Petra's Not Hard Rock?

[Preacherman777]

I wouldn't call Petra metal, but I would definelty say that they are, by and large, a hard rock band. Besides, after Jekyll and Hyde, I think you'd have to be drunk to not notice that Petra is at least hard rock.

[separateunion]

I wouldn't call Petra metal, but I would definelty say that they are, by and large, a hard rock band. Besides, after Jekyll and Hyde, I think you'd have to be drunk to not notice that Petra is at least hard rock.

Compare Jekyll and Hyde with say, a P.O.D., Chevelle, or Skillet album, and it would seem quite tame. Petra is not hard rock by today's standards, especially live.

[Jonathan]

True. Today's metal is someone growling indiscernably into a microphone, backed up by frenetic thrashing of instruments.

[brent]

We in the audio profession call them "Cookie Monster" bands.

[Preacherman777]

Compare Jekyll and Hyde with say, a P.O.D., Chevelle, or Skillet album, and it would seem quite tame. Petra is not hard rock by today's standards, especially live.

I wouldn't call any of those bands hard rock. New metal and maybe some elements of rapcore but not hard rock. True hard rock does not really have a place in todays music scene. It pretty much went out with the 70s and 80s. As far as classic hard rock is concerned, Petra has often fit the bill.

[separateunion]

Compare Jekyll and Hyde with say, a P.O.D., Chevelle, or Skillet album, and it would seem quite tame. Petra is not hard rock by today's standards, especially live.

I wouldn't call any of those bands hard rock. New metal and maybe some elements of rapcore but not hard rock. True hard rock does not really have a place in todays music scene. It pretty much went out with the 70s and 80s. As far as classic hard rock is concerned, Petra has often fit the bill.

You're defining hard rock by yesterday's standards. Standards change, and the bands I listed are what hard rock is today.

And screaming bands are usually considered hardcore, a la Project 86, Living Sacrifice, and older P.O.D.

[Preacherman777]

Well, it's all opinion anyway. If something was hard rock in the 80's, it's still hard rock. If there is something new that harder, then it needs to either be defined some other way or learn to share the label with the bands of yesteryear.

[LexingtonPethead]

I'm not sure that I would consider anything Petra has done to be metal. To me, and maybe I'm wrong on this, but to me bands like Stryper were metal. Bloodgood. Holy Soldier. Now that's metal.

On the other hand, Petra has done plenty of hard rock - some albums were devoted to it - like ON FIRE - and others had some ballads intended for airplay, but very little, if anything Petra has done would be considered "metal" in my opinion.

Without a doubt, you get a very different sound when you listen to Stryper than when you listen to Petra. Case in point.

I disagree with the statement that was made earlier in this thread about Petra not being a "radio" band. Petra DOMINATED Christian AC during the mid-80's through the mid-90's, right on up to No Doubt.

[Preacherman777]

I think somewhere along the way some people got the misunderstanding that either me or somebody was suggesting that Petra was metal. For record, that is a case I have never tried to make, but they have most certainly done a good share of hard rock.

[charl]

Hey, lurker chiming in if that's okay:

This conversation just reminded me of something my brother used to say to me about Petra back in the day.
'That band plays 70's metal.'

He, a metal fan, insisted that was what they played. Yeah maybe some modern tunes and ideas, but at it's heart, 70's metal. I personally always thought of them as classic rock.

Can we say they are like Duke and 'beyond category'?

BTW who does not think Led Zep was metal?

[LexingtonPethead]

Well, I for one do not consider Led Zep metal. Hard rock? Yes. Metal? No. Positively no in my opinion. Metal bands would be Ratt, Twisted Sister, Poison, you get the idea. At least that's my opinion anyway.

Stryper (in the Christian world) is considered to be metal in their day. If that's metal, then Petra definitely would NOT be metal.

[Pethead1]

Most of the time I have heard Led Zep refurd as Hillbilly Rock, and Petra is not that.

[charl]

So I take that to mean Black Sabbath are not metal either in your estimation...?
Heavy Metal as a term was around by the end of the 60's. (Born to be Wild, etc)

Metal bands would be Ratt, Twisted Sister, Poison,

They are 80's metal. Metal's roots go back further than that...perhaps one might now call the 60's-70's stuff 'proto-metal'. But saying that none of the early stuff is even metal is like saying Buddy Bolden did not play jazz because he didn't sound like Count Basie. No he didn't-his music is an earlier incarnation. Still Jazz.

And dudes, Led Zep were british-remnants of the yardbirds, etc. How could they be Hillbilly music, a distinctly American term? Some of the music that influenced them was, yeah (ie the early white rural counterpart of the country blues) but was not what they themselves played. Then the Stones, Cream et al also played Hillbilly music.

[LexingtonPethead]

So I take that to mean Black Sabbath are not metal either in your estimation...?
Heavy Metal as a term was around by the end of the 60's. (Born to be Wild, etc)

I agree that the rock sound was changing dramatically at that time, but I don't think it falls into the Metal category. It's hard rock to me. But it's also just my opinion, and I'm not an expert.

There are variations of metal, such as speed metal for example. I just don't see how anything predating the 80s can accurately be referred to as metal.

[Preacherman777]

Because metal was defined prior to the 80's. The term heavy metal was not born in the 80s and therefore 80s band could not have defined it. I would say that Black Sabbath was an early incarnation of metal.