Man, can you get any more harsh? Everyone has a right to their opinion, but if any 'uninitiated fan' would happen across this board - he certainly would not look at you as a FAN, based on your commentary. I don't think a band member would look at anyone who says the band should have quit a long time ago as a fan either. That being said, I understand what you're trying to say - but it reads very harsh.
Sue, they should have stopped before 2005. When Bob left they should have stopped.
WHY? Because Bob wasn't on the stage? He was STILL writing, still in the studio; he was still part of Petra. Even Bob has said that Petra is more than the sum of one man... (my paraphrase).
Let's see.... had the band quit in 1995 these albums would not exist:
No Doubt
Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus
God Fixation
Double Take
Revival
Jekyll & Hyde
Farewell
Now I KNOW there are various opinions on each of these, and maybe some people would be glad that these albums would not exist. But there are just as many who have personal connections with a song or songs, and to say that Petra should have quit after Wake Up Call is saying that the songs that have become synonymous with Petra from this era, namely "No Doubt," "We Need Jesus," even "Jekyll & Hyde" have no meaning and should have been tossed out the door.
When they did the Petra covers record, I heard the desparation to live.
Seriously? Double Take was made because Petra still owed another album to Word, which wanted to turn out another compilation album. Petra decided to give them their compilation in a form that was different, and NOT just a bunch of existing songs thrown on a collection. It had nothing to do with being desperate to continue on.
That was really a John Schlitt solo band at that point, and that is what it should have been called.
If that's the case, then it would have been John Schlitt Band performing Bob Hartman songs? Bob was still the mastermind behind the music, with Word having the final say when it comes to style. Is it your contention that BOB ON STAGE is what makes Petra PETRA? Without his stage presence Petra is nothing? (no matter that Bob was still involved behind the scenes) John is chopped liver?
J&H should have been THE comeback album.
It can only come back as much as the label decides to invest in it. Which, in this case, was minimal.
Petra did not stay gone long enough to create sufficient demand. If they had stayed away until Classic Petra hit the streets, THEN people would have been looking for it more.
There was 25 years between Classic's 1985-2010 return. It was like a whole new band; it was not Petra, per se. It was CLASSIC Petra. Following the same logic, you're saying that if Petra quit in 1995, in 2020 they would be welcomed with open arms? Or if they returned after only 15 years, and came back in 2010 people would have stood up and took notice?
As a result of not quitting sooner, demand for music and shows declined even further and the retirement tour was a whimper.
A whimper? I have the dates they played in 2005 - it was a lot more than a whimper. I can post them if anyone is interested.
The DVD was just non-eventful. It was not a production that was complimentary to the greatness of the band. It was too short. It did not celebrate all of the incarnations. They should have included everyone for the fans. A band like Petra had enough material, with all of those musicians, for two or three discs. But we didn't get that. There was no big pay-off.
It wasn't meant to be a history or a 'celebration of all incarnations.' It was meant to be a live recording. We're even lucky to have it, based on the amount of cash outlay Inpop put into the band.
As a result we have had crap albums and tired shows that fail to deliver a quality product and a sense of excitement.
OK, now you're going too far. Not everyone likes every CD or song, but to say the performances were TIRED?? NOT exited? There are tons of bootleg video on YouTube - prove to me WHAT show was tired and boring. I want to see it for myself.
I'll defend anyone's right to speak their mind but remember: this is a PUBLIC forum and the public can read everything. I'm very glad Petra (for the most part) never visits. Threads like this would be very disconcerting. However, there IS a band member that does check in on occasion -hence the "Friendly reminder about conduct" thread that less an 100 persons have read (see top sticky thread).
It says:
"Just a reminder that pioneers of Petra read the Petrazone. So everything you say about someone being old, or making assumptions about the band are hurtful. Don’t abuse the privilege of online anonymity."