Some Stryper gossip....

Guest

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:17 am Post subject: BREAKING NEWS - AN UPDATE ON KYLE AND THE NEW RECORD......

Hey everyone, Long time eh? Life has been very busy lately and I've planned on posting many times but haven't had the chance. First and foremost, an update on my beautiful wife Kyle. Kyle began her third treatment on January 4th. It was a trail/study and she would take 2 pills every morning. The purpose of the medication was to block the blood supply that the tumors feed on. Unfortunately it also caused extremely high blood pressure and Kyle began taking blood pressure medication. She's always had low blood pressure so it was quite a change. After 2 months of treatment we went for the scheduled 2 month CT and received word that the Kyle had to be removed from the study. Some tumors (that were already there) had shrunk which is great. Unfortunately there was new growth and according to the study protocol, Kyle had to be removed from the study. We'll go through a 6 week "washout" period before we begin a new treatment. Most likely another study. We'll have time to consider the options and start the next treatment within 6-7 weeks (mid April). We plan to strengthen Kyle's immune system over the next 6 weeks as much as possible through diet, supplements and juicing! We covet your prayers and support and we're still believing that Kyle will be healthy soon. I'll be writing a new "Message to the Fans" which will contain an update on Kyle, myself, Mikey and Lena. Check out michaelsweet.com soon for details. Another subject I wanted to address is the new record. I've read and read time and time again what people seem to believe regarding Robert not playing on the new record and why there was not more of a collaboration on the material. Hopefully this will set the record straight and end the speculation and false rumors. I spoke to Luke over at StrypedForever.com and shared with him why Robert didn't play on the new record. Here's what I shared with him. Robert is a great drummer and one of the best when he applies himself. When he does not, he's not. That goes for anyone of us. If we don't rehearse and prepare for a record or a tour we won't be able to perform the parts as they should be performed. This is what happened on "Murder By Pride". Looking back on "Reborn", it took 6 days to track the drums and 2 weeks to edit (fix) the drums. It was a 3 week tedious process that cost us all time and money. Robert wasn't as familiar with the material as he should have been and it showed. This time around, 2 weeks prior to recording MBP (late July of 07), I contacted Robert and asked if he had been rehearsing the songs (which we had rehearsed and recorded as demos back in November of 06) and he said he didn't have the opportunity to rehearse and that he didn't have a place to rehearse. He and Oz had gotten together once and they went through the material. Other than that, no rehearsal. I then asked Rob if he still had the rehearsal disc from back in November of 06 and he said he had misplaced it. I then told Robert that I would call him back. I called Oz and Tracy and the three of us made a collective decision to bring in Kenny Aronoff. We couldn't repeat the Reborn scenario - we couldn't afford it. After a group decision, I called Robert back and shared the news with him. It was an extremely difficult thing to do but in the long run, what was best. Those of you who ask why we couldn't have Rob play or why we can't re-record Kenny's tracks with Rob's tracks at this time? It's just not possible. It's far more complicated than that. We wanted Rob on this record but we had to do what was best for everyone, to make the greatest record possible. Just as a manager for a Baseball or Football team would do. If a starting pitcher or any team player for that matter wasn't ready to go out and play, they would put someone else in, someone who was prepared and ready to play. I also explained a bit more to Luke about the collaboration process. Some people have said that Reborn was just a solo record and that MBP will be as well. It's just not true. You would have to say that about the Stryper records of past as well. Things really are no different than they have been since 1983. We all write outside of Stryper but with completely different styles. If you listen to all the band members solo projects you'll hear the difference in styles. Not that any one style is better or worse, it's just that there is a certain style of music that Stryper is known for. It wouldn't be in the best interest of the band if we were to dramatically change the sound of Stryper. I hope you agree. I felt led to respond to some of the things that have been said that just aren't true. Sorry it took me so long. I'll most likely get some grief for my comments but I had to say something and I hope you all understand. This is in my opinion the best Stryper record to date and regardless of who wrote what or who played - what when you hear it, I hope you think so too! Thanks for reading and more important, thank you for your support, thoughts and prayers. Always, Michael

Janitor of the Void Number of posts : 3361 Age : 56

Sounds like Michael's wife is going through chemo testing trials which are similar to what my wife has done and will be doing again very soon.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3367 Age : 56

This was just removed at the CMR at Mike's request.

Guest

My prayers are with your family randy.

Guest

Tall Tyrion wrote:: This was just removed at the CMR at Mike's request.

Then why did he type it all out?

Janitor of the Void Number of posts : 3361 Age : 56

SoldierUnderCommand wrote:

Tall Tyrion wrote:: This was just removed at the CMR at Mike's request.

Then why did he type it all out?

Is he saying that it's not him? All the stuff about Robert did seem kind of odd to me... surprised

Guest

He posted it under his screenname at the Stryperforum. Unless somebody hacked his account, it's him.

Guest

http://www.stryperforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=707

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3367 Age : 56

Apparently, he and Kyle did not like how some of it came out. I don't
really know what specifically it was, but the admin of the Stryper
board removed it there and asked that it be removed at the CMR. $don\'t know$

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3367 Age : 56

That's really odd. Arttie was told it was removed.

Guest

It's not removed at the stryperforum. I just posted the link. Me thinks some fans didn't like him dogging Old Bob.

Guest

Who would've thought back in the day, this band would come to have so many problems. I remember thinking they were above most bands. I guess it;s good to realize they are human, and Mikey is losing his mind.

Janitor of the Void Number of posts : 3361 Age : 56

SoldierUnderCommand wrote:: and Mikey is losing his mind.

Can't say as I blame him. I can't imagine dealing with band nonsense in addition to my wife's health situation. Some folks think I might be going insane

too...

Administrator Number of posts : 19452 Age : 57

I am familiar with this scenerio. I am sure our former drummer Sean would agree with t as well. It's actually (partially) what caused him to leave the band. He wasn't focused because he had so much stuff going on in his personal life that the drums were taking forever and we were spending a lot of time and money recording, editing and such. So, like Stryper, we made a decision as a band to bring in another drummer (Alan Tuma) just to finish up the Into the Pit record. It ended up that Alan stayed and Sean left, but he left on his own and we are still great friends.

I don't think Micheal's story is any different. Bands do it ALL THE TIME. The biggest bands in the world have brought in outside musicians to record parts. Kiss, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, The Beatles...and the list goes on. I don't see this as a rag on Robert at all. It's just how life goes sometimes.

_________________
ULTIMATUM - TOO METAL FOR WIKIPEDIA!

Guest

Prayers for his wife. That's rough.

Metal, Movies, Beer Number of posts : 37869 Age : 54

Sad to hear that Michael's wife isn't doing as well as we might have hoped. If memory serves, the last update I saw a while back was much more upbeat.

As for the problems with Robert and the new record, that doesn't sound very promising either.

_________________
"I am reluctant to get too deep into politics, and I don’t expect politicians to get too deep into music."
- Paul Stanley

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Master Sailboat Number of posts : 9301 Age : 45

sorry to hear no Robert. a Robert-less Stryper is better than no Stryper at all though.

_________________
Some Stryper gossip.... MNxjcKm

Guest

I wish the best for Michael and Kyle and their family. That's gotta be a rough situation to battle through. Yeah, I feel like Ult...a lot of big bands have used outside musicians to record new albums. It's nothing new. Hopefully Robert will still tour with them when the CD comes out. I'm interested in hearing how it compares to Reborn.

Subject: Re: Some Stryper gossip.... Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:11 am

I'm still looking forward to the new album even though Roberts not playing on it.Things like this happen in life.Hopefully he'll be able to tour with them.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3012 Age : 34

i feel sorry for michael, band problems, and a wife with cancer, that sucks horribly.

Road Warrior Number of posts : 17151 Age : 48

The drummer (Kenny Aronoff) they're bringing in to replace Robert isn't known for any metal as far as i know. He played for John Mellencamp for a long time but that's all i know about him.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3012 Age : 34

hmmm...this is an interesting develpment, come watson to the waterfront

Janitor of the Void Number of posts : 3361 Age : 56

SoldierUnderCommand wrote:: My prayers are with your family randy.

Thanks, Rich. Smile

Bukkake Tsunami Number of posts : 25557 Age : 53

troublezone wrote:: The drummer (Kenny Aronoff) they're bringing in to replace Robert isn't known for any metal as far as i know. He played for John Mellencamp for a long time but that's all i know about him.

I'm a casual fan of the band at best, but that is some sad news.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread either, but take a look at Kenny's discography and you'll see that he's more than capable to handle the drumming duties here. The man's got studio/session work out the wazoo.
http://www.kennyaronoff.com/discography/

Some of the "harder" bands he's worked with include Cinderella, Alice Cooper, Junkyard, Bruce Kulick, and Bon Jovi.

Road Warrior Number of posts : 17151 Age : 48

MetalGuy71 wrote:

troublezone wrote:: The drummer (Kenny Aronoff) they're bringing in to replace Robert isn't known for any metal as far as i know. He played for John Mellencamp for a long time but that's all i know about him.

I'm a casual fan of the band at best, but that is some sad news.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread either, but take a look at Kenny's discography and you'll see that he's more than capable to handle the drumming duties here. The man's got studio/session work out the wazoo.

Talk about making a living as a session drummer! He's done almost every style but hard metal.
http://www.kennyaronoff.com/discography/

Some of the "harder" bands he's worked with include Cinderella, Alice Cooper, Junkyard, Bruce Kulick, and Bon Jovi.

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