{"id":52394,"date":"2016-07-10T09:32:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T14:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=52394"},"modified":"2016-07-10T09:38:11","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T14:38:11","slug":"michael-sweet-stryper-to-release-one-sided-war-on-rat-pak-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/michael-sweet-stryper-to-release-one-sided-war-on-rat-pak-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Sweet (Stryper) to release One Sided War on Rat Pak Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ms-pre-order-top.jpg\" alt=\"ms-pre-order-top\" width=\"600\" height=\"692\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-52396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ms-pre-order-top.jpg 600w, https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ms-pre-order-top-303x350.jpg 303w, https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ms-pre-order-top-500x577.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In what promises to be Stryper front-man Michael Sweet&#8217;s most intense solo release to date, &#8220;One Sided War&#8221; showcases a full plate of hard rock &#038; classic metal riffs from start to finish. One Sided War marks Michael&#8217;s 7th studio solo album and it clearly proves that he is still at the very top of his game! &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you about it&#8221;, says Michael, &#8220;Musically it&#8217;s my heaviest solo album. It&#8217;s not thrash metal but there are definitely some songs on there that will pop out at you. There are some songs that have a bit of the Iron Maiden \/ Dio feel to them, as well as some songs that have a little bit of a Van Halen influence to them. It&#8217;s a very guitar-oriented, hard rock\/metal album with lots of melodies and hooks!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Surrounding himself in the studio with Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra, Evanescence drummer Will Hunt, bassist John O&#8217;Boyle and East Coast shred-master Ethan Brosh, Michael began creating what would soon be known as &#8220;One Sided War&#8221;. Michael states &#8220;Originally I planned on showcasing my own guitar playing; I was going to do it all myself, but once I brought Joel &#038; Ethan into the picture, things began to take a new direction and I am very happy with what we have accomplished&#8221;. Says Ethan Brosh about working with Michael, &#8220;He&#8217;s one of those guys who have always been at the top of their game and has just never lost it and for me to be a part of this is very special&#8221;. Joel Hoekstra comments &#8220;Michael and I actually go back to my time in Night Ranger when we opened for him when he was playing with Boston. Ever since then we&#8217;ve just been kind of collaborating and this is sort of a natural evolution getting to play on a few songs on his solo album&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The fast and furious opener &#8220;Bizarre&#8221; ignites the album&#8217;s pace with it&#8217;s lightning fast riffage, soaring vocals and blazing guitar solos. Tracks like &#8220;Can&#8217;t Take This Life&#8221;, &#8220;One Sided War&#8221;, &#8220;Golden Age&#8221;, &#8220;I Am&#8221; and &#8220;Comfort Zone&#8221; keep the metal fires ablaze, while tracks like &#8220;Radio&#8221;, &#8220;One Way&#8221; and &#8220;You Make Me Wanna&#8221; bring the hard rock vibe to the forefront . &#8220;One Sided War&#8221; features only one ballad, &#8220;Who Am I?&#8221;, a heartfelt, passionate song that reminds us of the softer side of Michael&#8217;s talents. Closing out the disc is a bonus track; it&#8217;s a different version of the song &#8220;Can&#8217;t Take This Life&#8221;, a duet with Michael and 16 year old up-and-coming female vocalist Moriah Formica. If you are a fan of Michael Sweet \/ Stryper or a fan of classic Hard Rock &#038; Metal in general &#8220;One Sided War&#8221; is an absolute must have, you won&#8217;t be disappointed! Official release date is August 26, 2016<\/p>\n<p>The CD was tracked at Spirithouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p>TRACK LISTING:<br \/>\nBizarre<br \/>\nOne Sided War<br \/>\nCan&#8217;t Take This Life<br \/>\nRadio<br \/>\nGolden Age<br \/>\nOnly You<br \/>\nI Am<br \/>\nWho Am I<br \/>\nYou Make Me Wanna<br \/>\nComfort Zone<br \/>\nOne Way Up<br \/>\nCan&#8217;t Take This Life (*bonus track* featuring  Moriah Formica)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MICHAEL SWEET (STRYPER) &quot;ONE SIDED WAR&quot; \/ NEW 2016 ALBUM EPK\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xl5PgzbZy-8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Get more info @ <a href=\"http:\/\/ratpakrecordsamerica.com\/michaelsweet\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/ratpakrecordsamerica.com\/michaelsweet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">In what promises to be Stryper front-man Michael Sweet&#8217;s most intense solo release to date, &#8220;One Sided War&#8221; showcases a full plate of hard rock &#038; classic metal riffs from start to finish. One Sided <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/michael-sweet-stryper-to-release-one-sided-war-on-rat-pak-records\/\" title=\"Michael Sweet (Stryper) to release One Sided War on Rat Pak Records\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9437,9200,12481,5315,1922],"class_list":{"0":"post-52394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news-wires","8":"tag-ethan-brosh","9":"tag-michael-sweet","10":"tag-one-sided-war","11":"tag-rat-pak-records","12":"tag-stryper"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}