They were a monster in Christian music in the 80's - thier best work was with
lead singer "Greg X. Volz" who had a great voice for this kind of music. .
After he left and was replaced by former Head East lead singer John Schiltt
they never were quite as good even though they are still out there making
music
and touring churches with a lineup that features nobody from the original
"Classic Petra" lineup besides founder Bob Harman.

Petra started out as a country-rock inspired band but evolved to AOR-Rock by
the late 70's. I would also add 1979's "Washes Whiter Than..." to your list of
favorites. Its softer than the later albums but is more polished than their
first two and was a favorite of mine during High School.

Billy


At 11:40 PM 2/21/2004 -0800, you wrote:
>I'm curious as to whether or not people on this list
>have heard of a band called Petra, who put out some
>fine albums back in the 70's.  They remain in
>existence still today, but their best work was done in
>the 70's.  Reminiscent of Queen and Kansas, but not as
>proggy.  
>
>I just found a lot of their old albums on CD for $6
>apiece from www.christianbook.com.  
>
>Yes, a Christian band, so some might not be able to
>tolerate it (and I absolutely respect that), but for
>those who might not mind as much, I highly recommend
>the albums "Never Say Die", "More Power to Ya", and
>"Not of This World".  They were really important
>albums to me growing up, and after getting them in the
>mail and revisiting them today, I realized that those
>songs are still some of my favorites.  Their
>guitarist/songwriter Bob Hartman tracked some really
>tasteful guitar work; the rest of the musicians were
>par excellence too, IMO.  
>
>I wouldn't recommend anything else really outside of
>the three albums I mentioned.  Maybe somebody else
>familiar with them can pitch in their two cents.  
>
>But hey...I felt like I got a great deal on some great
>music and wanted to share the wealth.  
>
>Let the gibes begin!
>
>
>
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Billy G. Spradlin
http://listen.to/jangleradio