Stryper's 1984 debut EP features this Christian band in its earliest incarnation as a metal act with a rough-around-the-edges style. As the title suggests, this album also introduced the band's penchant for yellow and black, which would always be associated with this band, taken from the universal color scheme for "warning". With only 6 tracks, 'Yellow and Black Attack' laid Stryper's pop metal foundation and served as a good primer for their subsequent effort, 'Soldiers Under Command'.

The sound on 'Attack' is very raw and unrefined. It has that nasal-like distortion produced by turning up the highs and lows on their amps and turning down the midtones. Coupled with the thin production, it's an obvious sign of how early in the 80's this record was released. "Loud N Clear" signals the start of the record with a swelling scream followed by precision riffing, a catchy chorus and a fine dual guitar solo. One of the bonus tracks from the re-release is the acoustic "My Love I'll Always Show" which is a touching ballad albeit overly sweet in its sentiment.

A nice mid-tempo soft rocker is "You Won't Be Lonely" which drops the Christian pretense for a moment and evokes the heartfelt notion of always having someone close by to watch over you. "Co'Mon Rock" is another song that puts their premise aside temporarily in favor of a full-on rock tune. "Co'Mon Rock" captures all the elements of Stryper's style from the unison chorus to their trademark double guitar leads. "You Know What To Do" opens with the words "Are you feeling lonely?" before the music kicks in. Despite laying the Stryper message on thick, this track has a great groove and very infectious chorus. That is a really good song and easily my favorite from this record.

Stryper re-released the 'Yellow and Black Attack' EP back in 1986, a year after 'Soldiers' came out. The initial pressings were unique in that the album was round unlike the traditional square and contained a colored vinyl record. My vinyl edition is blue. Besides the aforementioned bonus track, the re-release also included "Reason for the Season", which was originally released as a separate Christmas single with a hard rock version of "Winter Wonderland".

Overall, this is good pop metal record because it retains that early 80's metal sound. Although this isn't necessarily required listening unless you're a Stryper fan, I like this record a lot as I've always been a big fan of this band. If you can look past the message, there are some quality metal tunes and decent ballads. 'Yellow and Black Attack' is a good album for those 80's pop metal fans who may have previously overlooked it. But, as I've stated in my 'Soldiers' epinion, if the message is as important to you as the music and you aren't into the Christian themes, you'll want to avoid this one.

Track Listing:
1. Loud 'N' Clear
2. From Wrong To Right
3. My Love I'll Always Show
4. You Know What To Do
5. Co'Mon Rock
6. You Won't Be Lonely
7. Loving You
8. Reason For The Season



Recommended: Yes