I thought Stryper was okay back in the 1980's, not worth wearing out for decades like I have a lot of other bands from my teenage years. But Stryper came out of retirement a decade or so ago and put out some stuff I really like. Check out their Reborn, Passion, Jesus Is Alright (a metal redo of the classic), When Did I See You Cry, No More Hell to Pay, and especially Yaweh. Warning: could cause irresistible cranking of the volume.
Russ Taff yes, and some others. I was more of a Petra fan but I think my brother was into Stryper. I kind of drifted away from some of these when I no longer had a cassette player - ha! Did you listen to any Steve Taylor?
Best of Contemporary/Praise mix was 2nd Chapter of Acts, they did a concept album of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Roar of Love) back in the late 70s. Great backstory to the band.