Isaiah 53:5King James Version (KJV)

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

One of the top bands of the 80's definitely wasn't Stryper, they had some okay songs. But a lot of their music was the very sludgy, not particularly quality sounding heavy metal. The reason I'm writing about them is I wanted to continue this series of 80's blogs with something a little more wholesome. On this Sabbath Sunday the music of Stryper allows me to do that. Stryper are known as a rock band with a religious element. Sometimes they would throw Bibles out to their audiences and they have the above verse attached to most of their marketing material. I don't know if they are sincere or if this is just a gimmick, but it is a nice change of pace from the typical rock song lyrics. Too bad they aren't a better band. Skillet is probably my favorite so called Christian Rock band, I'm looking forward to seeing them on February 24th.

Current members of the still touring Stryper are:

Michael Sweet - lead vocals, guitar (1982–1992, 1999-2001, 2003–present)

Robert Sweet - drums, percussion (1982–1993, 1999-2001, 2003–present)

Tim Gaines - bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, piano (1983–1986, 1986–1988, 1990-1993, 1999-2001, 2003–2004, 2010–present)

Oz Fox - guitar, backing vocals (1983–1992, 1999-2001, 2003–present), lead vocals (1992–1993) (Thanks to Wikipedia)

Now here are some of Stryper's best songs, these songs are from their older CDs.

"Can't Stop The Rock":