MICHAEL SWEET Says 'Heaven And Hell' Lyrics Could Have Been Written By STRYPER

Jesse Capps of RockConfidential.com recently conducted an interview with vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet of Christian hard rockers STRYPER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

RockConfidential.com: I could tell upon first listen [to the new STRYPER covers album "The Covering"] that you guys weren't messing around. You can really tell that you're sincerely fans of these songs. Every little detail that a music fan pays so much attention to is in these songs. The little details make such a difference.

Sweet: They really do. It's very important — from an effect used on a guitar solo, a vocal line or what have you. We were walking that fine line of trying to be respectful to the original version and not try to create our own version so much that it destroyed the original. Some bands try to get so creative and put their own spin on a song that they completely destroy anything that the original had. We didn't want to do that. That's why we stayed true to the originals but still put our little spin on them. I don't know how but I think we accomplished that.

RockConfidential.com: Who initially had the idea to do a covers album?

Sweet: We were doing covers way back in the day before we were STRYPER. Over the years we'd always sound check with a cover or two. We started adding "On Fire" to the set in '91. Recently we started adding "Breaking The Law". My wife Lisa was backstage one night and said, "You guys oughta do a covers album. Look at the response you get live." That's what really got me to thinking and we talked about it as a band. We agreed that now would be the perfect time to do these because the four of us would be able to go in and have some fun, loosen up and show people where our roots lie. Add to that, a lot of people over the years have asked us about doing a covers album. It just felt like the right time and having my wife suggest it confirmed what we had been thinking for years. We went in and did it, so props to her!

RockConfidential.com: How times have changed, though. Who would have guessed STRYPER would release an album covering songs from artists like BLACK SABBATH, OZZY and KISS? If you would've tried this 20 years ago you would've been crucified!

Sweet: I know, man. I don't think it would've worked 20 years ago. We would have been crucified for doing so. We were doing good to pull ourselves out of the hole that was dug from the "Against The Law" period. Just doing that record, I don't see a problem with it at all, but the church shunned us to some degree because it was so off track with "To Hell With The Devil" or "In God We Trust".

RockConfidential.com: I'm guessing when it came time to pick songs for the album that everybody brought in their own ideas. Were there a lot of suggestions that didn't make the cut?

Sweet: There were some songs we were thinking about and decided we probably shouldn't. There were some OZZY songs, some MAIDEN songs, some PRIEST songs. We tried our best to be appropriate with the lyrical choices. Some may argue, "How can they justify doing a SABBATH song?" If you read the words to "Heaven And Hell", those are lyrics that STRYPER would've written. There's nothing wrong with those lyrics. They're absolutely dead on the money. We wanted to solidify the fact that we're as serious about our faith as we've ever been by doing the original song "God". I think "God" is one of the most powerful songs we've ever done.

RockConfidential.com: How do you feel about STRYPER as a band now as compared to any other time in its history?

Sweet: I think we're in the best place, all around, than we've ever been. Spiritually, musically, physically — I feel better than I ever have. I feel better than I did when I was 20 years old. I'm trying to take care of myself. Maybe "The Covering" will be the album that puts STRYPER on a wide appeal level so we can reach out to all the people instead of just a select few.

Read the entire interview from RockConfidential.com.

Professionally filmed video footage of STRYPER performing a cover version of the JUDAS PRIEST classic "Breaking The Law" in October 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia can be viewed below. The clip also includes an excerpt from an interview with PRIEST singer Rob Halford in which he comments on STRYPER's version of the song.