What Does the 1980s Band Stryper Stand For?

Formed in 1983 as an American Christian metal band from Orange County California, the group includes Michael Sweet (lead vocals and guitar) Oz Fox (guitar) Perry Richardson (bass guitar) and Robert Sweet (drums).

When they first started, they were known as Roxx Regime, but they had soon changed their message to show their Christian beliefs, changing their name to Stryper.

Growing their popularity to become the first Christian heavy metal band to be accepted into mainstream music, they signed a record label with Enigma Records and released their first album The Yellow and Black Attack.

What Does Stryper Stand For?

Stryper Stands for Salvation through Redemption, Yielding Encouragement and Righteousness. The name was also inspired by the King James Version of the Bible, specifically the phrase “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was up on him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Stryper’s logo also included this reference in their band and Robert Sweet, the drummer created the backronym for their name.

Stryper’s Music

During the mid-1980s, Stryper also became successful with the release of To Hell with the Devil, achieving platinum sales status. They also released another two gold albums before breaking up in 1993.

But in 2003, they came back together for a reunion tour and signed a multi-album contract with Big3 Records in 2005. Finally in 2013, they signed another multi-album deal with Frontiers Records, which included the Second Coming with 14 re-recorded songs from their first three albums. This also included the following:

• No More Hell to Pay on November 5, 2013
• Fallen on October 16, 2015
• God Damn Evil on April 25, 2018
• Even the Devil Believes on September 4, 2020

1980s Music and Image

During the 1980s, Stryper represented the main image of Christian metal music. With highly visual performances, twin guitar solos and Michael Sweet’s loud screams and big hair, this group was a historical figure.

All of their band equipment, outfits and instruments were painted in yellow and black stripes, reflecting the colors of “caution” as seen on highway to show a warning against the evils of the world. The number of stripes on the equipment increased throughout their show, building up to the hit song In God We Trust.

Stryper also explained the symbolism of the stripes, which was a reference to the whiplash scourges Pontius Pilate gave to Jesus and mentions the King James Version of the Bible’s Isaiah 53:5 related to the motif of the suffering servant.

Stryper’s Trademarks

Robert Sweet also had a trademark for his stage act was turning his huge drum kit sideways to the audience so they could better watch him play. Robert was actually more often called a “visual timekeeper” than a drummer.

Other distinctive trademarks from Stryper included them throwing out Bibles to the concert crowd, editions of the New Testament along with the band’s logos sticker on them.

They also fought the popular “666” symbols brought on by other heavy metal fans, they used the trademark “777”, which quickly became popular among other Christian metal fans. While “777” isn’t actually referenced by the Bible, the number “7: is associated with divine perfection, according to Christian symbolism. Some of Stryper’s stage sets also showed crossed out symbols of “666” and “devil”.

The Stryper Legacy

Stryper is best known for being the first openly Christian heavy metal band to become popular throughout mainstream music. They also had a popular salvation message among some elements of the media.

Stryper’s album The Yellow and Black Attack also became widely popular in Japan, particularly by Masa Itoh, the man known for Japanese hard rock/metal. Many metal fans looked to him for the music genre’s evolution. When Itoh discovered Stryper, he contacted the band’s manager, Daryn Hinton and enjoyed their music.

He gave the band a positive review in Japan’s heavy metal bible Burrn! magazine as well as played the album on his own radio show. It didn’t take Stryper long before they were at the top of the Japanese heavy metal list with a record that outsold Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and more. This was also what led them to sign with CBS Sony in Japan.

Stryper’s Criticism

Despite their renowned fame, Stryper faced heavy criticism from Christian critics, who did not approve of their heavy metal culture; they saw it as being associated with Satan. Other Christians viewed their 80s rock band fashion as sinful in contrast with their traditional modest clothes.

One particularly famous critic was televangelist Jimmy Swagger, who compared the band’s tradition of distributing the New Testament bibles at their shows to “casting pearls before swine.” While this wasn’t a surprise to them, Stryper was supported by Swagger’s rival Jim Bakker ministries, who thanked Stryper for various albums.

In 1985, Chris Willman, who was working for CCM magazine and the Los Angeles Times, said “Stryper was the largest of scattered picketing, boycott threats and righteous denunciations.”

Many Christian rock fans attending Stryper’s concerts were passing by protesters with bullhorns and distribution of Gospel tracts. They found it ironic how they were given the same treatment as popular metal bands Ozzy Osbourne, ACDC and the Rolling Stones.

Even big-time metal magazine Rolling Stone reported that Stryper had become disillusioned with Christian music in 1990. In response to this criticism, Stryper shifted the tone of their Against the Law album to classic metal, wearing all black leather clothes and not once mentioning “God” in their lyrics.

This led to the album being banned from Christian bookstores. Also, Stryper’s only tie to the Christian market had halted the distribution of their album, which led to a poorly sold album. Although the then future American Idol judge Randy Jackson was shown playing the bass guitar on the cover of Earth, Wind and Fire’s Shining Star in 1990, fun fact.

Fame Among Non-Christians

Despite the heavy criticism and shaming from the public, Stryper actually sold over 10 million recordings around the world, their best seller being To Hell with the Devil in 1976 with 1 million copies sold. What was also strange was that two-thirds of their album buyers were non-Christian. Also in 2011, Stryper won the Reader’s Choice Award for Best Christian/Gospel Artists & Bands.

The author of the heavy metal history book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal had mentioned the album To Hell with the Devil in his book as one of the main landmarks of the glam metal movement.