Elefante Brothers

[Michael]

The Wake Up call CD didn't do a lot for me - I thought the production stripped away too much of the Petra sound. In fact, I bought that album the day it was released and, honestly, I think I've listened to it 3 times since then.

So you've only listened to it four times. You haven't even given it a chance. Some of my favorite albums are ones that took a while to grow on me. What makes a good album is that it gets BETTER with repeated listenings, not whether or not it blows your socks off the first time you hear it.

Let us not forget, it was shortly after this album that the core band started to break apart...

I take issue with your choice of words, but what does it matter if the band had different members in it? The things that hurt Petra was that (1) they messed too much with what they were doing and tried to be something they weren't on No Doubt... Wake-Up Call was honest and was a progression, and then No Doubt was a step into left field, and (2) maybe more than #1, Word wasn't pushing Petra's product like they had before. In the music business, sad to say, substance and talent doesn't mean as much as marketing.

I don't know that long-time members who have paid their dues on the road moving on to the next stage of their lives equates to the "core band starting to break apart." And Petra survived one big change in membership in the mid-80's and came out of it, after a rocky year or two, with nary a scratch. I just think they mainly didn't get the label support they needed.

[RockMe]

I'm completely in agreement, monster machine. The sound for WUC didn't do it for me at all, and "Midnight Oil" was really the only song on there that came close to the "instant classic" style music Petra had been known for. It was like Petra was trying to go in a different direction but wasn't sure in what direction to go, which resulted in an uneven mixture of pop and rock.

Also, this was the point when general fan interest started to wane, and it was the point that Petra definitely started leaning more toward a softer sound--a definite shift away from the pounding rhythms of Unseen Power.

"No Doubt" was their biggest hit off that album I think and that song sounded pretty close to what they were doing back before Wake-Up Call.

I thought that song (like the whole album) seemed a little too calculated. It was like the plan was to get back to the old style if not completely back to the old sound. The songs just sounded too similar to stuff they had done before ("More Than a Thousand Words" is practically the same song as "I Need to Hear from You"). "Enter In" is really the only fresh song on the album. "Think Twice" and "Right Place" are OK. "Heart of a Hero" sounds like a WhiteHeart imitation.

Ironically, PP2 was a much more original album, doing a great job of matching Petra's classic style with a more modern sound. I think it's one of the greatest Christian albums ever produced.

[RockMe]

What makes a good album is that it gets BETTER with repeated listenings, not whether or not it blows your socks off the first time you hear it.

And what makes a great album is that it blows your socks off the first time you hear it, and then it gets better with repeated listenings. Good music isn't an acquired taste--different music is. Different doesn't necessarily mean good, just different.

[bakersfieldpethead]

Good music isn't an acquired taste--different music is. Different doesn't necessarily mean good, just different.

I agree with that also......however sometimes a good album can take a acquired taste.

Let's look back into the 60s, of course now we look at The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds as a classic, but Capitol Records thought it was flop, and didn't give it much push then. A lot of fans felt that this new direction wasn't good because everyone was used to hearing how The Beach Boys sounded in their early days.

Let's look at The Beatles. I watched a clip from American Band Stand when Bible Clark aired for the first time the "Strawbery Fields" video (yes that's right it was a video or music film.) The fans were no-doubt excited about something new from The Beatles, but after they saw it, some said they had doubts about it. I believe one responce was "Well....they look older." lol. But today that song and The Beatles change is looked at as Classic and a Hit. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds is looked at as an epic.

Oh yes Different can mean "Good" and Good can be an aquired taste sometimes.

My friend I would recomend putting Wake-Up Call in your CD player and turn it up and listend to it everyday for about a week. Come back to us and let us know what you think then.

[monster machine]

And what makes a great album is that it blows your socks off the first time you hear it, and then it gets better with repeated listenings.

That's exactly it.

I can remember getting On Fire for the first time and listening to it over and over again and getting more and more out of it the longer I listened to it. Same with every album that came out afterwards EXCEPT for Wake Up Call. I just simply can't get beyond the thin production. And when I do try to listen to it, I get quite bored with it quite quickly.

But hey - it's only my opinion. I am sure there are people here who like this album better than JAH...

Monster

[Michael]

I can remember getting On Fire for the first time and listening to it over and over again and getting more and more out of it the longer I listened to it.

Oh, NOW I understand. By the time Wake-Up Call came out, you were so out of it that you couldn't recognize great music when you heard it!






hehe

[monster machine]

[LexingtonPethead]

Steven is right. Wake-Up Call grows on you if you will just keep it in your CD player and make yourself listen to it.

I have listened to it now for 2 weeks straight, and I cannot get this CD out of my head!! Just 3 weeks ago, I didn't really care for the way WUC sounded.

Sure, John and Dino would have made those songs sound a lot better. But if you can get past the differences in the production and just focus on the music, you will find that the songs themselves are awesome.

[LexingtonPethead]

And let's not forget the songs from Wake-Up Call that got heavy airplay on CCM stations...

1. He's Been In My Shoes
2. Believer In Deed
3. Marks Of The Cross
4. Just Reach Out

And think about this... all 4 of these songs are AC formatted on a CD known for its harder-than-usual edge!!

[petra4ever]

It may not be as hard as Unseen Power, but it has catchy, driving tunes. I like the talk box Bob used on Underneath the Blood.

Also, going back to On Fire, Petra didn't play songs from it in concert, from the No Doubt (actually named "Salt Box") Tour till the present. I don't know if they played any for the Unseen or WUC tours, since I didn't see them then -- I only heard On Fire songs on the Beyond Belief tour.

[LexingtonPethead]

Oh yeah... Underneath The Blood is an awesome, awesome tune. I like everything about it. It rocks with the best of them.

The only thing wrong with that song is that the instrumental part of the song should have been MUCH longer, especially where the rhythm guitar was absent and the lead guitar and bass solos were accentuated. I could listen to that all day long, man!

If there's one thing I would change about virtually all of Petra's albums it would be to add more guitar solos with occasional bass and drum emphasis. There just isn't enough of that on any of their albums except for "Petra" and "Come & Join Us".

[LexingtonPethead]

The things that hurt Petra was that (1) they messed too much with what they were doing and tried to be something they weren't on No Doubt... Wake-Up Call was honest and was a progression, and then No Doubt was a step into left field,

I respectfully disagree about No Doubt. This is a CD I liked the first time I listened to it, and it was a welcomed return to the Elefante mold that had worked so well for Petra most recently up to that point. The title cut, No Doubt, has ministered to me enormously when I have gone through tough times.

I'm not sure what Michael is referring to when he says it was a step into left field. No Doubt is a true Elefante pedigree. What's not to like? And how is it so dramatically different from other Elefante productions?

Conversely, Wake-Up Call was a disappointment, and it has taken several force-feedings of this CD for me to appreciate it.

If you want to hear a CD where Petra tried to be something they weren't... God Fixation is it.

Aside from J&H, No Doubt was the last truly great CD that Petra recorded.

[executioner]

I liked Wake-up-call, but it always seemed to be missing something. The guitar work was very low volume wise, and it seemed very shallow in my mind. I did like how the drums were very upfront especially the cymbols. I am under the belief system that if you are a rock-n-roll band than the guitar needs to be upfront, and I always had to listen to Wake-Up-call on headphones to hear Bob's sig. sound.
We haven't talked much about this CD, but I've always really liked God Fixation. Very underrated CD in my opinion.

[LexingtonPethead]

So what is the consensus? Do anybody think Petra will team up with the Elefantes for a 3rd term??? You know, it could happen. I read a post somewhere on this board where Bob explained that the Elefantes relocated to Nashville (from California) shortly before Petra began working on No Doubt, which is why they went back to the Elefantes the second time.

Imagine what another all-rock CD like J&H would sound like with the Elefantes at the helm!!

[gman]

Love the pounding drums and rhythms on Wake Up Call. So, that's what a real drum kit sounds like. That was a welcome change for me. The first time I heard Petra live was after the Unseen Power album released, and to me the sound was very weak compared to the CD. Especially the drums. That could have been because it was at a festival and it wasn't their regular sound set up. However, when I heard Wake Up Call liv, it translated so well. I think it was the different approach to the production that made the album so different, not the songs. If John & Dino had produced that album, it would have sounded just like the previous ones, which is not a bad thing, but that sound was out of style and Petra was looking for something new. It's hard to change and still remain true to who you are, but it can be done. It's also hard to not change and remain viable. WUC was Petra's first step on the journey of change. I like to evaluate the album for what it is, and not based on what previous or later albums are or aren't. It's stands by itself as an album of quality songs with quality production, and great drums!