Back To The Rock IS OUT NOW!!!!

[onyx]

The songs are fantastic. I'm especially loving Too Big to Fail and the new versions of Angel of Light and Adonai. Musically Godpleaser was never one of my favs, but I like it way better here. Back to the Rock is very catchy and now that I've listened to it a few times I think what I most appreciate about it is the fact they're not afraid to sing the actual name of Jesus. SOOO refreshing.

Also, I think it was very wise of them to include such a great mix of mellowish songs with the heavier stuff. One thing about Classic Petra is that they always understood that Christian radio doesn't exactly glory in hard rock music so a well rounded blend of tunes is going to lead to the largest number of people hearing their stuff. I think BTTR is going to be loved by the "old" fans and non-prejudiced John era fans, and it's also going to position them well to gain new fans who either don't know them with Greg or haven't heard of them in the first place. As hard as it is to believe there are tons of Christian music listeners who've never heard of Petra. Hopefully that's going to change soon.

[BriGuyPEI]

Let me preface this by saying that I have not heard the GXV version of the song, nor have I yet listened to the Classic Petra version.

When bands reunite after a long period and do an album, it's not uncommon to use some solo songs from that period. Examples:
- When PFR had their reunion album, they recorded a Joel Hanson solo song "Missing Love" almost exactly the same, except for adding a bridge.
- When Sammy joined Van Halen, they'd play I Can't Drive 55 at their shows.
- When Bachman and Cummings re-joined The Guess Who, they played a few BTO songs in their concerts.
- The Coloring Song and Praise Ye The Lord are both songs from GXV's previous band.

In short, this is not abnormal. In fact, I was expecting that the two new songs would be one written by Bob and the other by Greg. I just didn't know that it would be a previously released one, but it doesn't matter. Heck, that solo album probably hasn't sold that many copies, so most people wouldn't even know the difference.

[Dan]

Yeah sorry your right it is split equally, but still at least they have the company in their own hands.

This is public records:

http://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/Common/F ... =000634605

000634605: Limited Liability Company - Domestic

Name: Classic Petra, LLC 5 members

[p-freak]

I communicated with dPulse, who are actually assisting with social media, on-line promotion and digital distribution (!!). They were actually unaware of the fact that BTTR had already been made available through classicpetramerch.com. They were preparing for a November 16th digital release through dPulse. Management and the band were still testing the on-line shop and they put it live for some reason. Now they're looking into all the issues we've raised here (security, forms not working, etc.).

They also commented on the inclusion of The Rock. It was a decision by the entire band to include this song, because the message of the song fits with the overall idea of BTTR. Maybe at the zone we're sort of blaming everything we don't like on Greg getting his on way, because we sort of believe that Greg is the driving force for classic Petra. But it wouldn't work if the others weren't fully committed. So maybe Greg made the calls, but the rest of the process has been a full band thing. Everyone has been involved in all the decisions (as we can tell from Classic Petra LLC being owned by all five guys).

[petrabandca]

If I were trying to sell my own music and didn't have a label I'd be starting with iTunes...it takes money to make money!
Followed by a YouTube channel, Facebook page, MySpace page, Twitter account and a properly designed website...sorry but Flash is DEAD!

We can argue about promotion and sales until the cows come home... Obviously these guys are doing this for the fans and I am going to be one of the first to say thanks.

iTunes is good. Twitter is obnoxious, but does get the job done.... Myspace is a malware infested waiste land that I wouldn't go near with a 10 foot pole... Flash is not dead, even though Steve Jobs says it is. It may not be the most current, but it does have a lot of nice features. The problem with classicpetra.com is not Flash, it's lack of vision. These guys have never really had a good web site, so I don't really expect anything different.

Ultimately, these guys are in charge of this and if they don't promote it the right way, it's on them. Previously, Petra had label problems... Now, it's all indie and it's all theirs.

All networking sites are obnoxious, but they work and that is the way things are progressing. Sorry, Flash isn't dead...yet! It is dying because too much crap is being produced by software that writes it's own code and there is nothing better than good old HTML, CSS, etc. Their last site was the one I considered the better of all of them, but you're right...lack of vision. I'm glad their doing it all themselves...just why does it have to appear so homemade!

[petrabandca]

If given the choice between purchasing from Itunes or the artist I'll choose the artist 10 out of 10 times.

Really, why's that?

Because I find Itunes to be extremely buggy, and I still hold the previous DRM against them. Also, I hear the cut is closer to 60%.

Buggy, like what? I wasn't aware that it was up around 60%. Still, money in money out when it comes to an investment and they need volume!

[petrabandca]

I don't think I ever will buy mp3s through iTunes. The install file of iTunes is 80MB big! That is simply ridiculous to be able to buy mp3s.

Really? I don't consider that too large considering what iTunes allows you to do. Store and play music, video, images and you can tap into radio stations all over with play lists you'd never hear without it. It's a great tool, but if space is a concern then that's cool!

[petrabandca]

Look people. If you don't like the old version and the old tunes, don't buy it. This is what it is. This is not meant to appeal to the fans of the Schlitt years. This is for the GXV years.

Who cares who owns it? This is Greg's baby. He came up with the idea, made the calls, secured the management, got some gigs, did the research. LLCs do not have to have more than own party. I have an LLC. It is no big deal and it is no indicator as to whom is taking the risk. They all are. If they all own it equally, great. If Greg owns it, great. It has no bearing on the music.

If you have a chance to buy it, buy it direct. iTunes is a rip off for the artist. Not only must you pay iTunes, but the handler that gets you into iTunes. iTunes is not even available in all countries. When the money goes direct, they net more. Buying direct puts more in their pockets.

Yes, buying direct is the best choice providing that the artist provides a secure shopping outlet. Still, website problems, downtime, little volume and exposure, lack of professionalism is worse and if not more costly than investing in an outlet like iTunes. It doesn't have to be iTunes, but it should be something as secure and widely available...sure it's not in many countries and that is where advertising and promotions come in to play. You have more experience than I will ever have on this topic, but I make a living by helping people grow their business through proper branding. It just sucks to see my band, no matter what version of Petra it is not get what they deserve.

It's always been and always will be about marketing. Half the crap on radio is only popular because we're hypnotized by it through marketing and branding...why can't these guy's have a piece of that! Play it enough, create enough awareness and it will sell!!!

[petrabandca]

Indieheaven is the way to go for all of that.

ITunes and all of the other legit services are not what get you sales. You still have the age old problem of exposure. I would rather direct people to my own site then a store where customers can get sidetracked. There is no way to market on iTunes. People have to know who you are and that they want to buy your crap before they get there. When someone figures out how to undo the last 60 years of business, where it takes little to no effort to get people's attention, indies will have a chance. Until then, they will fight the same fight. It costs losts of money. Your only concern is spending more than the next band to get more exposure.

I think there is exposure with these services. iTunes and Amazon suggests similar music when you make a purchase, Genius in iTunes links you with similar music based on your play list and again the volume that these two companies get is sick. You're right and I think the labels suck...everyone should take the indie approach providing it's done creatively and professionally. Nothing bothers me more than someone trying to sell me something with little to no effort on their product. Why not be better than your competition...success always comes when preparation meets opportunity (Henry Hartman).

[rexreed]

Buggy, like what? I wasn't aware that it was up around 60%. Still, money in money out when it comes to an investment and they need volume!

Buggy like constantly asking me to unlock a song purchased years ago. Buggy as in really bad burning software. Annoying as in what is the need for aac files? The cost per track is too high and I don't subscribe to the idea that Apple is the greatest innovative company on Earth. Annoying in the way it tries to manage all of my video and audio files. I don't need help organizing my files, but Itunes is so persistent, it actually gets in the way. Finally I absolutely avoid quicktime at all costs, and Itunes will install it every chance it gets. That's why I am not fond of Itunes. I will buy from Itunes rather than steal the music though. Plus most small releases don't make squat from Itunes anyway.

[rexreed]

They updated the Classic Petra website to include the new releases at the startup page, yay!

[bakersfieldpethead]

Buggy like constantly asking me to unlock a song purchased years ago. Buggy as in really bad burning software. Annoying as in what is the need for aac files? The cost per track is too high and I don't subscribe to the idea that Apple is the greatest innovative company on Earth. Annoying in the way it tries to manage all of my video and audio files. I don't need help organizing my files, but Itunes is so persistent, it actually gets in the way. Finally I absolutely avoid quicktime at all costs, and Itunes will install it every chance it gets. That's why I am not fond of Itunes.

I agree with you on itunes+quicktime, Apple has become rather annoying. Plus there are other places to sell your music; Amazon is a good way to sell it, they may make a % on it but the mp3 is already unlocked when you get it.

I prefer to buy a CD then I do an mp3 because I still like getting quality and I love packaging; to me it says something about the artist and the album when you can read the credits look at how much they put into the look of it as much as they did with the sound of it.

[sickasadog]

Buggy, like what? I wasn't aware that it was up around 60%. Still, money in money out when it comes to an investment and they need volume!

Buggy like constantly asking me to unlock a song purchased years ago. Buggy as in really bad burning software. Annoying as in what is the need for aac files? The cost per track is too high and I don't subscribe to the idea that Apple is the greatest innovative company on Earth. Annoying in the way it tries to manage all of my video and audio files. I don't need help organizing my files, but Itunes is so persistent, it actually gets in the way. Finally I absolutely avoid quicktime at all costs, and Itunes will install it every chance it gets. That's why I am not fond of Itunes. I will buy from Itunes rather than steal the music though. Plus most small releases don't make squat from Itunes anyway.

I have iTunes and have experienced several of the issues you've mentioned. In addition, Apple designed it to work less-well if you don't use Apple products. When I hear of the things that people with iPods go through, I'm really happy to pay 2/3 of the price for an easily-expanded, fully-functional media player that doesn't play favourites between Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.

Don't get me wrong, Apple makes some great products, but they are too often treated with kid gloves when it comes to criticism. They promote every new Apple product as if they invented it, and people believe it because they spend so much on advertising:

According to its 10-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple, Inc. spent over $501 million on advertising in fiscal year 2009. This was an increase of $15 million from fiscal year 2008.

References:
Fortune Magazine: "Apple's 2009 Ad Budget: Half a Billion"

Also, many people like the idea of buying from the little guy, because they remember when Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. In terms of market capitalization, Apple is the third-largest publicly-traded corporation in the world, behind Exxon Mobil and PetroChina. Microsoft, still massive, sits in 6th as of September 10th, 2010: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... talization

Oh, yes... and I'm loving the sound of the new album, but I'm going to wait for a hard copy.

[zak89]

As someone who hasn't listened to much GXV solo work I can tell you that I didn't notice anything amiss about the "title" track (which does throw in the word "back" every once and a while). As a big Pethead, it's a bit of a let down to find it wasn't written by Bob, but like others have mentioned, Greg was a fairly prolific (and decent) songwriter himself, and most of the albums with him had a song or two written by him. So I'm not really concerned about it - and at Classic Petra's target audience (presumably older, former Petra/CCM fans that never followed Petra much after Greg left), I don't think most will even notice, let alone be concerned by it.

"Too Big" totally rocks!

[petrabandca]

Buggy, like what? I wasn't aware that it was up around 60%. Still, money in money out when it comes to an investment and they need volume!

Buggy like constantly asking me to unlock a song purchased years ago. Buggy as in really bad burning software. Annoying as in what is the need for aac files? The cost per track is too high and I don't subscribe to the idea that Apple is the greatest innovative company on Earth. Annoying in the way it tries to manage all of my video and audio files. I don't need help organizing my files, but Itunes is so persistent, it actually gets in the way. Finally I absolutely avoid quicktime at all costs, and Itunes will install it every chance it gets. That's why I am not fond of Itunes. I will buy from Itunes rather than steal the music though. Plus most small releases don't make squat from Itunes anyway.

Though these haven't been issues for me personally, I can understand why iTunes and Quicktime are not your first choice. I guess like everyone who has adopted and "followed" Apple in digital music players, smart phones and other areas Apple has done the same in file compression. After mp3's hit Apple and Quicktime said..."we can do that!" I don't blame them, it gives them some control on their products and gives us options. My entire Petra collection is now in AAC format...I guess Apple corrupted me early on