Petra: Love 'em or boo 'em, is there no in-between?

[LexingtonPethead]

All right. In my quest to share the good fortune of Petra's new project JAH, I have come across a mine field of negativity.

I don't know about the rest of you, but my community of peers either loves Petra or wouldn't walk across the street to see them play.

And did I mention the bad vibes are all coming from people who DO LISTEN to Christian music?

My kids are teenagers, and I have not found ANYONE in their social groups who will at least give JAH an objective listen. I realize this should be expected. But there are a lot of adult rockers (30 years +) out there I've talked to who have given me equally as cold responses.

Now, I have had some positive feedback from people who USED TO listen to Petra. Usually the response is, " Petra? Are they still together? I'll have to get the CD." But I have yet to find ANYONE in addition to myself who has actually purchased JAH or knew it existed.

Furthermore, after having been released for just a few weeks, JAH disappeared from the charts.

I am fed up with the lack of information out there. I am equally fed up with people having the wrong idea of who Petra is (thanks to Revival, Double Take and Petra Praise II, for the most part). Petra is my FAVORITE band - PERIOD. I want to see these guys get back in the mainstream fast.

Inpop needs to get their act together and PUBLICIZE. And it wouldn't hurt to improve Petra's image a little. Some will disagree with me on this, but John needs to go on a diet and Bob should lose some gray. Those undertones send off the message that Petra is OLD and DATED. Petra has a fresh new rocker CD, and people need to be enticed to listen to it. It's like starting over, sort of.

[SamScales]

Well, there are some opinons floating around why PETRA's not doing as well as we would like to see them do.....but regardless, God's in control.

I've been talking to some stores and they've told me that JAH's been selling very well and some stores have JAH on their top 10 list.

But also I have run into lots of people who either don't know about the new album, or even say 'Petra, they are still together?'. Yes, and the young people don't know much about this band, they've never heard of them (partly because they don't get the radio play that they need to, all you ever hear on the radio lately is the same artists with the same songs. Eventually that sticks in your head, that's what people go buy).
Funny thing is, when the young people do go to a PETRA gig, they walk out of there saying, "wow, those guys are awesome".......
My kids have always known about PETRA, but that's because they've been introduced to them and to this day this band is one of their favorites and they tell their friends. You are right, in their age group not many know about PETRA.

We just gotta remember, that whatever happens that the Lord is always in control of things and what's going on with PETRA maybe just part of His plan, or a trial, a lesson to learn, get closer to the Lord.....who knows.
We just gotta keep praying for our brothers in Christ, that they will always know the will of God and follow it.

If PETRA will be back in the mainstream that remains to be seen, but we definitly can ask the Lord.....

[BillDD]

Of course it's never crossed your mind that the reason people don't like petra is because of the music? Say what you will about J and H, but it STILL sounds like hair metal because of the singing, and people want nothing to do with that. They could lose weight, get new hair pieces, but that won't change the music. For music fans it's hard to stomach a so called band that uses studio players for most of their music, they want music made by actual bands, not by a producer and his band.

It just amazes me just how far from reality alot of petheads are, "It's sold 100,000 copies!!!", "Every store I have been to says it's a best seller!!", "I'm sure by jan. it will have sold 500,000 copes!!". Come on guys, wake up and smell the bomb, there's a reason they are no longer on the sales charts after only a few weeks, and a reason why inpop isn't giving out numbers.

[Michael]

JAH was on the SOundscan charts for two months. If you ask me, that's pretty stellar for a CD that's getting next to no exposure on the radio.

[Shell]

Well, it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to be a Petra fan. I think at least part of the problem, as Lexington and some people have pointed out, is they don't get enough support from radio. But I think a lot of it is the enemy is just doing everything he can to keep the message from getting out. He's afraid people might be changed by the Bible based lyrics.

[LexingtonPethead]

Of course it's never crossed your mind that the reason people don't like petra is because of the music?

Dude, you could not be more wrong. Have you actually LISTENED to JAH? Not even my teenage son who is into groups like Living Sacrifice would agree with you on this. If you think JAH bears resemblance to 80's Stryper, Holy Soldier, etc..., then you should probably go back for another listen.

Where are the wailing vocals and the loud in-your-face extended guitar rifs that big-hair 80's metal is known for? You don't hear them on JAH.

No sir, JAH is right in line with mainstream modern rock. Unfortunately, there are too many people out there with your mistaken pre-conceived idea for what Petra is.

Because some of these people work for radio stations and ultimately decide what goes onto their playlists, by dissing JAH with ignorance, they are keeping the masses uninformed. Not nearly enough poeple even know they have a current CD much less what they sound like nowadays.

[Shell]

Lexington, I'll warn you, don't waste your time with this person.

[pethead]

J & H ROCKS!

HARD!

PERIOD!

This is my fav Petra album to date, and I have been listening to them since "Not Of This World".

I am a Youth Pastor and I have let the youth listen to J & H. They absolutely LOVE IT! Petra is right on with this album!

[LexingtonPethead]

Shell, is this the same person who was posting anonymously a few weeks back?

[Shell]

Believe so. And probably under several different names too.

[micah]

BillDD -- that type of post is not welcome here. You can like or dislike Petra's music, but to come to the Petra zone for the sole purpose of making inflamatory comments is not permitted. Consider this your warning -- one more such post and your account will be disabled.

Thank you for understanding.

[Petrapraise]

J & H rocks hard. It their best CD in years. I'm still listening to it on a daily basis. I will agree with BillDD that the CD has a slight 80's hair band sound. I have heard that comment from unbaised people I have let listen to my CD. It still has catchy songs that you can find yourself humming thru the day. Maybe the Grammy nominee and hopeful win will get it more recognition and sales. Even my 6 year old daughter asks to hear J & H everytime we get into the car, so I think people will still listen to PETRA if we let them hear it; its just hard getting the local stations to play it. Fact is, most radio stations are CCM so they dont play hard rock music. Is it at 100,000 copies, who knows? Lord willing it will pass that.
By the way, the cd was made by the actual band, I dont think thats keeping them from buying the CD. It that not enough people have got HEAR just how awesome it is!

[separateunion]

For all of you who are sick of the lack of information available in the Christian music world, please check out this link:

viewtopic.php?t=337

[spottacus]

Fans are created by exposure and excitement. I bought myself a copy of J&H, and I've bought and given away four additional copies. I've also brought about ten people to their first ever concerts in the last two years.

Get busy.