The Petra Zone

Welcome, Pat. I also joined the site late in the game; not even two years ago yet. It’s great to get on those periodic Petra kicks. I do that with lots of artists!

I think pop culture kind of pushes people into naming certain musicians as “great” or “genius” simply because it’s the cool thing to do. There are those who will acknowledge Kerry Livgren as an amazing guitarist and composer in private, and because they really like Dust in the Wind or Carry On Waywa...

Any fans of Beethoven, Mahler, Bach, etc out there?

Impossible to list my favourites, but here are some of the songs that have stayed with me for a long time. Some are deep, but most are just cool tunes. Makes Me Wanna Sing- Stryper More Than a Man - Stryper Island in the Sun - Harry Belafonte Abraham, Martin and John - Harry Belafonte Broken Promis...

Kansas
Yes
Genesis
Petra
2nd Chapter of Acts
Phil Keaggy
Resurrection Band
Daniel Amos
Vangelis
Tangerine Dream
Mike Oldfield
Camel
77s
ELP
Gentle Giant
Jean Michel Jarre
Glass Hammer
etc...

Yes to everything you said, brent. A lot of things I was thinking about, but didn’t take the time to write. Given the negative aspects of the industry, thank God for the few bright spots and great recorded moments that we do have from the world of CCM!

It’s not even a matter of bands not having the budget, it’s more of the fact that Christian music was ignored by the recording industry and radio. A lot of those mainstream bands had tons of recordings made by parties outside of the sphere of the band. So it would have been great if there had been t...

I love fall and winter. The cooler air is always something to look forward to. I love a nice cloudy fall day.

Yay!! Always looking forward to new releases. Good to have something to talk about. It’s been quiet here for a couple of weeks.

Interesting. Has a vintage psychedelic heavy rock vibe.

It almost sounds like a pick scraping quickly across guitar strings.

It’s not only Petra that struggled with identity during the mid-nineties, though. The entire CCM industry as we knew it was coming to an end. The heyday of big tours and of record labels putting money into artists wanting any kind of creative freedom was over.

It is, after all...the show that never ends.

John, it seems like I had heard somewhere but temporarily forgot that you were a part of New England Digital. I absolutely love the sound of the Synclavier. Can you believe those sounds can now be contained in your iPhone? Not exactly the same as the original unit I’m sure, but how far technology ha...

Retire? No. Never say die.