Page 2 of 9

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:02 pm
by Diehardpetrafan:)
That would be AMAZING Imo. I really think they should : D

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 4:37 am
by curt
I know it is pure speculation but I cannot help to wonder what would have happened if No Doubt had been released with Bob on the cover instead of David and then no tour due to Bob's wish to stay at home. And then no records released until J and H, no tour with all sorts of new guys calling themselves Petra. And Louie possibly being in the band for J and H. Imagine Petra being away for all those years and then a new record from mostly original members, new great songs and a tour with a band that had not been seen on the road for around 10 years.

Like I said it is pure speculation but I have a feeling the name "Petra" would mean something very different to the fans if they had followed that path.

I don't think that those, like myself, who saw them on the Wake Up Call tour would have imagined what was to come in very few years and that very many of them would very soon loose their interest in "the band".

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:34 am
by John Boy
I don't post very often, but for some reason I felt the need this time.

I felt like Petra was done with Wake-Up Call. I like a couple of tracks from No Doubt, but I wasn't crazy about the direction it went musically. I know I'll have people wanting to ostracize me for my next comment, but it is my opinion. I did not like God Fixation and Jekyll & Hyde. It just wasn't Petra to me. I'm not new to Petra, so it's not like I haven't heard the change in musical directions since their first album; however, I feel there is a difference in changing musical direction and losing your identity. Rush was criticized for the synth stuff during a couple of their albums in the 80's. Personally, I liked it. For me, it was a change, yet they kept their identity. I don't feel the last incarnations of Petra were Petra.

I feel like if all of them had taken a ten-year hiatus (ballpark figure) and then returned with a strong line-up, Petra would have been more successful. Defining "successful" in the Christian music realm is subjective compared to the secular realm though. For example, Journey went ten years without an album until the Escape and Frontiers line-up reunited. Then Steve Perry got injured, and Journey faded into obscurity for a few years before replacing him. Now, it angers me that many know of the Arnel Pineda-fronted Journey and have no clue about Steve Augeri or even the 11-month stint of Jeff Scott Soto. I digress. The point is there was a substantial time without Journey, and for the last ten to fifteen years, they've been going non-stop. I'm not sure that could work in the Christian field, but who knows?

The music industry isn't what it once was, and it never will be again. I don't think a true Petra reunion would be profitable, and people have to make a living. I know what I would love to see. I'm fairly certain bringing John Slick back would be out of the equation, so I won't include him. I would love to see a reunion with the line-ups from Beat the System through Wake-Up Call. That reunion would have Greg X. Volz, John Schlitt, Bob Hartman, Mark Kelly, Ronny Cates, John Lawry, and Louie Weaver. I just don't see that or any other type of Petra reunion being feasible. I'm not trying to be a pessimist. I'm just being real about it. Would I love to see something happen? Considering I've never seen any incarnation of Petra or any of its members in any other musical aspect, absolutely! It's a bucket list item. Unfortunately, I can't make the Missouri show in March. Even if I could, it's still not what I'd really like to see. The original Classic Petra reunion was very cool. I had the opportunity to see that live in Branson, Missouri, but if you followed that tour, you know what happened with that show. It had to be canceled. I feel with the show's cancellation also came the cancellation of my bucket list item. Then again, I never thought I'd see Paul McCartney live, but I did.

Anyway, these are my opinions. I hope to see a new Petra project. Maybe a new concert DVD or Blu-ray? I'd love to have a video compilation of all of their videos even though most of them are during the John Schlitt era. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it wouldn't fully reflect the history of Petra since there wouldn't be a lot off videos with Greg X. Volz and John Slick. As fans of Petra, we can always pray for what God wants to do through Petra if He still wants to use them. Anything is possible with God. I was reminded of that in my Facebook memories today when I saw a picture of my wife and two sons. We were told we'd never have children. God had a bigger plan. Matthew 19:26. He may still have a plan for Petra they don't even know about.

God bless you all.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 11:51 am
by Diehardpetrafan:)
That was great! I want to see The On Fire-Wake Up Call lineup do a show 8) I doubt I'll ever get to see Petra live, but like you said, who knows? They're my favorite band and I'm not lucky enough to be an 80s kid otherwise I'd probably have seen them by now : (

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:40 am
by Mountain Man
executioner wrote:
Mon Feb 03, 2020 6:47 pm
Mountain Man wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:46 pm
executioner wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:46 am
Bob really needs to see that there could be some type of fan interest in order to get involved.
As far as I know, the "revival" projects have basically been financial flops, so Bob won't do it unless he's convinced he won't lose money.
Are you talking about the Revival album back in 2001? If so yeah they made very little money on that album but at the same time put no financing in it; That whole project was totally paid for by Inpop Records and Peter Fuhler as was JAH which actually made Petra Bob & John some financial success.
I was referring to Classic Petra and CPR. As far as I know, those projects made little if any money.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:55 am
by Mountain Man
curt wrote:
Tue Feb 04, 2020 2:25 am
I think they are past the time where they can get really big again. If they had stayed away longer and not continued in all sorts of incarnations I believe there would have been a huge demand for a dream team reunion or a reunion of as many dream team members as possible celebrating that part of their history, playing the legendary stuff from back then.

They might still have a chance if they go for that stuff and that period but I think many people have lost interest during the years as many versions of Petra have existed with few or no original members. They need to really give it their all with a great line up if they want people to start to show up again.
In my perfect version of reality, Petra would have retired on a high note after Wake Up Call and then come roaring back 10-years later with Jekyll & Hyde. Unfortunately, the "dark years" between those two albums where Petra lost its identity pushed away all but the most hardcore fans like us. As brent said, unless they can dig deep and really blow us away with something original on the level of More Power To Ya, Not Of This World, This Means War, On Fire, and, of course, Wake Up Call then they shouldn't bother.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:30 pm
by Diehardpetrafan:)
Ahhh that "come roaring back", you guys should be Petra's manager :lol:

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 1:53 pm
by curt
Mountain Man wrote:
Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:55 am
curt wrote:
Tue Feb 04, 2020 2:25 am
I think they are past the time where they can get really big again. If they had stayed away longer and not continued in all sorts of incarnations I believe there would have been a huge demand for a dream team reunion or a reunion of as many dream team members as possible celebrating that part of their history, playing the legendary stuff from back then.

They might still have a chance if they go for that stuff and that period but I think many people have lost interest during the years as many versions of Petra have existed with few or no original members. They need to really give it their all with a great line up if they want people to start to show up again.
In my perfect version of reality, Petra would have retired on a high note after Wake Up Call and then come roaring back 10-years later with Jekyll & Hyde. Unfortunately, the "dark years" between those two albums where Petra lost its identity pushed away all but the most hardcore fans like us. As brent said, unless they can dig deep and really blow us away with something original on the level of More Power To Ya, Not Of This World, This Means War, On Fire, and, of course, Wake Up Call then they shouldn't bother.
I agree with a lot of that. I am not sure I think they would need to release anything new. If they could get most of the dream team to play the legendary stuff and make it sound convincing, I would be interested. And perhaps they should play entire albums to avoid it being too much of a copy of the farewell version playlist. And they should skip those old, simple and over played worship songs.

There are a lot of things they should not even bother trying. They have definitely used the name Petra for more than enough half baked bread. They really need to go all the way, if they want to start at all.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 2:15 pm
by Dan
Obviously this would never happen but I would love to see them revisit the locations from the Beyond Belief video in Arizona. Sadly the gas station that Ronny walks out of was knocked down 6 months after I found it.

The live footage that is tucked away from live performances in the early 90's. I think people would pay to see that.
Even unedited footage from Backstage pass would be cool.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:23 am
by Diehardpetrafan:)
YES! :P :P

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:43 am
by Mountain Man
curt wrote:
Wed Feb 12, 2020 1:53 pm
Mountain Man wrote:
Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:55 am
curt wrote:
Tue Feb 04, 2020 2:25 am
I think they are past the time where they can get really big again. If they had stayed away longer and not continued in all sorts of incarnations I believe there would have been a huge demand for a dream team reunion or a reunion of as many dream team members as possible celebrating that part of their history, playing the legendary stuff from back then.

They might still have a chance if they go for that stuff and that period but I think many people have lost interest during the years as many versions of Petra have existed with few or no original members. They need to really give it their all with a great line up if they want people to start to show up again.
In my perfect version of reality, Petra would have retired on a high note after Wake Up Call and then come roaring back 10-years later with Jekyll & Hyde. Unfortunately, the "dark years" between those two albums where Petra lost its identity pushed away all but the most hardcore fans like us. As brent said, unless they can dig deep and really blow us away with something original on the level of More Power To Ya, Not Of This World, This Means War, On Fire, and, of course, Wake Up Call then they shouldn't bother.
I agree with a lot of that. I am not sure I think they would need to release anything new. If they could get most of the dream team to play the legendary stuff and make it sound convincing, I would be interested. And perhaps they should play entire albums to avoid it being too much of a copy of the farewell version playlist. And they should skip those old, simple and over played worship songs.

There are a lot of things they should not even bother trying. They have definitely used the name Petra for more than enough half baked bread. They really need to go all the way, if they want to start at all.
I don't want any more remakes. Back to the Rock was a fun and nostalgic experiment, but it didn't have any legs, and I really don't like the CPR "reimaginings". Let's have some new music and save the classic songs for concerts.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:38 pm
by curt
I am not talking about remakes. I am talking about legendary guys touring their own legendary stuff live. Clapton, Waters, Queen (with Adam Lambert) and others have had different ways of repeating themselves in very interesting and worthy ways. For most fans it would probably be very hard to feel as much for any new record as they do for the old stuff even if it was equally as good. It would not contain the memories and emotions of the old stuff. But, of course, it is all just personal opinion, and I acknowledge the point that they have already tried to live on their past for very many years.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:02 am
by Mountain Man
Give it the Def Leppard "Viva Hysteria" treatment where they performed the entirety of "Hysteria" live in album order. We could have "This Means War Live", "On Fire Live", "Beyond Belief Live", "Wake Up Call Live", etc.

I would totally buy those albums even if they were $50 each!

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:51 pm
by curt
Mountain Man wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:02 am
Give it the Def Leppard "Viva Hysteria" treatment where they performed the entirety of "Hysteria" live in album order. We could have "This Means War Live", "On Fire Live", "Beyond Belief Live", "Wake Up Call Live", etc.

I would totally buy those albums even if they were $50 each!
And I was thinking something along those lines. It would be really Interesting provided they really gave it their all.

Re: New Petra Project

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:44 pm
by dihigo
Hey, guys. I actually ran into John Elefante here in Nashville the other night and asked him if Petra was working on something "new" as I had read rumors online. He said, "No" and added that John Schlitt isn't "really into Petra" anymore. Sorry to burst your bubble. He referenced John's new solo album, the Jay Sekulow Band, and then gave me his autograph.