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 [Fozy] 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.
Sweet‘s last solo album, Touched, was released on December 3, 2007 exclusively through Michael‘s official web site,MichaelSweet.com. The CD, which included reworked versions of four Stryper songs, was not made available in stores.
Stryper Tour Dates
07/06/12 Halmstad, Sweden Gulbranna Festival **
07/07/12 Risoya, Norway Seaside Festival **
07/14/12 Kavarna, Bulgaria Kavarna Rock Festival
07/26/12 Lake Buena Vista, FL House Of Blues**
07/27/12 Nashville, TN Wildhorse Saloon**
07/28/12 Royalton, MN HalfWay Jam**
08/11/12 Oswego, NY Scriba Town Inn**
09/19/12 Kohima, India Indira Gandhi Stadium
09/22/12 Dimapur, India Dimapur District Sports Council Stadium
10/06/12 San Juan, Puerto Rico Roberto Clemente Coliseum w/ Bret Michaels and Tesla NEW!
11/16/12 Caracas, Venezuela Poliedro de Caracas
11/17/12 Barqusimeto, Lara Venezuela Complejo Ferial Bicentenario
** On Sale Now!
Related articles:
‘Stryper’ Frontman Performs Acoustically In Rhode Island [Video] [Oct. 2011]
‘Stryper’ Frontman Working On New Solo Album [Nov. 2011]
‘Michael Sweet’ Acoustic-Performance Footage From ‘Arizona’ [Nov. 2011]
‘Stryper’ To Play ‘Seaside Festival July 2012′ Norway [Jan. 2012]
‘M3 Rock Festival’ Line Up Announced [With Stryper & Many Others] [Feb. 2012]
‘Stryper’ To Play ‘India’ [More New Confirmed Tour Dates] [March 2012]
‘Michael Sweet’ [Stryper] To Tour Israel Jan. 2013 [March 2012]
New Video Interview With ‘Michael Sweet’ [March 2012]
Online Guitar Lessons By ‘Stryper’s’ ‘Oz Fox’ [March 2012]
‘Michael Sweet’ Reveals the Guest Star List for His Next Solo Album + New ‘Stryper’ Tour Dates [April 2012]
New Video Interview With ‘Michael Sweet’ [New Stryper Tour Dates] [June 2012]