MICHAEL SWEET Says He Wants Next STRYPER Album To Be 'A Powerhouse'

July 6, 2012

James Wood of Guitar World recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet of Christian hard rockers STRYPER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitar World: What do you want to achieve with your new solo album?

Michael: I've felt that I've been somewhat neglected as a guitar player, and it's not me boasting about myself or anything like that. The truth is, I've always been a guitar player first. I started playing when I was 5 and actually didn't start singing professionally until I was 12. This record will be an opportunity for me to shine more as a guitarist.

Guitar World: Are there any "special guests" appearing on this record?

Michael: Absolutely. Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE) plays on one of the songs. I love the way he combines blues with shredding. It's the perfect combination. Tony Harnell (TNT) sings with me on a track, and Chris Jericho (FOZZY) also sings on another song. Then there's Kenny Aronoff on drums, John O'Boyle on bass and Paul McNamara on keys. There are 12 songs total and some real rocking tracks!

Guitar World: What's next for STRYPER?

Michael: Right now, we're finishing up a re-record album of our classic hits. Then we're going to begin work on a brand-new, all-original STRYPER studio album, most likely coming out next summer. We're really excited about that.

Guitar World: What's the new STRYPER album going to be like?

Michael: We're going into this new record with the mentality and thinking of making it like a "To Hell With The Devil 2". That's not to say it will actually sound like that album, but we really want it to be as great as "To Hell With The Devil", which was our biggest album. We want people to put on this record and go; "Whoa! Wow! This is as good as or better than 'To Hell With The Devil'!" We want the new album to be a powerhouse and we're going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Read the entire interview from Guitar World.

Photo credit: Glen LaFerman

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).