Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Talk about Petra albums, songs, and concerts.
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Pat.Healy
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Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by Pat.Healy » Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:54 pm

Hello, and thanks very much to all of you who have created, maintained, and authored this amazing site....what an incredible history of Petra.

I fell in love with Petra in 1982, at age 11, which of course makes my favorite albums More Power To Ya and Not Of This World, but I wore out everything through Unseen Power. Only saw them live once, maybe 1988 or so. Bob Hartman was instrumental in my own decision to pick up the guitar at age 15, which has resulted in not-half-bad semi-pro career playing in various touring and church bands for 30+ years and counting. I’m forever in Bob’s debt for that. God continues to use Petra in my life in a mighty way, revealing new things about Him and about myself. In different seasons of life those old lyrics just “hit different,” as my kids would say.

That’s been happening recently, which has of course triggered one of my every-few-years Petra kicks, and my discovery of the Zone only 100 years late. I lost touch with the band after Unseen Power, and it’s been fascinating to lurk here for the last few weeks and fill in the gaps.

A few hopefully brief ramblings about my immense appreciation for Petra:
I think MPTY, NOTW, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power are beautiful records for entirely different reasons. I was prepared to hate God Fixation but I don't. I’m in awe of Bob Hartman’s musical genius, far beyond the guitar. I think John Slick is a wildly underrated musician and was so pleased to see his posts here (that was him, right?) He and I were briefly co-workers in a gigantic company, which was cool to find out after the fact. I never met him.

I’m inspired by Louie Weaver’s example of humility, by the servant leadership of John Schlitt and Bob Hartman, and by the musicianship of all three. And I (personally, ymmv) can’t get enough of the vocal instrument of Greg X. Volz.

tl;dr I love the band, they're a God-given inspiration both musically and spiritually, and massive thanks again to all for this amazing resource!! Good to be here, better (very) late than never.
Last edited by Pat.Healy on Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by Progfan » Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:16 pm

Welcome, Pat. I also joined the site late in the game; not even two years ago yet. It’s great to get on those periodic Petra kicks. I do that with lots of artists!
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by Diehardpetrafan:) » Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:16 am

Hi Pat! *waves emphatically* :) I joined in June of 2019, when I first started listening to them and have since collected all their CDs from BTTS to Petra Praise 2. I'm really glad I found this site, and I have no intention of leaving it even if if is sometimes a bit quiet
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by George Harrison » Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:05 am

Pat.Healy wrote:
Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:54 pm

That’s been happening recently, which has of course triggered one of my every-few-years Petra kicks, and my discovery of the Zone only 100 years late. I lost touch with the band after Unseen Power, and it’s been fascinating to lurk here for the last few weeks and fill in the gaps.
Welcome! I too joined this forum long after it was created, I've only been here around two years. I'd recommend checking out the album Jekyll and Hyde if you haven't listened to it yet, it is one of Petra's best out of their later albums
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Pat.Healy
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by Pat.Healy » Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:56 am

Thanks guys! @George Harrison yep definitely dig the heavier vibe of JAH, it's on the list for a closer listen. It's been interesting getting up to speed on everything I've missed, which was basically Wake Up Call onward. Digging God Fixation much more than expected, as I mentioned earlier. It's helped to approach everything with fresh ears and minimal expectations. If you're not expecting a Petra album, GF sounds like a cool 90's rock record with dope guitar tones and a great singer. But I can imagine why Petheads might have had seizures at the time. 8) Probably much like my own initial (horrified) reaction to BTS, which also holds up much better in retrospect.
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by George Harrison » Thu Jan 28, 2021 1:43 pm

Pat.Healy wrote:
Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:56 am
Thanks guys! @George Harrison yep definitely dig the heavier vibe of JAH, it's on the list for a closer listen. It's been interesting getting up to speed on everything I've missed, which was basically Wake Up Call onward. Digging God Fixation much more than expected, as I mentioned earlier. It's helped to approach everything with fresh ears and minimal expectations. If you're not expecting a Petra album, GF sounds like a cool 90's rock record with dope guitar tones and a great singer. But I can imagine why Petheads might have had seizures at the time. 8) Probably much like my own initial (horrified) reaction to BTS, which also holds up much better in retrospect.
Yeah it took me a long time to get into God fixation, no doubt and J&H, but once I did I enjoyed them a lot more. GF has some fun songs on it. You might enjoy Greg X Volz' solo albums, and John Schlitt has put out a number of good albums in recent years, both solo and with the excellent Union of Sinners and Saints (as well as some with a few others like Project Damage Control)
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Pat.Healy
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Re: Yeah so kinda late to the party here

Post by Pat.Healy » Fri Jan 29, 2021 9:51 am

George Harrison wrote:
Thu Jan 28, 2021 1:43 pm
Yeah it took me a long time to get into God fixation, no doubt and J&H, but once I did I enjoyed them a lot more. GF has some fun songs on it. You might enjoy Greg X Volz' solo albums, and John Schlitt has put out a number of good albums in recent years, both solo and with the excellent Union of Sinners and Saints (as well as some with a few others like Project Damage Control)
Thanks for the reminder about the John side projects! Those are next on the listening list. Looking forward to the Union material, as Whiteheart was a fave as well.

Greg's solo albums...oof. I picked up the River Is Rising when it came out, despite my teenage angst over my favorite singer leaving my favorite band. At the time I couldn't bond with the pop sound. Revisiting those solo records now, they're well written and the production is slick in that 80's pop CCM way, with no mids and DX7 synth tones everywhere. But there was something magical about the Hartman/Volz/JDB musical partnership on those early Petra albums that didn't carry through to Greg's solo records. Wonder who the missing link was, LOL.
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