by Alex Henderson
While The Yellow and Black Attack! earned Stryper a fair amount of publicity, it was Soldiers Under Command that put the band on the map commercially. The album went gold, and Stryper became a major hit on MTV without abandoning its Christian message. Glossy yet intense pop-metal like &The Rock That Makes Me Roll& and &Surrender& definitely promotes Christianity, but does so without condemning non-Christians or pointing the finger at other religions. Ironically, one of lead singer Michael Sweet's influences is Rob Halford of Judas Priest -- although Stryper and the Priest have little in common lyrically. Like The Yellow and Black Attack!, Soldiers Under Command is decent when it comes to up-tempo songs, but weak when it comes to ballads. &First Love& and &Together as One& demonstrate that all too often, Stryper's ballads were much too sugary for their own good.