The Petra Zone

Have you guys noted how little tom fills Louie is doing. It almost sounds like he east asked just to keep the back beat steady and stay put

Louie has never been the flashy type, this is how he sounds live.

Wait a minute. On citas he is all over the kit. That is nonsense

Have to disagree. I've seen Louie play live many, many times and on most occasions (when he was not too bored) he played anything but restrained. On several occasions, I think that he may have even "over drummed" if that is possible. I have some live soundboards (that will remain uncirculated) and Louie was all over the place with fills galore and even some intricate tasteful cymbal work. He drums sounded like cannons. Louie always was a "live" drummer, and from what I have heard at least from the premastered versions Classic Petra as a whole sounds a bit restrained to me. Unfortunately so far the stuff sounds dated to me and not fresh. I'm not talking about changing things to much just add some feelin' & flair, make it sound relevant fresh & new . Just listen to Angel of Light, sounds like the 70's. Even the opening riff, its just too straight forward and boring.

billM wrote:Unfortunately so far the stuff sounds dated to me and not fresh. I'm not talking about changing things to much just add some feelin' & flair, make it sound relevant fresh & new . Just listen to Angel of Light, sounds like the 70's. Even the opening riff, its just too straight forward and boring.

This is the problem with re-recording existing songs.... If you stay too true to the original, people say you're not fresh and new. If you change things too much, people say you butchered a classic (Double Take, anyone?)....

I think they did a good job on Angel of Light.... If I were the one doing this one (which, of course, I'm not), I would have done the 8th not bass like they did, but I would have toned down the keyboards and upped the tempo... but then people would have said that I butchered it, so I'll revert to my previous statement.

I said this before and I'll say it again - I'm more interested in hearing what the new stuff sounds like.

I wouldn't read to much into it. It is what it is. Rule of thumb in the studio as with a lot of cases is "Less is More."
This could have been the idea. That's a big step to question if Louie was restrained, I doubt the guys are gonna try to put Louie in a box, they know what he can do, they spent a lot of time with each other.

Asking this question based one full song and a few 30-second samples seems a bit premature.

It may be premature but so far I agree that the drums seem restrained. Too bad really.

Yes, but to imply that someone is putting their thumb on Louie isn’t a really good idea. Louie could have played this way by choice, something he might have felt about making the songs a little more up to date. If you listen to More Power To Ya, it sounds like some programming was involved which is what he’s been doing since No Doubt and PP2.

rexreed wrote:It may be premature but so far I agree that the drums seem restrained. Too bad really.

I agree. That was my first impression. Maybe the final version will be more spruced up.

I agree. That was my first impression. Maybe the final version will be more spruced up.

I don’t see how mastering an already mixed track is going to somehow make Louie play more on the song.

Isn’t it cool that we’re even talking about Louie recording on a Petra album?

bakersfieldpethead wrote:

I agree. That was my first impression. Maybe the final version will be more spruced up.

Isn’t it cool that we’re even talking about Louie recording on a Petra album?

Isn't it sad that we've been afforded so few opportunities to do so?

Isn't it sad that we've been afforded so few opportunities to do so?

He was only off of one studio album and one live album. I don't know how that brings us to just a few opportunites to talk about him.

bakersfieldpethead wrote:

Isn't it sad that we've been afforded so few opportunities to do so?

He was only off of one studio album and one live album. I don't know how that brings us to just a few opportunites to talk about him.

I think we can count on one hand the albums that actually featured Louie playing drums.

He arrived after Never Say Die and performed on MPTY, but Jonathan David Brown basically kicked him off NOTW and BTS because he thought they didn't work well together basically. Then, under the Elefante Brothers, according to other members of the Zone, it was pretty much all pre-recorded drum effects. Louie's comments pre-BTTS, on the other hand, make me think maybe he played on that album. The Elefantes didn't produce PP1 so maybe Louie played that album? On WUC, under Brown Bannister, who is much more a raw producer than the Elefantes, I'm pretty sure he played. After that, I'm not sure. Probably not No Doubt, based on the sound. Maybe PP2? God Fixation? Double Take? Revival? Just not sure on those.

The only ones on which I'm pretty sure I know that I'm hearing Louie's drums are MPTY, CITAS and WUC, and maybe on BTTS and PP1. Others probably know better than I on the later albums.

bakersfieldpethead wrote:That is the practice with a lot of bands in the music industry. One thing that bugs me about Southern Gospel is that Quartets can call their producer, book the studio all from the road and when they get back from the tour all the music is produced and they just go in and record the vocals according to the charts. No room to put your own personal touch on something unless you're the Gaither Vocal Band. But if you're not the Gaither Vocal Band, here's a selling point, we can make you sound like them.

I agree with you, that if someone is going to be in the band (and they are good enough) then put them on the album. If they are not good enough to represent you in the studio, why do they represent you on the road too???

Interestingly enough, thats not the practice now as much as it was. Bad drum takes can be digitally made "ok" now and many bands operate that way, whereas in the past it would have required physical cutting of the tape, and many times studio musicians were utilized. Theres still definitely a studio musician market, but, from what I understand its not what it was. Maybe Brent can elaborate.