Stryper’s Michael Sweet Says He’d Help Van Halen Make Their Best New Album
Whether you're a fan of the Van Halen fronted by David Lee Roth or "Van Hagar," it's hard to argue that the band's first three albums weren't solid works of art. Stryper's Michael Sweet, a self-proclaimed enormous fan of Van Halen, says he could help the band make their best new album, up to par with the quality of their early work.
In a chat with 10 Questions With the Musical Mind (seen below), Sweet confidently says, "Chances are in this lifetime it'll never happen, but if it ever did, and we co-produced together, and I was able, as a fan, a singer, a guitar player, a writer, to pull that out of them, I guarantee you it would be the best Van Halen album since [the first three]...I can say that without even any hesitation at all, because, in a perfect world again, if they agreed to it, and we all worked together and went for that, I guarantee you it would happen and the world would be going, 'What the eff just happened?'"
Although many bands change their sound throughout their careers, as seen in Van Halen's era with Sammy Hagar as frontman, Sweet argues that the band's classic sound on their first three records is what they should strive for moving forward. "We don't wanna hear Van Halen doing a modern song with no guitar solos. You wanna hear Van Halen like you heard it on Van Halen and II and Women And Children First. That's the Van Halen we all know and love, and that was the fire - a burning, ignited, raging fire."
Listen to the full interview below.
Sweet told The Metal Voice in 2015 that he was disappointed by Van Halen's latest album, 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. He's been itching to work with Van Halen on a new album ever since. Sweet's upcoming album Ten is due for release later this year on Rat Pak Records.
Van Halen Albums Ranked