The Petra Zone

What I write here is in no way right or wrong just the opinion of a longtime Pethead; If you disagree I'm fine with it and actually wouldn't mine seeing your opinion or outlook on it.

Song by Song

1. Bema Seat- Great opening number; Everyone shines on this especially Louie. IMO this should have opened NOTW years ago. 9/10
2. Clean- Really like the vibe of this; The drums are real and have a live feel to them. Greg's voice seems a little strained here though. This song has always been a rocker and this version enhanced greatly. 8/10
3. Angel of Light- At first didn't like it as much as the original but it is starting to grow on me. The one drawback is it seems the guitar has lost its rawness that it needs. Greg's voice on the bridge is spot on and really shines, but falters throughout the rest of the song. 6/10
4.Rose Colored- What have they done? Really don't like anything about it; its lost its organic feel. The original was a true classic and maybe should have been left alone. 3/10
5.Godpleaser- Never liked this one, but I will have to say its alot better then the original. Mark and Louie and really insync and Bob's guitar is upfront. You can tell this is Greg's element. 6/10
6. Second Wind- Out of all the songs they picked this is my favorite original. I feel Bob's sound still needs to be brought to the front, but he has a quality that you can hear. Greg's voice is somewhat akward here, he doesn't seem to be into the song. 7/10
7. Grave Robber- This intro does nothing for the song and seems out of place; everything else about the song is really great and spot on. I still feel the original is better but this is better than the two live versions. 7/10
8. Let Everything that have Breath- I was hoping they would speed this up a little from the original, but I guess they didn't get my email. Too be honest just really nothing new here. 4/10
9. MPTY- This version is really strong and might be the best on the whole album. The strings and drums really make this song feel so alive. They did everything right on this one. 9/10
10. Adonai- This is also one they did a much better job on. Too me it feels live and raw. Key change was the only drawback, but understand why it was done. 9/10
11. BTTR- WHY? This is nothing what I was expecting, and this is nothing that says Petra anywhere. The lyrics are so elementary and sounds like something we would have sung in 3rd grade Sunday School. I found it hard to believe that all five members agreed on this one. 0/10
12. TBTF- You can tell Bob wrote this one; Love the intro and the guitar and drums are really enhanced here. Its a middle of the road rocker that is easy to sing along too. The ending is repetitive but has a nice sound that makes you want to hum. 7/10

My final thoughts on this is it's a great album for the Petheads. This is a great idea and will hopefully be getting more of the same in the future. It would be nice to do another two albums with Greg and then do the same with John. To me some of it still sounds dated though, and the two new offerings seem to take away from the feel. It was really great to finally hear Louie on these songs and he made the most of it. Mark and Johnnie really show they know what they are doing and Bob is well Bob. Greg had some strong points especially on Grave Robber, MPTY, Godpleaser, and Angel of Light, but overall lacked the muster to get it done on the rockers. He was not in his element at all on those and in some cases really doesn't seem to be wanting to sing them.
Overall I gave this a 6.25 and will be listening to it for a while and hope to go see some shows in the spring.

To save a new topic, here is my review after listening to the CD three times. The CD version is better than any download I've heard, so it is worth it to get the CD version and listen to that before making a real judgement. Once again, this is my opinion. Overall, I give this effort an "A". I really like most of the album. I also liked the 10 old, 2 new format on the album and hope they stick to that format in the future, although if they went 8 old, 4 new I wouldn't have a problem with that either. Here's my song by song breakdown of things that I liked and I also nit pick a little:

Bema Seat - better than the original. Love it in every way but I think I may like the guitar solo a little better in the original but not bad. It seemed in the original the guitar solo really exerted itself and stood out, in this version it is not as in your face.

Clean - similar but better than the original because I like the new version of the guitars and keys better. Great Song. This is a song a I can play for friends that no longer sounds old.

Angel of Light - nothing wrong here, very similar. Don't know if I like the change in the transition from the a Capella section to the drums as much as the older version nor the change in backup vocals on the drawn out "soouuul" but I've always loved this song and there's nothing here to change that.

Rose Colored - like the new beginning but the transition to the electric seems like it could have been a little better, like they tried to hold onto the soft intro for too long or fade too much into the electric instead of making a sharper cutoff before the electric started blazing. Otherwise, I think that this song is better now than the original as you can hear the guitars more or at least they sound more important to the song than before. I guess they always sounded too muted in the original in my opinion.

Godpleaser - always loved this song, especially the lyrics and the bridge where it seems like the whole point of the song is communicated. I also like the guitar solo. They've done nothing here except to make it more modern.

Second Wind - this is probably my favorite song of the whole original Greg X Volz era. This songs seems to suffer the most from the key change (down a step or two). It just seems to rob the "authority" of the sound of the original. The keys that are used in transition between the chorus and the next verse also seem out of place although the bridge seems to rock a little more. It just seems like the spent the least amount of time on this song getting it ready for the new sound and it suffers as a result. Ufortunately, one of my all time favs is the least favorite on this new album. Maybe it will grow on me over time

More Power to Ya - it's great bringing it up to date. Not sure they did a better job of doing that on any other song on the cd. Maybe Greg oversings the ending a little (as in singing the name again at the end) but for the most part it is great. I always thought that maybe if they accenuated the piano sound at the end of the verses better it would sound awesome, in a similar way they do on the chorus after singing "More Power to Ya" but I'm splitting hairs I suppose.

Let Everything that Hath Breath - I love this song, especially the instrument solos. It is very nice to have a newer version of this song and I like everything about this version better than the older one.

Grave Robber - love the new arrangement. I like the new version and the old one though equally.

Adonai - love the new version as well. I think it is superior compared to the older one in every way. Doesn't sound as dated and the guitars aren't too muted as it always seemed when listening to the old version. I find it hard to believe that Greg can still sing those notes it is that well done.

Back to the Rock - sounds plain compared to the other songs but definitely better than the solo version Greg released originally. It sounds like Petra is doing a cover song of another band. I think this song is better than most give credit to it though and it does grow on you the more you listen to it. Bob's guitar work saves the song in many places. The question is, how many chances will you give it before you just hit the "skip" button?

Too Big to Fail - this is a good song and Greg sounds great singing it. It is great to have a new Greg Volz Petra song that rocks and I will leave it at that. It is more of a P&W song so it would be nice on the next album for Greg to have a regular cut, such as Bema Seat for example.

So there you have it, that's my opinion. I give it an "A" overall. I think it is great for anyone who heard the songs originally, liked them, and want to hear them again with a more modern sound. I didn't really dislike any of the songs. I guess I was afraid when I first heard about the project that it could turn into "Double Take", where I thought some songs were really messed up, and thankfully, it didn't. It was very well done overall and would recommend it to anyone who liked that era of music.

I wrote a review, which can be found here: http://www.thechristianrock20.com/album ... -by-petra/

Excellent review, Manny! If you don't mind...I'd like to post that link over at the Fan Forum.

Review: Good. I like it. Everyone should buy it.

Hey Cat, just one note on your review. You said, "Volz and Kelly left the band at the end of the Beat the System tour in 1986, making Back to the Rock the first time this iteration of Petra has performed together in 24 years." Actually, Kelly didn't leave until after This Means War, two albums after Volz left.

Yes Mark left in 1987 and it's pretty much been 25 years since the Beat the System Tour.

Bah. Thanks. That's what I get for going from memory.

Go for it, Masada.

Good reviews guys, looking forward to the others. still debating on writing one myself.

Just out of curiosity, am I the only one who thinks the CD is way overpriced? I mean, $9.99 is not a bad price for a CD (though I prefer the $5 to $7 range), but after adding in the handling fee ($2.50) and the cheapest USPS shipping ($5), the final cost soars to almost $18! I guess I'll go the MP3 route -- even though it's reduced quality -- and hope that the CD goes on sale or I find a cheaper retailer in the future.

Mountain Man wrote:Just out of curiosity, am I the only one who thinks the CD is way overpriced? I mean, $9.99 is not a bad price for a CD (though I prefer the $5 to $7 range), but after adding in the handling fee ($2.50) and the cheapest USPS shipping ($5), the final cost soars to almost $18! I guess I'll go the MP3 route -- even though it's reduced quality -- and hope that the CD goes on sale or I find a cheaper retailer in the future.

Yeah, the shipping and handling part stunk when I bought it but this is the first time I've thought about it since then so I guess it was worth it for me

I see no handling fees or minimal shipping costs on petramerchandise.com.

Looks like http://www.petraproductionsinc.com/store/ has some specials for December, might do some Christmas shopping...

sue d. wrote:I see no handling fees or minimal shipping costs on petramerchandise.com.

Thanks for the tip. No handling but I still had to pay shipping, but in the end, $13.06 is a heck of a lot easier to stomach than $17.49!