CPR

[executioner]

After listening to the samples of the album and some other factors involved I decided not to purchase this album when it was released. 1. I just didn't feel it. 2. My finances are limited with purchasing a ton of music( I budget about $150 per year for new music and concert going) and frankly it just wasn't a top 10 album I needed to have.

[Mountain Man]

With no intention of sounding negative I have the impression that they are not really doing much since they released the record. I have not heard of any concerts or any events and it is not that I have seen it getting much attention outside places like this. Looking at their homepage they don't list any concert dates or anything. Do any of you guys know any reason for this? So what is Ronny really leaving? Must be a rather strange situation.

Like I said, this is about what I expected from what is essentially a tribute band with no money, no marketing, and no original music.

For there to be any kind of revival for Petra in any incarnation, it will take some serious money (like several million) to properly market and pay for a tour, and that's simply not going to happen for an album that probably sold optimistically a few thousand copies.

[Mountain Man]

Edit: Meant to edit but quoted myself instead.

[curt]

With no intention of sounding negative I have the impression that they are not really doing much since they released the record. I have not heard of any concerts or any events and it is not that I have seen it getting much attention outside places like this. Looking at their homepage they don't list any concert dates or anything. Do any of you guys know any reason for this? So what is Ronny really leaving? Must be a rather strange situation.

Ronny is the Technical Minister(director) at his church and is employed full time there; in the last couple of months he has taken on the added responsibility of teaching some type of technical course via the University of New Orleans with some type online course taking I do believe. If I remember right Ronny has a Masters Degree in this subject and does have his official university teaching certificate. From my understanding this is where his heart lies and he couldn't pass up on this opportunity. At some point in the past he did this same thing at a Technical college in Florida.


BTW I do remember seeing a festival date this summer that they are involved in but do not remember where or when it was scheduled; I would think Greg Bailey would step in and play at this festival but who knows.
The main reasons why this has no legs has a lot to do with money, but my personal opinion has to do with Bob not being involved and their decisions in remaking the classics and not willing to put out any new music even though GXV has touted several times over the last year on facebook that he has enough songs ready to go to make well over 5+ albums, so why not remake a couple of songs and record 8-10 new songs? Even 4/5 of members are former Petra members I think is wasn't the right thing to do in using Petra classics when the band is not officially Petra.

Thanks. I can see Ronnie's reason for leaving the band. However this still points out that this is a rather low priority project. I think you have some very good points regarding this whole project and this is certainly not something I find very interesting myself. I would not travel far to see this something between a tribute and original band playing classics from a band in which most of them were members once. This certainly has a feeling of "has-been" to it.

[fcollazo]

It's really sad and embarrassing the way some people here talk about the musicians that at least I admire, that have been an inspiration to me both musically and spiritually. This effort by CPR does not come cheap and i know the people involved gave it their all. No wonder Bob wants nothing to do CCM anymore, I am sure he would be appalled by the attitude here. It's really a shame that the Zone has come to this.

[brent]

Bob wants nothing to do with CCM anymore because he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know how to write for CCM radio. He told me that. There is no sustenance for a legacy artist in CCM. Face it. Petra fans are old and/or broke. If there was enough money, Petra wouldn't have had to retire in the first place. That is why every old artist is doing some other line of work aside from their own "ministry".

Bob has been content to work in his church, doing music and ministry. That's it. Just because he was in a successful band once, doesn't mean he has to remain in one until he dies. It doesn't even mean that he could have some level of success again. It would be like starting over. Heck, he is probably making more money by not throwing it away, buying in to things like Classic Petra. He is in his 60s. Throwing $10k-$15k away at his age is likely a hard sell to his family. Let him retire.

I think you would be surprised how these artists talk behind closed doors. They are human. I don't think they would be as shocked as you think they would be. I haven't read anything bad here. What was so bad?

[fcollazo]

I mean all the negativity and obvious bias in the Zone against anything spearheaded by GXV. It's pretty harsh for him in here. Just think about how John Lawry feels when it's said here that all he did was produce a Karaoke CD. Jeez, be kinder to these men of God.

[executioner]

I mean all the negativity and obvious bias in the Zone against anything spearheaded by GXV. It's pretty harsh for him in here. Just think about how John Lawry feels when it's said here that all he did was produce a Karaoke CD. Jeez, be kinder to these men of God.

I get what you are saying but I'm sorry this project just wasn't done the way it should have been done; Why remake some classics of a band that legally and by name is not even the current band? You have new material use it and throw in a couple of classics to fill out the album. I personally would have bought the album in this form. I know they worked hard and long on it but too be honest is/was it really worth it? In this day of age in the music market you have to think wisely and be smart, and I believe it just wasn't the right market to do this.

[rexreed]

I'm happy to listen to the remakes, although some new music would be nice provided it was legit, rock and roll. Part of me thinks that GXV isn't much of a rocker these days. His solo music and the Back to the Rock song are loosely based on rock- heck he managed to unrockify Dream on!

[blayze5150]

If Bob Hartman is serving God in a church, and is happy and content doing so, then that is wonderful. I always thought Petra would be a ministry that would continue well after Bob, John Schlitt, and Louie Weaver retired. When No Doubt was released, it seemed that might be the case. Unfortunately, the albums that followed and the shifting musical tastes of the world had other things in mind. Petra had a wonderful 34 year run, 20 studio albums, 2 live albums, and about 100 greatest hits albums from Star Song (LoL). Not many bands can boast about that kind of a run.
All that being said, I do not like the CPR project. Nothing against anyone involved in it (I love and respect each of those guys), it just seems like an unnecessary rehash of something that was great the first time. I’m not sure what GXV is trying to accomplish here. God has the members of Petra doing other things in life. I really believe God moved in 1985 as well when Greg exited the band, because even though Greg is an amazing singer, I don’t think they would have been as successful in the late 80s and early 90s without John Schlitt as the frontman. I’m sure watching their success was not easy for Greg... it must have been very bittersweet. His solo albums were good, but just didn’t seem to be as commercially successful as his former band.
I was shocked when I heard about Classic Petra. I’m not sure why Bob went anywhere near that one. The CD was goood... but not great. The highlight for me was Bob’s new song, “Too Big to Fail.” Still, it just seemed like an unnecessary rehash.
I really hope Greg, John, Louie, Ronnie, and guitar player who’s not Bob are following God on this. I personally feel like Petra was a wonderful band with a great reputation for being the real deal who served the Lord and moved forward. In the immortal words of that other Petra singer, “You can’t go forward if you keep looking back, how can you think about the future if you’re haunted by the past? God don’t want you to live like that, put your hand to the plow, and don’t look back.”

Finally... these songs without Bob Hartman playing and JDB producing just don’t have the impact. It’s like Gus Van Zant’s Psycho remake.

[pmal]

This is a long post. Stop reading now if you don't care. My opinions stated below are just based on personal taste. Don't be offended. I think there's just a lot of folks out there that want a Petra revival tour that's just not going to happen, unfortunately, and any criticism is met with emotion instead of facts.

I love Greg's voice and his time with the band. My first record was CITAS and then went forward, so I didn't get to hear the classics until later in their original format. But, I loved them when I finally did give them a listen. I still prefer the This Means War - Wake Up Call era, but that being said, I thought that they did a really good job on the first CP record. I think the new version of Bema Seat was worth the price of the CD by itself. But, it was a lot of fun listening to all of the songs with updated production and sounds. I didn't write a review of that one at the time, so I'm not going to try to go back now and hurry through it.

But, on the new one, here's my review, since no one probably cares and since everyone else has said their peace about it:

Album Sound:

The sound is very diverse and enjoyable with a good pair of surround headphones. There's a lot of neat sound effects and vibes in the songs that you get. At lower volumes in the car and in the office, though, you miss a lot of the added, subtle instruments if you aren't careful and that turns good arrangements into fair and then so on and so forth.

The Good: These tracks are all updated, faithful versions to their classic counterparts but with more complex instruments and arrangements (some more than others). I like these, in other words.

Hollow Eyes - updated, better sounding that the original.
The Coloring Song - cool song with live sounding background voices.
Not Of This World - not as "not of this world" sounding as the original. If you've listened to it, you'll know what I mean. But, it's a neat take on it.
Beat the System - this is a lot better to me than the original.
For Annie - updated, better sounding that the original.

In Between: These songs aren't bad but neither am I sure they are better or go the opposite way, sound wise, than I wish they'd gone. I can live with them, but would probably play the orignal or live versions first.

All Over Me - on one hand, I like the extra guitars and the more updated instruments. On the other, the guitar in the normal flow of the song seems to be back further in the mix so it doesn't stick out as much as before. That I miss. I also miss the seemingly desparate sound in Greg's voice, as if in agony that he is the cause of Christ's death. That seems to get lost or at least muffled down a little bit in this version and I also miss that. I guess it's not bad, but it's not as good as I'd hoped and not as good to me as the live version that they had done on tour with Classic Petra.

Judas Kiss - on one hand, I like the guitar being up front more in some spots. On the other, the faster pace and keyboard sounds in between verses I'm not sure that I like in every scenario. I do like the synth sound on the keyboards but the instrumental keyboard parts in between the verses just doesn't sound "right" to me. It's not bad, but it's not as good as I'd hoped and, once again, not as good to me as the version that they had just done on tour with Classic Petra.

It is Finished - I like the new sounds at the beginning and at the end, very cool sounding. This is one of the things I am referring to with the headphones. I was hoping we'd get the more rock heavy version or at least a rockier version than the original album version and instead we got the more pop rock sounding version of the song. Once again, it's not bad, but it's not as good as I'd hoped and not as good to me as the version that they had just done on tour with Classic Petra.

Missed the Mark: these just didn't do it for me.

Dream On - what I call a pop rock version of a classic rock song. It's just not as good and, unfortunately, comes off as cheesy to some fans and most outsiders who like the original and regard it as a classic. Part of me wishes they'd done GGRRTY instead since it was a Petra version of a classic rock song. Well, never mind on that given what happened to that song on Beat the System versus Come and Join Us. I've tried everything in my power to like this song, especially since I love Greg and his voice, and the fact that he can even sing this song. But there's no replacing the original, especially not with what I call a pop rock version. I'd rather him just do a karaoke version of the original. I'd pay for that single by itself.

Praise Ye The Lord - This is one of my all time favorite Petra songs. I was very much looking forward to hearing their take on this song. Unfortunately, it's a major disappointment. I like the faster pace but what was once a simple rockin' song and good for it, has too many instruments to me it seems. I could get over that but the high, extra vocals Greg does are detrimental to the song. Then, my goodness, the end of the bridge forward to the end of the song are, I'll just say it, a terrible way to treat such a classic song. I've tried listening to it several times to somehow get over it like someone else said things grow on you, well, that does not help. It should have ended without all the extra stuff at the end.

Should you buy it?

Once gain, this is all just my personal opinion/taste. Yes. I believe in supporting these guys, our guys, through thick and thin. It takes guts to go out and do what they did here. The album has some good and bad moments but worth the journey in my opinion. It's still better than DT

[dihigo]

Finally... these songs without Bob Hartman playing and JDB producing just don’t have the impact. It’s like Gus Van Zant’s Psycho remake.

Did an alternative universe just open up where a Petra fan besides myself can articulate the lacking differences between Gus Van Zant's remake of Psycho and the 1960 Hitchcock original?

[brent]

They should have called themselves The Rose City Rockers.

[BriGuyPEI]

Bob wants nothing to do with CCM anymore because he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know how to write for CCM radio. He told me that.

That explains Holy Is Your Name. It sounds like Bob's attempt to write something that sounds like everything else on the radio. Sadly, it just comes off as way too generic. It sounds more like somebody asked Alexa to write a worship song. Alexa then took all of the most popular phrases of songs on the radio and stuck them all together. Add in a bland melody and some autotune and done.

If Bob wants to write more songs, then he should Kickstarter Jekyll & Hyde II. Forget the industry; just do something he enjoys.

[executioner]

Bob wants nothing to do with CCM anymore because he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know how to write for CCM radio. He told me that.

That explains Holy Is Your Name. It sounds like Bob's attempt to write something that sounds like everything else on the radio. Sadly, it just comes off as way too generic. It sounds more like somebody asked Alexa to write a worship song. Alexa then took all of the most popular phrases of songs on the radio and stuck them all together. Add in a bland melody and some autotune and done.

If Bob wants to write more songs, then he should Kickstarter Jekyll & Hyde II. Forget the industry; just do something he enjoys.

Agree with the JAH2 comment. Bob should do what he likes not what he thinks the market will be. I've gotten to point in my musical taste that I need quality over every other aspect of the sound and in most cases(IMHO) the CPR including the band name is just really chessy.