Not bashing Petra, just an honest question.

[Preacherman777]

My first reaction was more along the lines of "What the heck is this?" I remained hopeful that it would get better, but for the most part it didn't. However, that wasn't my first sign of concern for Petra. Honestly that came way back on Unseen Power when they did Hand on My Heart. That just didn't belong on a Petra album and the fact that it was there spelled trouble.

[CatNamedManny]

I'm chuckling as I read this because it's funny to see how many divergent views there are on WUC/ND. For example, I think "Praying Man" is a pretty disappointing song; the best part is the intro, which gives the impression that you're about to hear a really kick-tail rocker, and instead you get (yet another) midtempo song. Bleh.

ND was my first Petra album, so I can't bring myself to dislike it, though there is quite a bit of filler in the latter half of the album ... which is also my problem with WUC. Maybe they should have taken their break in 1992-93, then come out in 1994 with No Waking Up, produced by Brown Bannister, with the following tracklist:

1. Enter In
2. Good News
3. Right Place
4. No Doubt
5. Sleeping Giant
6. Underneath the Blood
7. Praying Man
8. Think Twice
9. Heart of a Hero
10. Midnight Oil
11. Just Reach Out

In fact, I might create an iTunes playlist just to see how that sounds...

[Preacherman777]

If I had to make one album out of those two, it would look more like this:

Midnight Oil
Good News
Heart of A Hero
Praying Man
More Than A Thousand Words
No Doubt
Underneath The Blood
Right Place
Sleeping Giant
Strong Convictions
Just Reach Out

[separateunion]

I've never understood the appeal of WUC. Outside of "Midnight Oil" and "Underneath the Blood", it's always been a real snoozer to me.

[shawnpfan2010]

I reread my question and I didn't ask it the right way. I was thinking about it more from the music industry point of view. As hard as they had to fight to gain acceptence, I just wonder what the industry is thinking, are they excited to see pioneers of christian rock making a comeback or are they laughing at it like "look at those old guys trying to play in a kids game". That is really where I was coming from, not so much the fans of Petra. Sorry for the confusion.

[Preacherman777]

My guess is that "at the moment" the industry probably isn't paying much attention.

[zman7720000]

I found this link to an old Billboard magazine. I thought it might shed some light on the early years and the overall popularity and sales strength of Classic Petra.

http://books.google.com/books?id=NiQEAA ... EQ6AEwAzgK#

[ErioL]

I guess I'm in the minority then, as I really like Unseen Power and a good part of WUC. Sleeping Giant and Marks of the Cross are awesome tunes IMO, and UP has some sweet ones too - though I agree about Hand on my Heart, I mean really?? No Doubt was just a blah record for me. But I don't see why people think UP was such a downer...oh well.

[BForm]

Eriol, I'm right there with. I love most of the songs off of both. I think the biggest issue is with the fact that Petra seems to have been constantly changing their style in search of something. It should be obvious that what they were chasing was previous success levels and financial viability. So rather than making slight tweaks to modernize they were making quantum leaps, but not necessarily in the direction the market wanted.

On the other hand, some of this is just a matter of people getting accustomed to one style and not wanting to see their favorite band change anything. If you liked Beyond Belief, and that's where you really wanted them to stay, you're probably never going to be able to appreciate Bob's work on WUC or ND.

Ultimately, if you read the article referenced above carefully, I think you'll find the biggest reason Petra has been "left behind". The music industry wanted to move artists away from being labeled "Christian" without alienating the base. Therein lies the problem. There isn't a base anymore. This isn't just me talking. Research shows that "professing" Christians are less and less concerned about doctrine, holiness and being the "peculiar" people we are called to be. The church's lust for "relevance" has lead us to become so worldly that christians are more a reflection of the world than of Christ. So, at the end of the day, Petra maintained their distinction when their market did not. Add to that market/distribution changes that Brent has articulated and Petra is no longer truly financially viable.

Don't fret too much. Even if good Christian music dies out, the gospel will go on.

[zman7720000]

Now you've gone from prechin to medling!

[separateunion]

good Christian music

Oxymoron.

[BForm]

That's hysterical. I guess that's why others have referred to today's CCM as "God is my girlfriend" music.

[CatNamedManny]

I refer to it as the Nickelback-ization of Christianity. Except that instead of doing the "God is my girlfriend" thing, artists are more and more singing about their actual dating (or former dating) relationships. Skillet is a particularly notable offender on this score. They are the Christian Nickelback. Good for about three heavy songs and a host of mid-tempo snoozers about their girlfriend/ex-girlfriend...

[executioner]

I've never understood the appeal of WUC. Outside of "Midnight Oil" and "Underneath the Blood", it's always been a real snoozer to me.

First off yeah its not a full blown rock album in the Petra style we were use to, but the songs have a high quality lyrical content and the production of the album is by far the best Petra has ever done.
Unlike albums before and after WUC the drums are real and spot on; John's voice is at its best, and Bob's guitar work is really cool. All the songs really seem to flow, I would say the only 2 songs I really don't care for are He's been in My Shoes and Believer Indeed, and those really are no slouches either. IMO Petra has only done 4 totally complete album where I think all the songs on these albums are strong and can stand alone. I think all of the other albums have some duds on them that I wish to forget


1. Beyond Belief
2. Wake Up Call
3. JAH
4. More Power To Ya

[executioner]

That's hysterical. I guess that's why others have referred to today's CCM as "God is my girlfriend" music.

The first time I heard that term was in 1998 with Steve Camp's 107 point theses calling for a reformation in the CCMI.
http://www.wphafm.org/107Theses.htm

He had two great albums:

Abandoned to God: 1999


Desiring God: 2001

Unfortunately now he just comes across as an angry Calvinist in his blog, concerned more with converting Christians to Calvinism than helping the lost find Jesus.

Even in the 80's he was angry about something.