The Petra Zone

I used to dislike the Petra albums Washes Whiter Than, God Fixation, Double Take, and Revival, and like many others here, mercilessly tore these albums to pieces like Simon does with the American Idol rejects.

Then last fall, I listened to Washes for the first time in quite a while and thought to myself, this stuff's actually not bad. As a matter of fact, I grew to like it more so I kept playing it repeatedly, until I had almost memorized the whole thing. Unfortunately (as many of you know) is that I had to stop the CD after tracks 6 and 7 to listen to Internet downloads of "Couldn't find love" and "Magic words". If only they were able to fit those songs on the CD too.....

I guess the reason I used to not like it is because I used to shy away from 70's pop-rock. Now after becoming accustomed to bands like Styx, Journey, Doobie Brothers and 70's-era Heart I eventually developed more of an appreciation for the ol' funky stuff. I think Washes is stylistically similar in some ways to the aforementioned bands.

Then just a few weeks ago I started listening to Fixation, Double, and Revival again after about 4 whole years of having not done so. Now I wonder why I ever hated those as well. They ain't so bad either. Even Double Take (the one everybody hates) is quite interesting and creative because of the use of instruments non-traditional to rock bands (like strings and harmonica) and well-arranged (although I still prefer the original versions of those songs).

Overall I'm not a huge fan of 90's rock or 2000's rock (soft or heavy), but there are a few exceptions. I think these three albums are better than much of the other pop/rock music put out in the last 10 years by any band, Christian or secular.

Of course I still think Petra's seven albums from 1986-1993 and the two live albums are the best, but not by far. The others are very good too. I guess I just have to appreciate them as they are instead of comparing them to the ones I like most. (You don't have to agree with me if you don't want to)

Now all I have left to hear are Petra (1974) and Come and Join Us...if only I could find them at a store because they're so dang expensive on Amazon.com (man, they sure jack up the prices on out-of-print stuff...I spent a fortune on just 4 Missing Persons albums! Great music but what a rip off!) I'm also still hoping I can find Vertical Expressions too...anyone here have a site I can buy it on?

I think my dad has Come And Join Us and More Power To Ya on vinyl, and I have the self-titled album on vinyl. We're pretty cool like that.

Nice picture! I love Office Space! Nice paraphrasing too.

separateunion wrote:I think my dad has Come And Join Us and More Power To Ya on vinyl, and I have the self-titled album on vinyl. We're pretty cool like that.

woohoo vinyl.

yamasaaaki har har wrote:woohoo vinyl.

True. Vinyl is good, but I won't buy any more pants made out of it.

My most prized vinyl is Petra's debut album, signed by the original incarnation and the final incarnation at the reunion show...whenever that was, wherever that was.

I love the photos from above! The first 3 albums really take a while getting use too, and I feel the better out of the 3 is Come & Join Us; It really has some great groove songs on their. Sally and Woman Don't You Know have a strong moral message but at the same time are quite humorous.

Now all I have left to hear are Petra (1974) and Come and Join Us...

I love Come and Join Us...that might be my favorite f the older stuff.