classic bands.
We wanted to step outside the box and record a record that shows you, the fans, where we come from - our historical, musical roots so to speak. It's a side to Stryper that no one has really seen or heard before, or at least quite like this. We performed "On Fire" by Van Halen on a few tours and we also performed "Breaking The Law" by Priest on this last tour. The response was far beyond our expectations each time we performed these songs. People seemed genuinely surprised to hear Stryper cover these songs and even more surprised to hear Stryper perform these songs relatively well. This will be an opportunity for Robert, Oz, Tim and myself to loosen up and have some fun.
For those of you who may think that we're walking away from our faith - your wrong. We've never been more serious about our faith at any point in our lives. It is however important to enjoy what you do and lighten up from time to time. That's what we plan to do. This will be a fun record to make and we hope that this comes through, as well as the chance to showcase the abilities that we've been blessed with. More details to come and a specific song list and sequence to follow.
We're looking forward to getting back into the studio and more important, to seeing all of you on the road again this year!
Be well, be blessed and let the games begin,

Michael Sweet

This Beautiful Republic.

It's been three weeks since we left home for tour. In many ways, this is a journey into the unknown. We left our homes in Toledo, OH in a broken and desperate condition. Each member of this beautiful republic has had to endure trials unlike anything we've ever experienced before. From real physical things happening to us, to heavy depression, to family struggles that have hurt people whom we love, we've each been left broken and on our knees begging God for answers. Each individual's struggles/burdens are being carried by the whole band. We have cried together as we bring our burdens to God in prayer. And He has been faithful to bring encouragement to us in these dark times.
I know that many of you would like to know how we are touring without our former lead singer. If you've been to any of our tour dates thus far, or if you've looked us up on youtube lately, you know that Cameron (our drummer) is singing for us, and Andy Smith (our former drummer) is playing drums. I can't say if this our permanent line up or not, but I can say that we all feel God is encouraging us to continue moving forward so that is what we are doing.
Thank you to all of you who have been supporting us with prayers and encouragement, you mean the world to us!

Jeremy (TBR)

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Subject: Re: More news of bands. Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:24 pm

Rats! Whilst a cover album is good, I'm not really interested in a non christian one.

Oh well. If others like it, then it's great

Fundy

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Subject: Re: More news of bands. Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:29 pm

If Stryper picked the right songs, even secular songs could be interpreted differently with all the Jesus lyrics of their past records. This could be interesting.

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Subject: Re: More news of bands. Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:07 am

I've listened to the Judas Priest song live. That song sound great.
To be honest I'm not a Judas Priest fan.

Subject: Re: More news of bands. Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:44 pm

I believe Stryper could do a great covers album. I'm looking forward to it.

_________________
"I used to be indecisive.......... Now I'm not sure."

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