bakersfieldpethead wrote:Epyon5757 wrote:Don't suppose they have any plans to release this album for digital download somewhere, do they?
Well "Back to the Rock" was released as a digital download first on ClassicPetra.com I'm sure once the 2nd and 3rd albums are finished they too will be up for sale on ClassicPetra.com as a digital download. But I would rather have the CDs; a lot better quality.
I just found out about the reconstituted group this morning. Honestly, I'm not as much of a fan of the early '80s Petra as I was the early '90s Petra (ironically, my parents are the reverse). I'd be far more likely to buy two or three individual tracks at this point than the CD. Most of the songs on this CD were originally written before I entered kindergarten. However, I will eventually buy the CD. Adonai is still one of my top 10 favorite songs. The updated version I just downloaded puts it in the top 5.
I wonder what the purpose behind reuniting the vintage early '80s lineup is. Petra in the '80s and '90s tried to bring the unchurched youth to Christ and had great success at it. They were one of only about 5 or so Christian bands during those two decades that were good enough to hold their own against mainstream bands. But if reaching that particular demographic is still their purpose, that sound won't reach the youth of today, and the mantle of that particular tightrope has been passed to groups like Skillet, Fireflight, Red, and Thousand Foot Krutch. I am a teacher, I work with high school youth every day, and Petra's vintage sound and longer song length will not reach the majority of youth who, because they have so much more stimuli as opposed to the youth of 30 years ago, have a shorter attention span and thus thrive on shorter songs (3:30 max) that pack a punch within the first ten seconds.
However, if this version of Petra has modified their mission to reach the unchurched older generation of rockers - people in their 40s and 50s - then they would again be pioneers in Christian music and would be the first to fill a niche that no other Christian rock band has tried to tackle yet. I hope this is the case, as this particular population segment has more or less slipped through the cracks.
Hey, did you ever think twice? If you don't bother, gonna pay the price...