The Petra Zone

What was it like when you first heard John Schlitt back in 1986 when you played Back to the Street after being used of Greg X Volz for 4 - 5 years?

Did you have to adjust?
Instant like or dislike?

For me it was an easy adjustment.

Truthfully, although BTTS is sometimes talked about as BTS part 2, I think they were worlds apart. BTTS was edgier, less techno-pop. I think the overall enjoyment of the album made it an easier transition.

I was also fortunate enough to see that tour shortly after I received the cassette, so I was taken in by his stage presence and genuine spirit.

very cool.

It was crazy how different it sounded between BTS and BTTS. Like a whole new band. Instant like.

I thought it sucked. I hated it. When I worked at KXOJ in Tulsa, I had to play it. People generally provided negative feedback on the request line. There were people who got off on Christian music made by people with secular music ties, like it validated the genre. There were lots of people crossing over at that time. I didn't care for Head East. The album lacked impact and had no memorable songs.

It was not until the band I was part of opened for them that I met John, saw how nice of a guy he was, and saw how hard he worked. When he gave his testimony, that made a big impact on me. When On Fire came out, and we opened the show in Tulsa, the deal was done and I was sold.

That first year was tough. John had not sung in a while. He lost his voice and range a bunch. Later, Louie told me it was hard on the band. Eventually, John got conditioned and the rest is history.

I've told this before - I thought: Hey what happened to his voice? They must have been touring a lot wearing his voice out. I had only listened to Petra for about a year though, Beat the system and More power to ya.

I was in 10th grade when I heard first of Petra. A friend of mine had given me cassette copies of CITAS and This Means War in 1988. To me at the time they both were the same band and could not tell the difference. I was instantly hooked right then. I was not until On Fire came out and I saw band pictures that I noticed they were different singers. I immediately staryed collecting, first all their cassettes and later all the CDs. To me BTTS is a great fresh sounding album, always been. The drums sounds better than on Unseen Powee and Beyond Belief which sound beyond artificial. John sings great and with a softer voice for sure, and with a higher range than on any other Petra album. Just listen to then end of You Are I Am, and just before the solo on Altar Ego, classics!

My first album (or, I should say, my brother's first album) was Unseen Power. Later, when he bought Petra Means Rock I found out they'd had a different singer. I wasn't interested at first, also because the older albums weren't in print in the Netherlands at the time. Only in the late 90s did I find a distributor in Germany that carried most of Petra's back catalog, including Back To The Street (which I'd never been able to find, other than as a library copy) and several of the older Star Song albums. That got me into collecting.

I think for me it's the songwriting (so, essentially, Bob) that strongly connects Volz and Schlitt and makes it into the same band. Finding out in retrospect that your favourite band once used to have a different singer is not as dramatic as going to a concert and suddenly seeing a new front man. So I wasn't really shocked or disappointed or blown away.

Dan wrote:What was it like when you first heard John Schlitt back in 1986 when you played Back to the Street after being used of Greg X Volz for 4 - 5 years?

Did you have to adjust?
Instant like or dislike?

This would have been around 9th grade for me. First time I heard John Schlitt with Petra was listening to "I Have a Thankful Heart" on the radio, and that's such a great song with a wonderful hook that I didn't care that it wasn't Greg Volz singing it. I was, of course, disappointed when Volz left the group, but I found the idea of a new singer to be very fresh and exciting, and the way they talked Schlitt up in the pages of CCM gave me very high expectations, and Schlitt lived up to them. I still think that Back to the Street is one of Petra's more underrated albums and that it was a strong debut for the new line-up.

brent wrote:That first year was tough. John had not sung in a while. He lost his voice and range a bunch.

Really? I think he sounds great on Back to the Street, but I suppose that could be studio tricks. On the other hand, I've seen videos of Schlitt's early performances with the band where he's singing Volz material, and I thought he knocked it out of the park.

Mountain Man wrote:

brent wrote:That first year was tough. John had not sung in a while. He lost his voice and range a bunch.

Really? I think he sounds great on Back to the Street, but I suppose that could be studio tricks. On the other hand, I've seen videos of Schlitt's early performances with the band where he's singing Volz material, and I thought he knocked it out of the park.

I have to agree with Brent, in addition I feel he began to lose it around 2000.

I honestly don't hear it. I know he lost some of his high register later on (although he seems to have gotten it back now if his rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" is any indication), but he hit some of the highest notes of his Petra career on the Back to the Street album.

I've always felt BTTS was an underrated album and I love the rawness of John's voice on the album. The first time I heard John's voice was Shakin' The House and was at a Christian Book Store that had full samples of songs that would come in on cassettes about 2 weeks before an album release and on this cassette was Shakin' The House and Alter Ego and both songs were awesome. When I heard Greg was leaving my first thought was Petra is done, but after a month word come down that Petra found a new lead. I will say the first time I heard John and this version of Petra Greg was an afterthought in my opinion. I will say that a Petra with John as the lead has always IMO been the true Petra.

I must say that all the stories I have read here have been a very interesting, it is clear that the band has been a major impact on each of you.

Guys, what I was talking about was John's vocals that first year on the road. He hadn't toured in a long time, and so he was not conditioned. He was so on fire and excited, he would give it his all from the first note, instead of managing it. Of course, when Volz songs are written in dog cry keys, it's going to be hard for someone who doesn't live up there most of the time. John powered through it. As far as the record is concerned, the only things out back then that could have been called a studio trick would have been the analog multitracks and Eventide harmonizers. You could pitch shift, but it was a bunch of work. I am putting money on John's vocals being John's vocals. Recording vocals is very different. You can pull off notes in the studio that you might not try on stage night after night.

As far as John's vocals over time, you can hear him mature and plateau within the first three albums. I rather like the texture he developed. I have heard some notes live in his grandpa years that have surprised me. I was like, "Where did that come from?" I have heard him sing some times and thought he was every bit as good as some of the big name legacy singers from the 80s. He still sings better than many of the young rockers I hear today. Everyone gives up some range as they age. It is natural. You give up range, air capacity, body and the vibrato gets a little wobbly. Nobody is immune. Everyone tunes down, unless they are a freak of nature.