John's newsletter: some surprises in store

[Preacherman777]

Whiteheart had some great songs, but unfortunately, they were just more hit and miss with their material than Petra. A typical Whiteheart album might have a few good songs on it, but most Petra albums were all good.

[pmal]

Whiteheart had some great songs, but unfortunately, they were just more hit and miss with their material than Petra. A typical Whiteheart album might have a few good songs on it, but most Petra albums were all good.

I agree. It was basically the difference between a good band and a great one.

[gman]

Personally, I view Petra and Whiteheart as two competely different animals. Whiteheart was phenomenal at what they did. No one else in that realm Christian music could compare, IMO. Petra was also phenomenal at what they did, but again a different band. The more straight ahead arena rock of Petra, versus some more experimental and artistic from Whiteheart. The complicated arrangements, playing over the bar line, the harmonies, the vocals in different octaves. Songs like Let the Kingdom Come, Unchain, Heaven of my Heart, Silhouette, Morningstar, or what they did with Drummer Boy and their U2 cover. Those are great examples of what Whiteheart did. They were and are exceptional musicians. They were not a Petra type band. Petra was also exceptional. I view both bands as the kings of different styles of music.
If you want something more straightforward with sizzle, dial up Wake Up Call. If you want something more experimental and artistic, dial up Tales of Wonder or Highlands.

[Mountain Man]

Yeah, I wasn't knocking White Heart, and I own most of their albums. They just didn't have much consistency which was always a little frustrating to me.

[BriGuyPEI]

Freedom and Tales of Wonder are their best. You'd love Freedom, Brent, as it was produced by Brown Bannister. It's very much White Heart's Joshua Tree.

I got to see them once on the Tales tour in Kitchener, Ontario. The band that opened for them was a local band called "The Obvious", who would later change their name to One Hundred Days. Anyway, the band had gotten tied up at the border so the concert was late starting. Partway through the show, they said they wanted to play a song for us that they had written that day while waiting at the border. Rick was literally singing the lyrics from a sheet of paper. It was several years before the song showed up on an album, but Could've Been You made it onto Inside.

Back on topic though, I love the lyrics to I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Guardian quotes one verse in a very rocking fashion in Mr. Do Wrong. "Then pealed the bells, both loud and deep. The Lord ain't dead, nor does he sleep!"

[executioner]

I'm with you Matthew on Redemption it really is a great album; it flows very nicely and is a true concept type of album. Inside is probably my least favorite out of all of their albums. Freedom, Tales of Wonder, & Redemption are my favorites.

[Preacherman777]

Wow! That shows you how different taste can be. I thought Redemption was their worst album. I remember only liking one song off of it and it's the only album of theirs I'm pretty sure I don't even have anymore.

[fcollazo]

So now we are going back to John, and stop talking about White Heart, right?