The Petra Zone

1994, 95 was a time when a lot of Rock bands dissipated, Rock was loosing base.

Greg X during 1995 to present probably has sold 12 albums, half went to P-freak in the Netherlands.

here is Greg's garage:

D-Pethead wrote:1994, 95 was a time when a lot of Rock bands dissipated, Rock was loosing base.

Greg X during 1995 to present probably has sold 12 albums, half went to P-freak in the Netherlands.

here is Greg's garage:

Ok, How many units of God fixation or double take and revival are sitting in storage? Greg's latest albums may not have been some of the heaviest or the best produced but an artist does what he and she can when they can, as far as I know he was able to finance them himself! How many copies of John's last two records were actually pressed and sold? look I sponsor John on this Kickstarter program because I like him and I appreciate his music if you, meaning anyone who reads this, don't feel the same about Greg that's fine . But the attitude on this bord toward the bands first real singer and towards CP generally, has been atrocious and I'm tired of it!

zman7720000 wrote:...the attitude on this bord toward the bands first real singer and towards CP generally, has been atrocious and I'm tired of it!

I think that's a fair statement. I'm not sure how this attitude developed that you have to kick Volz to the curb just because one prefers Schlitt. They're both great singers, and both led Petra to great success in their respective eras.

Same old discussion, same old sentiments...

I like both John and Greg and both have stellar solo stuff and solo stuff that doesn't earn more than a 'Meh, really?' from me.

I'm a bit tired of the 'You're bashing Greg.' - 'No, you're bashing John.' - 'Wait, now I need to bash you.' attitude. I think we've chased enough members of this board into lurking mode or even off our property with these kinds of discussions.

I agree with the consensus on the Greg vs. John discussion...And yes, the Greg camp and the John camp have been equally guilty of bashing and getting defensive. If I am shot for saying that so be it. I happen to like them both a lot, except John may be a little cuter...But that's my take and I doubt the universe will come crashing down because of it.

There are any number of factors involved in how well an album might sell, including promotion, marketing and being in the right place at the right time. It's a waste of time and energy to bicker about it, and I hope we're not so shallow we'd care about them based on sales alone.

Let's focus less on trying to outdo each other or prove something and focus on just supporting them as best we can. Both these guys have made a big contribution to Petra's history, and they both have wonderful voices that were well suited for the music they did on their respective albums.

As I see it, Volz had the kind of voice that was popular in the 70s-80s, but after the 90s people were tired of it. Then Schlitt was accepted as a great singer... until '97, when all the old bands were pretty well demolished. Of course, what a great singer is is only a matter of personal opinion and preference. I personally prefer Volz; but I really like many other singers (John Schlitt, John Lawry, Peter Furler, Mark Hall, etc.). I'd say Volz's failure in his solo career was primarily to do with the changing styles; what Volz really did best wouldn't sell after 1988.

To say that Volz couldn't sing with any feeling is complete nonsense; That was perhaps his best point as a singer! To say he didn't have an impressive range would be yet more ludicrous; He could not only sing those crazy high notes, but also as a normal tenor. As to who technically had a larger range, no-one knows, and I honestly don't care. I'm just a like Volz's sound, and everyone is going to like a particular sound without any real reason; we're just that way.

The two singers cannot and should not be compared. Two different tones, ranges, styles for two different eras. Greg obviously could not do the rock stuff that John did. John could always go back and do Greg's stuff. It's very much like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar in this respect.

I prefer Greg X Volz

brent wrote:The two singers cannot and should not be compared. Two different tones, ranges, styles for two different eras. Greg obviously could not do the rock stuff that John did. John could always go back and do Greg's stuff. It's very much like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar in this respect.

I'm not so sure that Schlitt can sing Volz's songs. Volz has a much more nuanced delivery whereas Schlitt is more of a straight-ahead rocker. For instance, Schlitt barrels through his version of "Judas' Kiss" and robs it of a lot of emotion.

This isn't a slam on Schlitt. It's more a commentary on how difficult it can be for a singer to sing something that was clearly written for someone else. Similarly, I doubt Volz could handle a song like "Minefield".

brent wrote:The two singers cannot and should not be compared. Two different tones, ranges, styles for two different eras. Greg obviously could not do the rock stuff that John did. John could always go back and do Greg's stuff. It's very much like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar in this respect.

I agree with the first statement. Even though they sang in the same band, and one replaced the other, they aren't meant to be compared. Each singers voice was the perfect fit for his era, and one way or the other, the music was written for each style.

Note a fan of JS singing Judas Kiss, but love the JS version of Grave Robber and Adonia live.

I don't think I've ever heard those. Yeah, I bet Schlitt could tear it up on "Adonia".

I can't say that I've ever heard John do Grave Robber. He's been doing Adonai for a long time. I first heard him do it at a festival back in the GF days with Pete on guitar. They did it during the most recent round of shows, and he still rocks it well.

In his time, Volz would have been considered a rock singer; highly polished voices were respected then for that genre in the 80s. But eventually the rougher sound that Schlitt had took over, and by now we look at Volz as being unfit for rock music.

I've never heard Schlitt seriously try to do a Volz song, but I'd say that they both did best when they had music written specifically for them. That's why Back To The Street sounded so odd; The songs were written with Volz in mind, but then were recorded with Schlitt, a decent disaster. Volz certainly couldn't do "Minefield" or anything like that; and for that matter, Schlitt couldn't do "Beat The System" and still sound good.

p-freak wrote:Same old discussion, same old sentiments...

I like both John and Greg and both have stellar solo stuff and solo stuff that doesn't earn more than a 'Meh, really?' from me.

I'm a bit tired of the 'You're bashing Greg.' - 'No, you're bashing John.' - 'Wait, now I need to bash you.' attitude. I think we've chased enough members of this board into lurking mode or even off our property with these kinds of discussions.

I'm not intentionally trying to bash anyone, yes my opinion of Greg and his voice might come across as course but its just an opinion of one fan; I guess I could play the political correctness route but wouldn't that be a lie? I was a fan during the time Greg was in the band but was glad to have a new and fresh voice come around at the time and John Schlitt's vocals have just always blown me away and so I guess in my opinion that's why I see it this way. I know and gladly accept anyone else's opinion that is different about anything Petra so I would presume that street should go both ways.