Michael Sweet Tops Japanese Import Charts

(Tokyo)-Former Stryper vocalist Michael Sweet's third solo record Truth claimed the #2 spot on Burrn! Magazine's year end review of the top selling import disks of 1999.

Distributed by MJM to the Japanese market, Truth outranked artists like Testament, Cinderella, Sodom, Metallica, Dream Theater and Aerosmith in a market well known for its love of classic metal and hard rock.

Ironically, Sweet's band Stryper first grabbed the same #2 spot on Burrn!'s chart in 1984.

Originally released on Sweet's own label, a reworked version of Truth is set to be re-released in the U.S. in the summer of 2000 by Restless Records, a unit of Regency Pictures.

From the riveting guitar licks contained in I Am Adam to the power ballad melodies of Blue Bleeds Through and anthem style hooks in Lift My Head, Sweet crafted an album that appealed to longtime Japanese fans.

"Stryper has always had a strong following in Japan," commented MJM's Mark Joseph who first met Sweet when the band toured Japan in 1985. "That was one of the reasons we decided on doing this deal. He's a good friend and a talented artist and he crafts the kinds of songs that Japanese rock fans love."

Sweet is currently putting the finishing touches on the revised edition of Truth, which MJM hopes to release to the Japanese market in early summer.

"We hope for the opportunity to take the next one to this market as well," commented Ric Rodeheaver of MJM. "He has some of the most enthusiastic and loyal fans that an artist can have."