The Petra Zone

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:25 pm

I just don't like live albums (even Petra's) as much because they usually sound more pitchy. The only live songs that are better than the others are Let The Whole World Know by Ferrell and Ferrell and Bob's Turn The Page.

True. Usually live albums don't sound as good to me. Only songs I liked (well, better than the originals) on Farewell were Amazing Grace and Judas Kiss, but maybe Judas Kiss was on the 2 guys from Petra album, can't remember. Anyway, it wasn't exactly better, but it was nice to hear John sing the song.

I love live albums. Every recording has something that makes it unique.

That's a good way to see it!

Good live albums can really capture a band’s true musical potential. The greatest live albums showcase artists at their spontaneous best, and are usually far less tame and constrained than their studio counterparts.

I would say the best live album I've heard is Welcome To The Freak Show by DC Talk. I haven't really listened to Petra's live albums, only heard a couple songs.

I love raw, live music only. No fake, pre-recorded stuff.

My theory is that we never got a live recording by the dream team because the sound we all associated with them is rather hard to maintain when playing live. A lot of the Elefante stuff simply is not the sound of 5 people playing instruments and singing. It has been so over processed and sounds nothing like real instruments. The drums, to some extent, were not even real drums. You may have felt at concerts that it did sound exactly the same. This would probably not be your impression, if you heard a good live recording of it. My guess, and it is a guess, is that the gap was simply too big back then.

However I believe that many would appreciate the difference today. I would love to heart the dream team classics in a sound universe that is not as processed, clean and improsonned as the Elefante sound.

I think it's just there to praise the Lord and teach us what we need to know and maybe give us a curiousity to look into the Bible for ourselves. It did for me and they're just amazing so I love their songs. But as much as we have preference, it's there to glorify God and not just to please us. ʅ(°‿°)ʃ

curt wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 23, 2020 3:43 am

My theory is that we never got a live recording by the dream team because the sound we all associated with them is rather hard to maintain when playing live. A lot of the Elefante stuff simply is not the sound of 5 people playing instruments and singing. It has been so over processed and sounds nothing like real instruments. The drums, to some extent, were not even real drums. You may have felt at concerts that it did sound exactly the same. This would probably not be your impression, if you heard a good live recording of it. My guess, and it is a guess, is that the gap was simply too big back then.

However I believe that many would appreciate the difference today. I would love to heart the dream team classics in a sound universe that is not as processed, clean and improsonned as the Elefante sound.

I'm not sure I agree. You can find live concerts from that period on YouTube, and honestly, Petra sounds great. The Elefantes may have loved their studio magic, but Petra was still 5 world class musicians who could tear it up on stage and get very close to the studio sound.

Sure, they are fantastic musicians. But, the live clips, especially the Farm Aid one, sound much more like Wake Up Call then the Elefante productions. Which is okay, because WUC is indisputably their greatest work from a production standpoint.
I really got into Petra during the Elefante era, with Unseen Power being my favorite production from that time period. I remember the first time I saw them live, I was really disappointed that the sound was nothing like the album. Actually it was more like hearing them live. When it's a festival and you are a short person in the crowd near the front of the stage, you can't see anything.
I think I preferred seeing bands like Whiteheart, D&K, and Geoff Moore & the Distance, because the live sound was very close to the original.

On a related note, I really liked Barren Cross when I discovered their first release on Enigma records. Their prior release was produced by the Elefantes for Star Song. I understand it didn't sound so great because they were hamstrung by the label. When they switched over to Enigma, the two albums they released were marked by the big Elefante sound. When the live album they recorded finally saw the light of day, it was no surprise that it did not have that big sound.

Mountain Man wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:06 pm

I'm not sure I agree. You can find live concerts from that period on YouTube, and honestly, Petra sounds great.

Never said it did not sound great. I only said it did sound different.

Mountain Man wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:06 pm

The Elefantes may have loved their studio magic, but Petra was still 5 world class musicians who could tear it up on stage and get very close to the studio sound.

The Elefantes loved their studio "magic" to the extent that the music no longer sounded like real music at times. No one disputed whether they were good musicians I was only talking about the difference between studio sound and live recordings. The clips you provided show that it did sound great. And different.

gman wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:31 am

Sure, they are fantastic musicians. But, the live clips, especially the Farm Aid one, sound much more like Wake Up Call then the Elefante productions.

Exactly. And if the recordings were of a better audio quality the difference would be even more obvious.

curt wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:18 am

Mountain Man wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:06 pm

I'm not sure I agree. You can find live concerts from that period on YouTube, and honestly, Petra sounds great.

Never said it did not sound great. I only said it did sound different.

Mountain Man wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:06 pm

The Elefantes may have loved their studio magic, but Petra was still 5 world class musicians who could tear it up on stage and get very close to the studio sound.

The Elefantes loved their studio "magic" to the extent that the music no longer sounded like real music at times. No one disputed whether they were good musicians I was only talking about the difference between studio sound and live recordings. The clips you provided show that it did sound great. And different.

I'm not a big fan of the Elefante Bro.'s style of production, but to say that it "no longer sounded like real music" is a big stretch. And honestly, I don't think the live performances sound as objectionably different as you're suggesting. I can't imagine a live album from the On Fire or Beyond Belief tours would have disappointed Petra fans.

Sheesh! I didn't know everyone disliked the Elefantes so much. Heck Petra sounded better then than their newer stuff even from late 90s. I think they had Petra at their best, and I don't think anything was wasted and if it sounded different it wouldn't be "Petra" to many of you including myself, admit it.

I’m actually a big fan of the Elefante production. It didn’t necessarily work 100 percent of the time, but it did seem to inject new life into the band when they really needed it.