Can Petra make a comeback

[Mountain Man]

What brent is saying is completely true. Yes, Petra officially retired in 2005, but they never really went away.

Speaking of going away.......I thought Brent was "going away". Seems like the pot calling the kettle black.

What an absurd remark.

[rexreed]

Couple of things pop into my head when Brent and others say Petra needed to really hang it up so people would miss them- nah, I don't think you can go through life calculating things like that. It's a little too presumptuous to think that things would be any different in the recording industry if Petra has just vanished for a few years. After all, there are a bunch of artists that aren't being supported by labels or lucrative tours anymore, Petra didn't cause folks to stop buying albums. Also, they DID retire. At least in my neck of the woods they haven't been around for going on eight years now. I live in a heavily populated neck of the woods. CP came close in geography but it wasn't Petra. So yeah, I don't buy into the theory of letting the fans starve- then launching a massive reuinion. The ccm niche market being what it is makes it hard to do something like say, The Cars or Genesis. Just my 2 cents.

[brent]

I said I was going to lay low, because I didn't like what the conversation at the time brought out of me.

Obviously nobody can see the future and it is easy to see the past. Obviously, telling guys that need to make money and would find it hard to do anything else but be Petra is not going to sit well with them or others. But, people do plan this kind of thing. People in the industry tried to get them to manage their exit so they could have a great return.

All I can point to is the poor record sales and low concert attendance in the USA. There has not been enough to sustain the guys full time for a long time. How can anyone seriously think there could be a comeback when there hasn't been a demand and proof of the demand on a mass scale since 2005? Heck, before 2005?

Money isn't everything and the Petra guys would call every show a success and all they do obedience to their calling. "Comeback" may not and likely is not in the cards. All that Petra is and has been may be all they will be, and people have to be fine with that. I am good with that. Making a come back would likely entail another confirmation to modern music to attract those kids that steal music the most. I would rather they rock, rock hard, and play the music we all like to hear, and be a part time thing.

[Markus]

We have covered this before. If they had quit when Bob left and come back with J&H, it would have been much better for them. They sucked for so long, becoming something they were not, alienating their core base to pick up soccer moms. Yeah, that really worked. They should have quit, stayed gone, allowed the public to miss them, and then come back. Petra never retired. They haven't stopped played. There have been multiple albums released. They should have at least quit when they said they were going to. If they did not want to retire, they should have come back with the follow up to J&H quickly. Their live set now is tired. There is no incentive for me to go listen to the same old thing, when I have it on video, can see it on YouTube. There is no new music. There is a drummer with no identity with the band. Pass.

Fully agree!

[Markus]

We have covered this before. If they had quit when Bob left and come back with J&H, it would have been much better for them. They sucked for so long, becoming something they were not, alienating their core base to pick up soccer moms. Yeah, that really worked. They should have quit, stayed gone, allowed the public to miss them, and then come back. Petra never retired. They haven't stopped played. There have been multiple albums released. They should have at least quit when they said they were going to. If they did not want to retire, they should have come back with the follow up to J&H quickly. Their live set now is tired. There is no incentive for me to go listen to the same old thing, when I have it on video, can see it on YouTube. There is no new music. There is a drummer with no identity with the band. Pass.

I agree on the point that when Bob left after WUC that they should have called it quits then because between that and JAH their music style changed so much that they totally lost their fan base that way they would have went out on top because they were still selling out shows on the WUC Tour; Bob has said that the WUC TOUR was more successful than the actual album. Back in 2003 JAH would have been a great lead way into a comeback with the vibe that Bob was looking for.

I don't know the sales for WUC, but i remember that it was possible to find the WUC album in a regular (secular) music store in germany. This is very, very unusual. Wasn't it distributed by Sony? So i guess, it had to be quite successfully.

[executioner]

Couple of things pop into my head when Brent and others say Petra needed to really hang it up so people would miss them- nah, I don't think you can go through life calculating things like that. It's a little too presumptuous to think that things would be any different in the recording industry if Petra has just vanished for a few years. After all, there are a bunch of artists that aren't being supported by labels or lucrative tours anymore, Petra didn't cause folks to stop buying albums. Also, they DID retire. At least in my neck of the woods they haven't been around for going on eight years now. I live in a heavily populated neck of the woods. CP came close in geography but it wasn't Petra. So yeah, I don't buy into the theory of letting the fans starve- then launching a massive reuinion. The ccm niche market being what it is makes it hard to do something like say, The Cars or Genesis. Just my 2 cents.

Bob doesn't care about market or radio, he just wants to put out his music and hopes someone is blessed by it. My opinion is I really don't care; we are maybe getting new music from Petra, so why the complaints?

[executioner]

We have covered this before. If they had quit when Bob left and come back with J&H, it would have been much better for them. They sucked for so long, becoming something they were not, alienating their core base to pick up soccer moms. Yeah, that really worked. They should have quit, stayed gone, allowed the public to miss them, and then come back. Petra never retired. They haven't stopped played. There have been multiple albums released. They should have at least quit when they said they were going to. If they did not want to retire, they should have come back with the follow up to J&H quickly. Their live set now is tired. There is no incentive for me to go listen to the same old thing, when I have it on video, can see it on YouTube. There is no new music. There is a drummer with no identity with the band. Pass.

I agree on the point that when Bob left after WUC that they should have called it quits then because between that and JAH their music style changed so much that they totally lost their fan base that way they would have went out on top because they were still selling out shows on the WUC Tour; Bob has said that the WUC TOUR was more successful than the actual album. Back in 2003 JAH would have been a great lead way into a comeback with the vibe that Bob was looking for.

I don't know the sales for WUC, but i remember that it was possible to find the WUC album in a regular (secular) music store in germany. This is very, very unusual. Wasn't it distributed by Sony? So i guess, it had to be quite successfully.

WUC was not as successful as Beyond Belief or Unseen Power sales wise but the tour was hugely successful with 2 full length legs and Petra playing just over a 100 dates in an 18 month period with most shows being sold out or near it. Petra did make an effort to play Europe on this tour(most European dates they did before that were like 3/4 show there deals) so that's probably why the music was easily accessible internationally.

[zman7720000]

I saw them play for 8k or 9k back in 93 for WUC, Johnny was still with them. It was in central Florida and the local CCM radio station played NOTHING but Petra for 12 hours before the concert. JRO was the new single, it was a crazy good time!

[zman7720000]

They opened with Midnight Oil and closed with Awesome God & I Stand in Awe of You.

[executioner]

They opened with Midnight Oil and closed with Awesome God & I Stand in Awe of You.

I always liked how they finished a show off with I Stand In Awe of You; they did that as late as the Revival Tour. I got lucky and got to see both legs of the tour so I got to see both Lawry & Cooper play which too be honest really wasn't that big of a deal.

[brent]

You can't judge WUC's success because it was in secular shops. Since CITAS I always learned Petra concert promos on secular radio. In my market, the buyers were not Christian promotors. They were secular, and they had deals with the local venues so only their shows could be there. The venues were payed to be closed, basically. So, the promotors booked shows from country, to rock, to classical, to gospel, to CCM, etc. It worked because Christians most generally do not listen to Christian programming, by and large. They filled the arena and large theaters. Of course, Petra itself did some seeding of the ground with their mailers and such. Before the big Christian chains, in my market Petra was in the secular stores, because the secular stores were about the only place to buy music of any type. Sure, there were small mom and pop Christian book stores, but they didn't have the draw. When Christian Bookstores came to malls, that helped. When Mardel's got big, that helped.

So, in a nutshell, all of the Petra, Stryper, Rez, Servant, etc I bought back in the day was from secular stores. Heck, I bought The Imperials Priority on 8 track at SEARS!

[executioner]

You can't judge WUC's success because it was in secular shops. Since CITAS I always learned Petra concert promos on secular radio. In my market, the buyers were not Christian promotors. They were secular, and they had deals with the local venues so only their shows could be there. The venues were payed to be closed, basically. So, the promotors booked shows from country, to rock, to classical, to gospel, to CCM, etc. It worked because Christians most generally do not listen to Christian programming, by and large. They filled the arena and large theaters. Of course, Petra itself did some seeding of the ground with their mailers and such. Before the big Christian chains, in my market Petra was in the secular stores, because the secular stores were about the only place to buy music of any type. Sure, there were small mom and pop Christian book stores, but they didn't have the draw. When Christian Bookstores came to malls, that helped. When Mardel's got big, that helped.

So, in a nutshell, all of the Petra, Stryper, Rez, Servant, etc I bought back in the day was from secular stores. Heck, I bought The Imperials Priority on 8 track at SEARS!

In the 80's and early 90's most of my product I bought at Christian stores, but once the internet and used CD stores came around those went out the window for me. I would say 90% of my music product I have I've gotten at used stores, or directly from the artist, or bought them used off of Amazon. All my first copy Petra CD's have been bought brand new and over the last 15 yrs have been bought directly from them, but just about everything else I've bought I've bought with some type of used discount attached. BTW I only buy MP3's when there is no other alternative in getting the product; most of the music I have on my MP3 player I've copied from CD from my computer.

[Dan]

Man people attacking Brent, he is just being honest and practical.

For me Petra ended at No Doubt, I really like this album. I followed Petra until Jekyll & Hyde which was a silver lining after years of bad lineups and music.
I think if there was a reunion of members of the band from any of the linups from 1986 until 1995 I would be excited. IIguys was cool, but the Petra reunion now is pretty much IIguys because people are only are there to see John and Bob.

Here is the fix:

key ingredients:
Ronny, John L, Louie
or
Mark, John L, Louie
or even
Ronny, Cooper,Louie

at the end of the day it's not Petra without LOUIE

[Dan]

What can we do as fans to get these guys back together other than pray?

[executioner]

What can we do as fans to get these guys back together other than pray?

True and a lot of it!!!