Petra Is Done

[brent]

No, you got it, just misapplied it.

Before Beat The System, the other Petra albums flopped. Beat The System was Bob's last ditch record before taking a real job. John Schlitt was the voice of Petra the longest, when Petra had the most hits, won the most awards. Many people do not know about Greg Volz or the previous singers, but they know John.

Before Perry joined Journey, they didn't sell much, but they were still playing large venues, festivals, etc, playing the same stage as Head East. After Perry, the band had no commercial success. They are playing shows, but Perry will forever be the voice people long to hear. Arnel and Steve Augeri are ok, and good singers in their own right, but there is no new Journey music with the same mojo or success. Those guys, along with one guy who filled in for a couple of shows, still sing Journey songs they didn't even write. They are glorified cover artists. Most people do not know the name of any other Journey singer but Steve Perry.

This is all about perception of public, not reality, that is the point.

[pmal]

Before Beat The System, the other Petra albums flopped. Beat The System was Bob's last ditch record before taking a real job. John Schlitt was the voice of Petra the longest, when Petra had the most hits, won the most awards. Many people do not know about Greg Volz or the previous singers, but they know John.

Not that it really matters, but I think you are meaning "More Power To Ya" in the stuff above about Bob, as it was the first real success for the band. Greg had three really good albums before John came along: MPTY, NOTW, and CITAS. However, I personally didn't start listening until CITAS and didn't get hooked on Petra until after I heard TMW with John for the first time, through a friend, since that kind of music got zero airplay back then in SC. At the time, I wouldn't have given Greg Petra the time of day, as it sounded really old to me and uncool at the time. TMW sounded awesome. I later appreciated what Greg brought to the table and the music better but there's a whole generation of folks like me that would have given up on Petra without the change in lead singers and the different direction the band went in as a result.

[Dan]

I am in the same boat the first album I heard was TMW and I didn't know Petra had another singer until 1995, I think the first Greg record I got was Never say die, and I got a real shock when I played it, I read John Slick... as John Schlitt guess I saw what I expected. I thought there was a mistake and it wasn't the same band. One of the songs on Never say die was played on a TV commercial in Australia during early 80's to 1996 it was the first time I found out it was Petra.

[pmal]

Yeah, now I love the older stuff but starting out in the middle to late 80's, John Schlitt's voice was a God-send. They used to play the beginning to Chameleon on one of the local sportscasts here for the high school football Friday night show and I always thought that was cool but I didn't know that until years later when I popped in Never Say Die for the first time. I guess, as I've said before, that Greg's and John's voices were used for different eras and each were very important.

[Dan]

Yes, I am a fan of the old stuff too.. especially 81 - 84, Chameleon was the song that was played on the commercial in Australia too, they played the intro part, then at the end they played the come out, come out from among me part... was crazy to think I had been listening to the John Schlitt years with this Ad playing with Greg... not knowing it was Petra! The Ad was about homeless and drugs I think... by the Australian Christian Television Association. John has always been my favorite singer, but knowing that Bob Hartman was the song writer connected the two.

[sickasadog]

My first introduction to Petra was shortly after MPTY came out, and one of my older brothers borrowed the record from a friend. I instantly fell in love with them when I heard Stand Up and saw the cool album cover (full-sized LP). Being only 8 or 9 at the time, I only heard Petra once in a while until another older brother taped MPTY and BTS off of someone. Now I could listen to those albums more often.

A few years later, one of my brothers came home for the weekend (he had moved out by then) and brought home his collection of tapes for me to listen to. This was my introduction to John Schlitt, since he had BTTS and TMW. I didn't care much for BTTS but TMW made me a Petra fan all over again!

[Dan]

This mean war! is a great album, I would love to see the album redone with beefy guitars, the solos are great as is... every song fits well.. same could be said for Beyond Belief.

[Mountain Man]

Before Beat The System, the other Petra albums flopped.

I can't believe that. There's no way the label kept giving them money for 6-albums if they were all flops. Do you have actual sales numbers?

[Mountain Man]

I got introduced to Petra sometime around Not of This World. My parents, of course, were appalled, and I remember we had a family meeting to discuss if that kind of music was appropriate to listen to. My brother and I eventually wore them down when we showed them the lyrics with the scripture references, and they relented saying that if we were going to listen to rock music, at least we could listen to something with a positive message.

My first ever concert was Beat the System at the Ritz Theatre (not a misspelling) in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A couple of my friends and I convinced two of our youth group leaders to take us even though it was a youth group night. One of them, I remember, was pretty much against rock music of any kind, and I guess he came along just so he could say, "I told you so!" but by the end of the concert, he was yelling for an encore along with the rest of us. Later he said, "I still don't like rock music... but Petra is alright in my book."

[brent]

Before Beat The System, the other Petra albums flopped.

I can't believe that. There's no way the label kept giving them money for 6-albums if they were all flops. Do you have actual sales numbers?

Labels didn't exactly give them money. The labels got recordings done for next to nothing. Bob paid for recording IIR. The label was there for distribution.

Actually, I mis-typed. Before Bob wrote and began recording More Power To Ya, he decided that it would be the last attempt. Nothing had worked well. He was ready to quit and go back to work full time. All of the previous albums sold very little and there was not much concert revenue. Watch the videos. Read the book.

None of the previous albums' sales were tracked. The label knew how many they pressed and that was it. When More Power To Ya happened, Star Song didn't track those sales either. But, this album did sell more than all of the previous records. It wasn't until much later that people were able to deduce an educated guess as to how many they might have sold. Nobody knows exactly.

If you watch the videos about the history of Petra, the label presidents and owners themselves discuss the lack of sales, lack of money to record and push the band. In one case the label kind of helped Petra out the door because they could do better elsewhere.

[rexreed]

Journey and Petra make for a poor comparison. Journey fans by and large still keep up with the band, unlike a large number of people that USED To like Petra. Also, don't discount the current JRNY lineup. I'd say most people DO know the new lead singer. The first Wal-Mart distriibuted album was popular enough for the tour to include four of the new songs, and audiences knew the material enough to sing along. According to the documentary about Arnel it was one of their most successful tours, and they did manage to chart a single from it. A lot of young pplshow up to JRny shows, partly because the songs keep finding new relevance in pop culture and also because they never stopped playing the songs on the radio. Not the same as Petra.

[Mountain Man]

I think on the whole that Journey, at the top of their game, was probably a lot more popular and successful than Petra ever was. Journey was filling up stadiums while Petra, even at its most popular, was doing good to fill up a concert hall. Journey could afford to lose fans and still remain successful while Petra couldn't.

[Mountain Man]

Actually, I mis-typed. Before Bob wrote and began recording More Power To Ya, he decided that it would be the last attempt.

O.K., that makes a lot more sense.

[brent]

Oh yeah, you can't compare Journey notoriety and sales to Petra. Petra was the Journey or Def Lep for Christian music. Christian music can never be as big as secular music and will never sell the same. Journey has sold hundreds of millions of records and downloads. Petra, not even close. Two different things.

Petra did headline civic centers and arenas at their peak and then went back to halls, theaters, etc. Carman played civic centers, but that was when he offered free concerts. All people had to do was give a recommended donation of $2 at the door. Back then, halls and theaters were the norm for 99% of the artists. I am talking about headlining of course and not festivals.

[rexreed]

Even if you adjust for scale, Jrny just completed their biggest tour ever, with a replacement lead vocalist and a medium hit on radio. Album sales were good, but not like the 80's and fans are still engaged. The same cn not be said for Petra. Ccm has short term memory.