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Orange County, Calif., rabble-rousers originally called Roxx Regime, Stryper banded together in 1983 to dive into hair metal for Jesus. Clad in what became their trademark black and yellow, they released the mini-debut Yellow and Black Attack to complete their image. Conquering the melodic metal of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Van Halen, Def Leppard and other contemporaries, Stryper passed on biting the heads off of bats in favor of the more redemptive (and hygienic) act of tossing Bibles into the audience. Only two years after To Hell With the Devil was released to platinum reception, Stryper disbanded, leaving a void in a genre with few true greats (at the time). Stryper entered phase two of their legacy in 2003 with a seven-week U.S. tour, followed by the tour album and, later, their first full-length studio release in 15 years. Now more than 20 years since inception, it's hard to find anyone who remembers the origin of the name, but to keep you in the "in" crowd, it stands for "Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace, Encouragement and Righteousness." Rock 'n' roll.
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