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
's members insisted that they were still very much a
band. And it's hard to imagine
Moetley Cruee
,
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