Stryper is Back With One of the Year's Best Rock Albums Reborn

The 1980's were a heyday for heavy metal, thanks in large part to MTV. Eventually, the metal movement crashed under the weight of its own gawdy commercialism, but paved the way for a new movement that focused only on the music, not the spandex-laden look.

Today, it is hard to find metal bands from the 80's that escaped the decade with any new inspiration intact. Most are regulated to playing recycled hits in small venues. It came as a surprise, then, when MTV favorite Stryper regrouped and released their first studio album in 15 years, titled "Reborn," a stirring melodic metal experience that MSNBC called "One of 2005's Best (Rock) Albums."

Stryper first gained prominence in 1984, and quickly became known for their stage gimmicks, including wearing yellow and black spandex and throwing Bibles into the crowd. The overtly Christian band was initially lambasted by critics and fans alike as an oxymoron, mixing Jesus with electric guitars. The release of their third album, To Hell With the Devil, in 1986, changed those attitudes. Featuring radio-friendly songs like "Calling On You" and "Free," their music videos hit #1 with MTV viewer requests, besting other 80's rock titans like Bon Jovi. They scored a Billboard Top 40 hit with the ballad "Honestly" as the album went platinum. The band sold over 8 million albums before disbanding after their 1990 album "Against The Law." Popular music was changing, and heavy metal was giving over to grunge. Metal bands became yesterday's news and Stryper was one of many casualties of changing tastes.

Rock, including metal, enjoyed a recent resurgence as music listeners rebelled against the overproduced dreck from a string of boy bands and pop sluts. After a successful 2004 reunion tour, and a well-received performance at Disney World, three of the four original band members went back into the studio and recorded "Reborn," which dropped quietly in August 2005 but gained popularity as the band toured through the fall.