GET THEE BEHIND ME STRYPER/ I'VE PLAYED YOUR RECORDS BACKWARDS

Turns out that Half Man Half Biscuit's Trernoc Kcor Naitsirhc with its accusations that "I've seen your antics in the Green Room" might not have been too far from the truth all along. Yes, even Stryper have had their time spent eating pretzels and falling over, just like George W:

"We had many temptations along the road and many opportunities we could have grabbed on to," said Michael Sweet, lead singer for the Platinum selling band which has regrouped after a decade and is back on tour.

He said there was one stumbling point at the band’s peak.

"We went through a period in "Against the Law" when we started drinking, we started getting a little out of control," Sweet said. "The bad part in that is the fact that it was somewhat hypocritical because we were standing on stage telling people you don’t need alcohol and then we’d go to the bus and drink."

Of course, now that the band are back together, this time supping with the devil provides them with an extra little force: they can self-flagellate, empathise with us sinners even more warmly, and bask in the smuggity warmth of those who have locked horns with Satan. Of course, their idea of heavy drinking probably means they had a sip of a wine mixer a couple of times, but that doesn't mean they're not able to announce that its g-l-o-r-y to know their s-a-v-e-d:

"Thank God we didn’t completely disintegrate and have a meltdown and go the opposite — and continue on the opposite — path. We woke one morning and said, ‘What are we doing?’ and we halted and put a stop to everything and got back on path."

Sweet said the band wants to be an example to others.

"We try to speak less and let our actions be the example of Christ in our lives — who we are, how we treat people, what we say to people. Do we smile or growl to people? Are we pleasant and nice? Do we give grace? That’s what’s going to have an effect on people more than words. We try to live as examples and let that light shine through."

Well, we're going to take their example. We're off to get pissed on a bus parked up outside a church.

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