The Petra Zone

I was just wondering if anyone else did what I did. If you didn't than maybe someone would like to try this....

I am kind of a purist when it comes to albums. I don't normally like Greatest Hits albums and I like to hear albums in their original form. However, as I am sure you know, they butchered Washes Whiter Than when they merged it with Never Say Die. Consequently, I think when a lot of Petheads listen to one of these albums they turn out listening to both. Since Washes Whiter Than isn't exactly the best Petra album I think it puts a bad taste in people mouth for Never Say Die. Now I could be wrong, but I think people would listen to Never Say Die more if it wasn't on the CD with Washes Whiter Than. Doesn't anyone agree??? Anyway, like I said, I am a purist. I took my Never Say Die/Washes Whiter Than album and burned Never Say Die onto an album by itself. Now whenver I want to hear Never Say Die that is all I hear, and I don't have to even skip any tracks. I put the CD in its own case and cut the original insert in half to make by album look like a real Never Say Die CD. I hope every understand that... Anyway, then I downloaded the "lost tracks" from a Petra website. (www.petrarocksmyworld.com) I used my burner program to recreate Washes Whiter Than by mixing the mp3s with the CD tracks. I burned that CD and put the other half of the Washes Whiter Than cover in another CD case. I printed bindings and everything so I could put the CD on my tower and could find each CD. Anyway, I like Washes Whiter Than a whole lot better in its original format. It is sad I am stuck with some fuzz on (Couldn't Find Love) Without You but it is worth it. Maybe everyone else has already done this already but if you haven't, I recommend it. Then you can hear Petra like Petra intended. You will find you like Never Say Die better than you used to, I guarantee it!

Michael

Michael, you and I are on the EXACT same wavelength, buddy!! I did exactly as you did by separating WWT from NSD. I hate it when record companies take the original production off the market to do a combined set . Even more so when they remove entire albums and sell only compilation projects in the place of rare CDs.

Getting back to WWT... I don't care what anyone else thinks... THIS IS A GREAT CD. It shows the versatility Petra had back then, but even more than that, those songs are great, and the production isn't bad either. I'm 39 years old, and I started listening to music in the early 70s, so I love the classic 70s sound. WWT is pure 70s, right down to Taste And See, which is a great disco tune. And a big THANK YOU goes to our good friend Josh Renauld for providing MP3s for MorningStar and Couldn't Find Love. I know converting analog recordings from vinyl to MP3 was not an easy task.

A lot of people are critical of WWT, and I understand why they feel that way if all they want to hear is the John Schlit / quentessential Petra era. But a lot of us older Petheads have been fans for a long time and appreciate the old stuff, maybe even grew up on it, so we have a deep respect for it, even like it.

But I agree... both of these two albums are much better to listen to in their own element because they sound completely different.

I think if two albums had to be combined, More Power To Ya and Not of This World would have made more sense. The sound is very similar.

I'm a person who doesn't like to mess with the original either. And those old albums mean a lot to me too, even though I'm very fond of John.
The youngsters out there who haven't been Petra fans as long as us old folks have been are missing out on some real treasures if they don't listen to the older stuff.

Something I was thinking about last night and you guys got close to saying it...

OK, just so everyone knows I am not big on griping all the time, I promise.

Something I have noticed in a lot of the Petra album reviews I find every disappointing. I am not sure if it is due to ignorance or what but Petheads have a tragic tendency to evaluate all of Petra's albums through a On Fire!-Beyond Belief lense. This is really a faulty way to critic any album. When an album is discussed you have to look at it in its own context. You can't inflict later efforts on earlier ones.

For example, it just wouldn't be fair to compare The Beatles' Please, Please Me to Abbey Road. Sure, Abbey Road is better but to compare the two just isn't fair. You have to look at when in history the album was released.

Sadly, Petheads have frequently failed to do this. There are many exceptions, of course, but this is far too common. When you look at an old Petra album, look at its own merit. Try to avoid looking at it in light of later efforts. To do so is just not fair. I think when Petheads are able to begin to listen at older albums in a new light they will find the album much better than they previously thought. I just doesn't make any sense to criticize a 70s album for not sounding like it came from the mid-80s.

So to make a long story short, let's start treating Petra's albums like individual units. Don't look at old albums through the lense of newer albums. If you do I think you will find Petra is even better than you thought. It will restore lost credit to them.

I am officially stepping off my soap-box now.

Michael

I would just assume put on Petra's debut instead of putting on Beyond Belief. It is such a great album. In fact I think I will put it on now....I'm Awake!...

MichaeLeah wrote:Something I have noticed in a lot of the Petra album reviews I find every disappointing. I am not sure if it is due to ignorance or what but Petheads have a tragic tendency to evaluate all of Petra's albums through a On Fire!-Beyond Belief lense. This is really a faulty way to critic any album. When an album is discussed you have to look at it in its own context. You can't inflict later efforts on earlier ones.

Well said, and I definitely agree with you. There are a lot of Petheads who judge everything Petra does based on their favorite lineup, which for most of us, would be the On Fire lineup you referred to. To be fair, though, there are a lot of us who regularly listen to all Petra CDs with great admiration.

I was driving home from Indianapolis just yesterday afternoon and listened to Never Say Die through Beat The System. I gotta tell you, after More Power to Ya ended with Disciple, I just sat there staring into my windshield and thought to myself, "Wow. This CD is simply incredible. How could anybody NOT love it!!" I mean, we're talking about songs like Judas' Kiss, Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows, All Over Me, Road To Zion... we're talkin' about some real killer tunes here.

I also got a little emotional with All Over Me and Judas' Kiss. After having seen The Passion of the Christ, these songs became even more graphic with Bob's imagery than they ever had before on their own. Very powerful.

Shell is right, there are many treasures in these old CDs. I hope more people will start to dig and strike it rich!

I think you all have OCD.

Yes, this is my first post in like a year.

No smart remarks, you're not even 30 yet young man. Good to see you by the way. Hey, Enosh made some posts too for the first time in awhile. Does that mean something?

I have a questions, please forgive me, but what does OCD mean?

Don't torture yourself trying to understand Brian's posts, trust me, it will drive you crazy.

MichaeLeah wrote:I have a questions, please forgive me, but what does OCD mean?

OCD

This link courtesy of Link-Man.

See, I have talked about this before.

EMI should re-issue "Washes Whiter Than" & "Never Say Die" each on their own CDs, this would make a lot more money because nobody has had the oportunity to hear these albums in their own setting sense they were first released on LP and Cassette. It was a bad mistake for them to release it on CD the way they did.

I also feel that Word Records should re-issue PETRA (74) this year being that it's the 30th Anniversary of the album. With session photos or whatever is in the vault pertaining to that album. Bonus Cuts or extra studio cuts whatever. There are many ways to re-generate the sales of the old material.

But in any case they shouldn't try to take away from the original work and what StarSong did with WWT and NSD was just that.