Not bashing Petra, just an honest question.

[shawnpfan2010]

With everything that has gone on since the Farewell tour, II Guys, John Schlitt Petra coming back with a different drummer, Classic Petra trying to get off the ground, has Petra tarnished there legacy?

After the Farewell tour, do you think Bob should have said, thats it no more Petra of any kind and left it at that?

I love Petra just as much, if not more than some of you, but it is starting to get a little silly seeing everything that has gone on since the band "retired". I just hope they don't ruin the legacy that they have built.

[Dan]

I think the II guys album was killing the legacy being that it was Hillsong (crooks) music to make a buck. As far as iiguys in concert goes I would be more likely want to see them in concert then say Farewell lineup, cause of the intimate setting. (not romantic)

The Classic lineup doesn't kill Petra's legacy, but they need to come clean on plan that John S. will do "selected shows" cause if that's just sales pitch it sucks. Cause we know John draws a crowd.

[brent]

The guys need to eat and pay bills. They are all too old to be a commercially viable "new" artist. They had to keep using the Petra tie in. On the flip side, using the Petra tie in gets old and in some cases still might throw up a wall. In other cases, it doesn't matter to those who have never heard of the band.

Personally, I think that they should have quit when Bob left, had a big farwell then, when everyone was closer to prime. Then the Louie thing would have likely never occured, then the various non-Petra (that WE like) records would not have been released, etc. If they would have stayed out of site for 10 years, THEN come back with something harder and big budget, similar to J&H, things would have been better. Petra would have retained their hard rock image, re-collected more fans (IMO), and would not have chased off so many.

Pick any big band...Metallica for example. They have the great albums (if you like that band) BEFORE the sell out. They have the cover records, the rehash records, etc. All of that is crap. They should have quit, because they lost some fans. Every band will transition and lose people, like Rush did when they went to keyboard crap. They were quick to redirect and reclaim fans. Petra has not.

Add to this mess the fact that Christians are not long term music buyers. Mst quit buying music in their mid-20s. So, it is a hyper niche market with a short memory/loyalty span.

[Dan]

Interesting fact, a lot do quit buying music after 25+ it's like after that age you get stuck in your music tastes. when Beyond Belief came out I loved it instantly... everyone in the Church was raving about it. When God Fixation came out it was hard to accept, has grown on me now though.

A major factor for Petra in the late 80's & 90's when I was livin' in Australia (same as other countries no doubt) was there was no Internet or an another way to hear a sample of the next Petra album, when Unseen power came out I saw it on the shelf at the Christian bookstore, that the only way I knew it existed. So you buy it based on the previous album without listening to it. An album release would also be the only way to know who is in the band too!!

[Dan]

ha! that is so true.

[CatNamedManny]

I think, once again, Brent is right about when Petra's members tarnished the band's legacy. It was when they put out an album with zero original members in 1995, then changed out two or three of them for seemingly every album after that, disrupted their musical style and fired the most popular member of the band over the next seven years.

It's interesting that after every album sold less and less, there's a quote to be found from either Bob or John saying, "We're in a little bit of a valley, but we're going to come back out of it." Petra was kind of like the Hall of Fame athlete with a .200 batting average. He's the only player in the game who doesn't know it's time to retire. Sad but true.

That said, now that "retirement" has come, it's hard to see how reunions and one-off albums can hurt the band's legacy. Its more material for the die-hard fans, and it, however briefly, puts the band's name in front of new potential fans. Did Megadeth hurt its legacy by returning from a breakup and putting out really heavy music for the first time in more than a decade ... or did it hurt its legacy by putting out Risk back in 1998?

And I really fail to see how the II Guys album hurts Petra's legacy. It's arguably the best sounding Petra-affiliated album (other than Jekyll and Hyde) in the last 10-15 years, but that's just my own opinion.

...

Interesting topic, this phenomenon of Christian music buyers no longer buying music after age 25. I bought Christian music like mad through high school and college, and still do purchase the CDs of my favorite active bands. As a result, I have full collections of bands like Petra, Whiteheart, Rez, Bride, Project 86, Demon Hunter, etc. But now I'm 28, and I don't buy anything speculative anymore; I rarely buy an album from a band I've only heard a couple songs from. I pretty much reserve my money for whenever the next DH/P86/Disciple CD comes out. For me, it's because I've got two kids, I'm the sole earner in my home, and if I'm going to drop $10-15 on something, it's more likely going to be a package of diapers or a book on the "terrible twos." I'm not sure if that's representative or not, but there it is.

[gman]

Yeah, I think the money thing factors in to a point. I'd buy more if I could afford to. Most new music these days is either a gift, a single song from Itunes, or getting the CD dirt cheap on Ebay.

GMan

[Preacherman777]

Well, I'm 41 and I still buy stuff if it's what I like. Problem is, there just is not much in the Christian market these days that I like. I bought Newsboys albums, but now that Peter's gone I don't think that will happen anymore. I still buy Casting Crowns. I've purchased every rock related thing that Petra, John or Greg have put out, but I didn't buy John's last one, cuz let's face it, it was music for old people and I ain't ready to be old yet. Same deal with Greg, several of his indi albums were sleepers so I didn't bother with them. I expect the new Petra album/albums to be some good rock. They said it will have an edge, so I'm counting on it. It will be especially interesting to see what they come up with for the two or three new songs.

I have a very large collection of Christian classic rock and metal and that includes every album put out by several bands including Rez, White Heart, Whitecross, Stryper and many others. The trouble isn't that I quit buying music, the trouble is that music changed and I didn't have much to buy anymore.

[Dan]

I wouldn't say all of the songs on the Grafting were sleepers, gravity was cool. Agree the the Greg albums were sleepers apart from the River is Rising.

[Preacherman777]

Well, personally, I was talking about most of his indi albums. His solo albums that were released on a label were all good IMO, though the first two were the best and had the most rock on them. He did a few decent tunes on his last couple of indi albums, which were a little more rock oriented, but that's about it.

[no_1_other]

IMO, Petra took a sizeable hit when Louie was cut lose. I'm sure that it caused the band to lose some of its fanbase, but not bad enough that it's ruined the group. Has it's legacy been tarnished? I'm not sure..maybe. Like others, I have a "varied" collection of music, ranging from Petra all the way up to Nickelback. There's no doubt that with some groups like KISS, their legacies have been tarnished and sometimes it's better if a group just packs it in and rides off into the sunset. Should Petra? No way! I've been a fan and listened to their music for as long as I can remember (I'm 38)! Whether it's been Greg or John fronting the band, Louie or Paul drumming, Mark..John, it really doesn't matter to me. I'll take the band any way that I can get 'em! Anytime I listen to their music, it always seems to have a calming affect on me. God Bless them all!!

[Preacherman777]

I'll take the band any way that I can get 'em!

AMEN! I wish more people had that attitude.

[Jonathan]

ranging from Petra all the way down to Nickelback.

Fixed that for you...

I'll take the band any way that I can get 'em!

...but I'm with you on this one.

[no_1_other]

ranging from Petra all the way down to Nickelback.

Fixed that for you...

I stand corrected, thank you sir!
I'm just hoping that Petra "might" make it out this way to OKC. Doubt it, but remainging hopefull.

[shawnpfan2010]

Forget OKC, i'm hoping they come to Tulsa.