Soldiers Under Command

Soldiers Under Command is the second release, and first full-length studio album from Christian metal band Stryper, released on August 23, 1985.^[5] It was the first Christian metal album to achieve Gold record status, selling more than half a million copies. The album was originally issued on white vinyl. The Live in Japan in-concert video, released in 1986, was filmed on July 8, 1985 during Stryper's tour in support of this album.

Soldiers Under Command
Studio album by Stryper
Released	August 23, 1985 [1]
Studio	Amigo Studios (Los Angeles, California) Smoketree Ranch (Chatsworth, California)
Genre	Christian metal heavy metal
Length	45:02
Label	Enigma
Producer	Michael Wagener
Stryper chronology
The Yellow & Black Attack! (1984) Soldiers Under Command (1985) To Hell with the Devil (1986)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Kerrang!	[3]
"Jesus Freak Hideout"	[4]

A music video of the title track was released.

The inspirational verse for this album is 2 Timothy 2:3-4.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

All songs written by Michael Sweet, except where noted.

1. "Soldiers Under Command" (Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet) – 5:03
2. "Makes Me Wanna Sing" – 2:51
3. "Together Forever" – 4:03
4. "First Love" – 5:43
5. "The Rock That Makes Me Roll" – 4:56
6. "Reach Out" (M. Sweet, R. Sweet) – 5:21
7. "(Waiting for) A Love That's Real" – 4:36
8. "Together as One" – 5:01
9. "Surrender" – 4:28
10. "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Julia Ward Howe) – 2:36

Personnel

Stryper

• Michael Sweet – lead vocals, backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, guitar solos (on tracks 4-7)
• Oz Fox – lead and rhythm guitars, guitar solos (on tracks 2-6, 9), backing vocals
• Tim Gaines – keyboards and bass (1-7, 9, 10), backing vocals (8)
• Robert Sweet – drums

Additional musicians

• John Van Tongeren – keyboards, acoustic piano and bass (8)
• Christopher Currell – Synclavier programming (10)
• Doris Castenada – backing vocals (10)
• Linda Mullen – backing vocals (10)
• Tammy Thomas – backing vocals (10)

Production

• Michael Wagener – producer, engineer, mixing
• Bryan Ayuso – album design
• John Scarpati – photography
• Anne Revenge – additional photography

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[6]	78
US Billboard 200[7]	84
US Christian Albums (Billboard)[8]	5

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[9]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.