Michael Sweet explained why Stryper’s ‘The Yellow and Black Attack’ was absent from streaming services in a recent chat with This Day In Metal’s Metalhead Marv.
“That’s a good question,” Sweet said when Marv asked what happened to the band’s debut record. “There’s a label called Hollywood that has control over our old catalog, and God knows what they’re doing with it. Who knows?”
He continued, “I mean, I don’t even know what to tell you. I wish we had complete control over that. Someday soon, we will, and we’ll be able to do whatever we want and do some great re-releases and remasters and new artwork and some really cool stuff. And that album, of course, will definitely get its fair share.”
‘The Yellow and Black Attack’ came out in July 1984 via Stryper’s first label, Enigma Records. The band signed with Hollywood Records in 1991, a year after releasing ‘Against the Law.’
Now, Stryper is gearing up for the release of their newest album, ‘When We Were Kings,’ which is set to drop in September through Frontiers Records. Sweet shared excitement for the record on social media and addressed expectations about its sound.
“We will never be the Stryper of old,” he explained. “Nor do we want to be. Asking us to go back to what we used to be is like asking someone to go back and dress the way they used to dress back in 1986, wear the same cologne (probably Liz Claiborne or Drakkar) and drink Sanka coffee! Times have changed and so have we. We all evolve. And change is good.”
Stryper’s 40th-anniversary tour will start two days before the upcoming album’s release, with their first performance in Greeneville, TN.
