The Petra Zone

I guess 99 % of you will say that Bob Hartman was/is Petra's best guitar player but I might be wrong. At least that's my oppinion. But who was the second best?

It's hard to find the answer to that question, since I really don't know who played what on the records after Bob left the road. E.g. I don't know if I've heard Pete Orta on a record or not. My comments on some of the guitar players of Petra I know a little (sometimes very little) about are as follows:

David Lichens:
In my oppionion the second best. I heard him during the No Doubt tour and I thought he was great. His sounds were a bit more "vintage" and not as "spacy" or "keybord-like" as Bob's were at times. They did some nice rearrangements of some of the old songs which made quite a lot of sence. Lichens sound was refrehing, modern and yet more "classic" than Bob's. I remember him using Fender stratocaster and Epiphone/Gibson Les Paul and not as modern "plasticlike" guitars as Bob. In my oppinion he has been very underrated, perhaps one of the most underrated members of Petra.

From what I've read about him I get the impression that he wanted to change Petra's sound and I've also heard he was opposed to the idea of another worship album. If Petra had followed this path we might have avoided the "double take" and other records that a lot of the fans didn't care too much for.

I know things didn't work out too well between him and the other guys in the band but that's got nothing to do with his musical talents. He's done some quite good stuff after he left.

Quinton Gibson:
Never heard him playing with Petra but I've heard him live at a Whitecross concert. He did not impress me much. You've got to be fair. Rex Carrol is an outstanding talent (though much of it sounds almost exactly the same). So Quinton had big shoes to fill but he came nowhere near. I'm not too impressed by the records he did with Whitecross either.

Pete Orta:
Never heard much of it. Not too impressed by what I've heard.

Am i being too negative or biased here? Let's have some comments on this.

Pete Orta, is a good player, just different. see the video Petra @ alive 2000.

I agree about lichens playing. He complimented the band and played what needed to be played. As a guitar player this has been a pet peave of mine with petra guitar players. Pete and kevin never even tried to play the songs right . Davebmight have had his personal and spiritual problems but he could play.

There are different types of guitar players true. Pete is sloppy. That's not bad in itself. Playing in petra it is bad.

When I played with john I tried to keep to the source material. I did branch out a little but it all made sense and didn't distract from the song.

and that rocked Enosh, I would love to here more of your Petra guitar solos etc.

Daniel.

I've watched that video before. Petes all over but not in a good way.

Thanks daniel.

Music is all interpretive. I don't think pete sucks. Like I said just probably not the best for the petra songs we all love. Ill see if I can dig up some old andband videos.

Yeah he does spend a lot of time with his tongue out,,, did he play guitar with his tongue in this video or was that Slash in a GNR vid.. I can't remember??

I agree with you Enosh: "Petes all over but not in a good way." He is trying to do too much at a time and in one song. Sometimes a bit bluesy, at other times he's trying to be more of a hardrocker, but it's all a bit cofusing. His behavior on stage has got nothing to do with the sound, but it looks a bit funny anyway.

I stopped listening to Petra when Lichens was fired. Of course I didn't stop listening because of the fact that he was not a part of the band any longer. I just didn't get it any longer. Didn't like too much of it. To repeat myself: It is my impression that David had a quite good idea about the musical direction Petra needed to go in. When listening to the 1997 - 2000 lineup I always ask myself: "why weren't they able to see it - or hear it." But of course this is a subjective matter. I'm perfectly aware of that.

That was an Elefante idea to go all pop/rock.

I've been one of the few that has seen every tour Petra has ever done since Never Say Die, and yes Bob by far is the best that Petra has ever had, but Quinten Gibson is clearly second here. Gibson was real tight with his play and his amp and guitar sound was always right where it needed to be in tone with John's voice.
I didnt like Lichens at all; You could tell by his attitude on stage he didnt want to be there, and his play was just out of sync with the style.
Pete Orta was good to a point but like most before me he just seem to be sloppy with his play; I would rate Kevin Brandow as a better player then Pete and would put him in a distant 3rd.

I saw Petra back in the late 90's during the God Fixation period and saw Pete and Kevin play.
Pete was good, but all over the stage and Kevin had a cool classic style to him.

Tammy Trent and Guardian open up for them and Kevin filled in for Tony Palacios who had to rush back to Nashville.
He learned the entire Guardian set that day and played the show...that makes for a great guitarist.

Kevin always stood out from that point on and I wish he had stayed with the band.
Kevin, Pete and Lonnie brought a lot of young blood to the stage, but had Kevin stuck around long enough to play with Greg Bailey and Paul Simmons I think it would have been cool to see.

Quinton Gibson was here in Puerto Rico in the Revival Tour (2002). He played very well... specially the Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows solo... I think that after Bob, he is the best guitarist in the long Petra history..

I never got see gibson with petra.

Enosh, you didn't miss much. I loved Quentin. He wasn't that great of a player though. Incredible guitarist. I just didn't like him that much. I was amazed at his solos. He was kind of rude in person. I'm not sure his solos were ALL THAT. He was a great person to me, very cordial and nice, down to earth. I just wish he was a good guitarist. His hair was Petra-worthy. For a while when I listened, I could have sworn it was Bob up there, the playing was so spot on. Afterwards when we met the band, he was kind of aloof from everyone. Really cool guy. Great player. Enosh, you missed out, buddy.

You've got a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on there, Jonathan.

You go between liking him as a person then saying he's aloof and saying he wasn't that great a guitar player and then saying he is.

Sometimes I feel like Jekyll and Hyde
Two Men are fighting a war inside
One gives, one takes, I have to decide
Sometimes I feel like... Jekyll and Hyde