The Petra Zone

Many of us have been saying for years that Classic Petra (aka "CPR) needs to put out an album of all original material. If/when it ever comes to fruition, what kind of material (songs, style, vocals, riffs, etc.) would you like to hear on it? And what should the album cover look like? I'm hoping to provide some unsolicited input to the band.

dihigo wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:13 pm

Many of us have been saying for years that Classic Petra (aka "CPR) needs to put out an album of all original material. If/when it ever comes to fruition, what kind of material (songs, style, vocals, riffs, etc.) would you like to hear on it? And what should the album cover look like? I'm hoping to provide some unsolicited input to the band.

Wait. If many of you have been saying Classic Petra should release new music, I am pretty sure you meant Classic Petra (when it was a thing), and not CPR. Those aren't the same groups with the same dynamics. Any new music now will just be GXV solo music, played by everyone but Louie. If you want GXV music, buy that. Bob Hartman in the context of Classic Petra might be interesting. But, consider the facts. Bob was tired of that Classic Petra era and WANTED to say more and do more to be stylistically relevant. So, I don't know what they could do, that would make people happy today. New music, written in the context of today, played by the old band. That won't have the same mojo. This is why 1% of new music by old artists sits well with fans or generates any money to cover the expenses.

I think this CPR band should cover the J&H album next. So, they could copy the album cover, change the font to fluorescent green and be done.

brent wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:02 am

I think this CPR band should cover the J&H album next. So, they could copy the album cover, change the font to fluorescent green and be done.

I was actually going to tell Kirk that CPR should listen to J&H for inspiration for their next album.

You had me at the fluorescent green font.

It might be interesting to hear then re-cut Back to the Street. Or even redo the first two records.

Back To The Street is THE album Volz should do. Seriously.

brent wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:04 pm

Back To The Street is THE album Volz should do. Seriously.

I sure would be interested in hearing that. However, I think it would also give the impression that the dog has started to eat its' own tail.

Yeah, I'd be on board with a CPR Back to the Street remake even though it would have almost zero market value -- seriously, how many people outside of us die hard Petra fans would even want to hear such a thing? The band would have a tough time moving copies even if they gave it away.

As far as what I think CPR should do moving forward? I don't care as long as it's original. Send them a copy of The Union of Sinners and Saints, Steve Taylor's Goliath, and Heel by Dogs of Peace for inspiration on how "old" acts can make fresh sounding music.

It's really all about the producer. No more of these self-produced tracks please.

Seeing that Kirk is in the band, and that he played (in part) on some of Greg's early solo albums, maybe they should go for some original material in that style, IF there is a market for it. I'd buy a CPR album (regardless of what the band name means) if there were songs like Greg's first 4 solo albums... by the way, where IS Mike Schmitz, Greg's songwriter for those albums, these days?

If Greg could release another album like The River is Rising then I would buy it. That is by far his best solo album. Come Out Fighting and No Room In The Middle were good but not nearly as strong. It's been downhill from there, in my opinion.

Sometimes I wonder if Greg X had stayed with Petra how far they could have gone? My thoughts are that the timing of him leaving might have been in the best interest of the band moving into the late 80's early 90's. Greg's solo stuff was clearly how he envisioned the musical path, and it didn't really work in the market as well as it could have.

dihigo wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:00 am

It's really all about the producer. No more of these self-produced tracks please.

Agreed.

I spoke with GXV and JL about this. They think they have enough experience and they should self produce. Before he passed, JDB was throwing his hat and resources into the hat, so he could pick up where he left off. He wrote a song (possibly with GXV, I don't remember) to pitch.

Throughout history, there are more examples of artists stifling their self-produced releases than there are artists producing great, timeless, albums with producers. There are exceptions. But, a successful producer, who is a big fan of the old school music, should produce whatever they do, IMHO.

Dan wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 01, 2018 3:50 pm

Sometimes I wonder if Greg X had stayed with Petra how far they could have gone? My thoughts are that the timing of him leaving might have been in the best interest of the band moving into the late 80's early 90's. Greg's solo stuff was clearly how he envisioned the musical path, and it didn't really work in the market as well as it could have.

Right on. It was time for a change on multiple levels. They got what they needed with John, John and Dino. Although, I hated the first record at first. I thought they were done.

Knowing JDBs ego, I think JDB thought Petra couldn't live without him and GXV probably believed that to be true too. My money is on JDB thinking GXV would take the Petra audience with him.

The style of the music was likely as much JDB's influence as GXVs. To me, it is a continuance of BTS.

The good news for those of you interested, is that CPR will be recording an original album next year. Greg and John have already starting planning it out. Since Greg wanted to rebrand Classic Petra, it made sense to record another album of fan favorites from the Classic Petra songs. Since John produced this new album and everything is re-recorded, they own all rights. Bob had expressed that he wasn't up for another go of Classic Petra after the first tour. These guys are getting older and touring takes a toll on them. Greg wanted to rename it CPR in order to leave room for new original music. If it was still called Classic Petra, people would expect only classic music. Also, Bob owns the rights to the Classic Petra name, and since he opted out of this new tour, it was important to have a new name. The name CPR is important to Greg because of the many different meanings attached to it.

The rebranding will take a minute to sink in. They have already been invited over seas and have been approached by many promoters for new dates. The sad truth is many people invite them to travel and perform for free. Unfortunately, it's not possible. Greg is booking dates with promoters and venues that can help put on a professional show and cover the bands cost. They have a new concert in Orlando in November that will be shot like the DVD that was aired on TBN. Touring and rebranding takes time and professional video footage. This will be there 5th official show on this tour. And will open doors to many other possibilities.

Another important thing to consider about the tour schedule, is that John Lawny became very ill right be fore the tour was about to kick off, and they had to wait to see if he was gonna pull through. Praise God, he did! But they are taking things kind of easy when he's on the mend.

I hope this clarifies some questions you might have about this new project. Keep an eye out for new shows and new original music! Most updates will be on Facebook and at CPRBand.Rocks

Also, Mike Schmitz, is still around and is still close with Greg. As far as his involvement with new music, that hasn't been determined yet. CPR will be focusing on this tour for now and start working on a new album next year.