Against the Law (CD - 1990)

Personnel: Michael Sweet (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Oz Fox (guitar, background vocals); Brent Jeffers (keyboards, drums); John Purcell, John Purdell (keyboards); Robert Sweet (drums); Tom Werman (percussion); Tim Gaines, Jeff Scott Soto (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Eddie DeLena.

Recording information: Devonshire Studios; Music Grinder; The Music Grinder.

Photographers: Ed Colver; Neil Zlozower; David Perry.

A definite improvement over In God We Trust, the grittier Against the Law is not only a more consistently rockin' album, it's also much more focused and inspired. The CD's standout track is an imaginative cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star," which works surprisingly well in a metal/hard rock setting. But originals like "Rock the People," "Caught In the Middle," and "Ordinary Man" aren't anything to be ashamed of, either. Because many of the songs don't have overtly Christian lyrics, there was some speculation that Stryper, like Amy Grant, was going secular. But Stryper's members insisted that they were still very much a Christian band. And it's hard to imagine Mötley Crüe, Ratt, or Warrant recording a song like "Not That Kind of Guy," which finds Michael Sweet turning down the chance to have casual sex with an attractive woman because he doesn't consider it the moral thing to do. ~ Alex Henderson minimize