The Petra Zone

I think Petra began it's down fall when the On Fire to Wake-Up Call line-up began to split. Petra would have kicked if it was still:

Bob Hartman
John Shclitt
John Lawry
Ronny Cates
Louie Weaver

This by far was the Petra and will always be in my heart. I started with this line-up and when I think of Petra I automatically think of these guys on stage together.

James
petraband.ca

petrabandca wrote:I think Petra began it's down fall when the On Fire to Wake-Up Call line-up began to split. Petra would have kicked if it was still:

Bob Hartman
John Shclitt
John Lawry
Ronny Cates
Louie Weaver

This by far was the Petra and will always be in my heart. I started with this line-up and when I think of Petra I automatically think of these guys on stage together.

James
petraband.ca

I think they might have done better with John Schlitt though myself.

I agree that this was a great lineup. However, I think their downfall had less to do with personnel changes and more to do with the chaotic way they tried to follow the market. If they had started a gradual transition from the Beyond Belief sound toward the Jekyll & Hyde sound, they may have been down for a short time but could have come back up and began to develop a new loyal audience. With all of the rapid drastic changes in sound, developing a new audience was impossible.

When Jekyll and Hyde (the single) was first put out for our review, I remember feeling that this was the sound they should have come out with three or four years earlier. It was kind of Nickelbackish with John Schlitt doing the vocals. Had they done this sooner they may have had a shot at developing a new audience before it was too late. Nickelback, in addition to connecting with the younger generation, also brought a sigh of relief from classic rock fans that finally had a new band they could relate to. Kind of what Petra needed to do wasn't it? I still get people liking the sound of J&H after hearing if for the first time.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda......but God is sovereign and has His own agenda.

Although in general I agree with the comments concerning the attempts to follow the music market, I don't think the personell changes helped either. Plus after Bob left John's attention was split between managing the band, concerts, and his own solo efforts.

Another thing I think that was big and no one seems to mention it much, was lack of airplay. If you look at their last 5 or so records there is not a single #1 (or top ten) song listed in there. Can't get a new audience if your not in the public eye.

But who knows. The market is very fickle and sometimes it does not take people very long to lose interest.

I think the airplay thing wouldn't have been a problem if it was still that lineup. Those were the best sounding records, not just becasue of Bob's writing, but because each of those members had a very unique sound that made the Petra that I came to know first. Plus, without John and Dino to produce the records, neither Revival or J&H had that polished & layered sound needed for airplay.

petrabandca wrote:I think Petra began it's down fall when the On Fire to Wake-Up Call line-up began to split. Petra would have kicked if it was still:

Bob Hartman
John Schlitt
John Lawry
Ronny Cates
Louie Weaver

This by far was the Petra and will always be in my heart. I started with this line-up and when I think of Petra I automatically think of these guys on stage together.

Every band that's been around for awhile has a "classic" line-up. For example, Black Sabbath's classic line-up (to most fans) will always be Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward...no matter how good Ronnie James Dio was. KISS' would be (for most fans)...Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley...no matter how capable Eric Carr or Bruce Kulick were.

Very few bands keep the same line-up all their career...you could count the number of those bands on one hand.

Yes, two of my favorite albums are ON FIRE! and BEYOND BELIEF (with the above-mentioned classic line-up). But two of my other favorites are GOD FIXATION and REVIVAL...with the mainstays being John, Louie, and Bob only (okay, Bob was "behind the scenes" with GOD FIXATION).

The point I'm trying to make is, others musicians helped in their own ways to further Petra's career. For example, Pete Orta's guitar work on GOD FIXATION is some of the most underrated in the band's history.

You all make valid points. I enjoyed all the members that have come and gone with the band. I had the opportunity to meet the whole line-up from God Fixations and on the farewell tour.

It was Beyond Belief and the song was I am on the Rock. I heard it one day at a Christian trailer park I spent my summers at when I was younger. My friend Mike had it playing and it was increadable! I had tapes of Def Leppard and Bon Jovi sitting at my trailer and what was this Petra? From that moment on I was Mr. Petra in that camp and the love hasn't stopped.

I just always take a moment and wonder what if. Like what if John Lennon had lived or Jimmy Hendrix. If the Beatles had stayed together or any number of artists that died too young in our eyes. I know that the Beyond Belief line-up is pretty small compared to some of the names I just dropped, but you get what I mean.

Petra rocks and I can't believe how they've been treated by the industry, the "Christian" industry. I remember reading an HM interview with John Schlitt and he was basically getting told to put the name Petra to sleep and try again. I couldn't believe it and where does this attitude come from when it is the word of God we are talking about.

Sometimes I think that the industry is too much into the world and continues to forget what it is all about. Sometimes I find myself turning my back on it because I have a hard time respecting it and giving my time up to these "Christian" bands. Petra and others in my collection I continue to go back to when I need it. there are certain bands that I'm beginning to like such as P.O.D., Pillar and others.

Still Petra will be the band the Beyond Belief line-up will be the BEST.

What if Charley Patton could've sang Born on the Bayou? Man, that would've kicked.

I'm a big Louie Weaver fan, and still quite disappointed at his dismissal, but if I'm being honest, in my humble, ignorant opinion, the stuff Paul Simmons was doing on Farewell drummed circles around what Louie did on a lot of the original tracks.

Louie did not have much involvement (if any at all) on most Petra albums. Paul Simmons did not have any on Jeckyl & Hyde. Peter Furler of the newsboys played the drums on that.

That being said, yes paul is a good drummer.

So you're saying that studio musicians did most of the drum tracks on the albums? I didn't know that.

During the greg x. volz era Petra's producer JDB did not allow louie to do any of the studio tracks cause he preferred session players for drums. For all intents and purposes he was pretty much a stage player.

I don't know much about the Schlitt / Elefante era but from what I understand the Elefante brothers were pretty particular about drums. I dunno if they allowed louie to play but I do know they liked to replace the drum sounds with samples. Or whatever the studio terminology back then was.

I think though he did get pretty involved with revival.

As stated above Peter Furler did drums on Jeckyl & Hyde which is when Petra fired Louie and picked up Paul.

greenchili wrote:As stated above Peter Furler did drums on Jeckyl & Hyde which is when Petra fired Louie and picked up Paul.

You mean when John fired Louie.

I knew that Louie wasn't on the J&H album. I wonder what the deal was on the albums before Louie.

drcoolguy wrote:

greenchili wrote:As stated above Peter Furler did drums on Jeckyl & Hyde which is when Petra fired Louie and picked up Paul.

You mean when John fired Louie.

I knew that Louie wasn't on the J&H album. I wonder what the deal was on the albums before Louie.

John was the one who fired, but you have to also remember that Bob approved of this action totally, so there had to be something very wrong for this action to be taken.

Oh, no, not the "why did Louie get fired" discussion again. I guess some things just never go away.