History Music / Petra

In 2010, their 1985 lineup (Volz, Hartman, Lawry, Kelly, Weaver) reunited as "Classic Petra" and released a studio album before embarking on a brief tour followed by the release of a live album. In 2018, the Classic Petra line-up was shuffled to create a new incarnation known as "Classic Petra Resurrection" (or CPR) featuring Greg X. Volz, Kirk Henderson (guitars), John Lawry, Greg Bailey (bass), and Louie Weaver. CPR, of course, is not to be confused with Petra's offical touring line-up of John Schlitt, Bob Hartman, Greg Baily, and Christian Bonero (drums).

* BookEnds: "Visions" from ''Not of This World'', and to a lesser extent the untitled instrumentals that opened and closed ''Unseen Power''.

* {{Awesome McCoolname}}: Greg X. Volz (one cash-in compilation by their previous label miswrote it as "Grex X. Volz", which is arguably even cooler). Also, keyboardist John Slick.

* HopeSpot: ''Jekyll & Hyde'' was their hardest album since 1990 at least, and highly acclaimed... but it was also their last.
* IAmTheBand: Bob Hartman is the only member of the band that stayed in the band during the entire run.
** Hartman retired from touring with Petra in 1995 and was no longer the face on the album cover, but he was still Petra's principal songwriter and in-studio guitarist. He returned to being a full-time touring member in 2001 with the release of ''Revival''.

* {{Awesome McCoolname}}: Greg X. Volz (one cash-in compilation by their previous label miswrote it as "Grex X. Volz", which is arguably even cooler). Also, keyboardist John M. Slick.

In 2010, their 1985 lineup reunited as "Classic Petra" and released a studio album before embarking on a brief tour followed by the release of a live album. In 2018, the Classic Petra line-up was shuffled to create a new incarnation known as "Classic Petra Resurrection" (or CPR) featuring Greg X. Volz, Kirk Henderson (guitars), John Lawry, Greg Bailey (bass), and Louie Weaver. CPR, of course, is not to be confused with Petra's offical touring line-up of John Schlitt, Bob Hartman, Greg Baily, and Christian Bonero (drums).

In 2010, their 1985 lineup reunited for a tour as Classic Petra and a studio album released in 2011.

** Hartman retired from touring with Petra in 1995 and was no longer the face on the album cover, but he was still Petra's principle songwriter and in-studio guitarist. He returned to being a full-time touring member in 2001 with the release of ''Revival''.

* NewSoundAlbum: It'd be easier to list the albums that ''don't'' count. So here they are: [[{{Beat}} ......]] Did I go too fast for you?

* SubliminalSeduction: Parodied twice: ''More Power to Ya'' featured a conspicuous backwards message between two tracks -- "What are ya lookin' for the Devil for, when ya oughtta be lookin' for the Lord?" -- and "Witch Hunt", a song directed towards the accusers, whose bridge included backmasked lines that turned out to just be the spoken lines from the film ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Nearly every song contains some paraphrase of a Bible passage. And in case anyone doesn't get the reference, the reference was always printed above the lyrics in the liner notes. In one instance, lack of familiarity with [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6:6&version=KJV Romans 6:6 in the King James Version specifically]] made it impossible to understand that the song is [[IThoughtItMeant not about a man killing his father]]. Never ones to shy away from controversy, these guys.

* SubliminalSeduction: Parodied twice: ''More Power to Ya'' featured a conspicuous backwards message between two tracks -- "What are ya lookin' for the Devil for, when ya oughtta be lookin' for the Lord?" -- and "Witch Hunt", a song directed towards the accusers, whose bridge included backmasked lines that turned out to just be the spoken lines from the film ''TheWizardOfOz''.

* NonAppearingTitle: "The Coloring Song

* Non-AppearingTitle: "The Coloring Song

* LighterAndSofter: ''Washes Whiter Than'', and pretty much everything from 1991 to 2000.

* {{Awesome McCoolname}}: Greg X. Volz (one cash-in compilation by their previous label miswrote it as "Grex X. Volz", which is arguably even cooler).

* FanCommunityNicknames: "Petheads".

* ThePeteBest: Everyone involved in the band prior to 1981 who wasn't named Bob Hartman or Greg X. Volz.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Mark Kelly sharing lead vocals with Greg Volz on "I Can Be Friends With You". Producer John Elefante (Kansas) and Lou Gramm (Foreigner) sharing vocals with John Schlitt on "We Need Jesus". Pete Orta singing "Breath In".

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Nearly every song contains some paraphrase of a Bible passage. And in case anyone don't get the reference, the reference was always printed above the lyrics in the liner notes. In one instance, lack of familiarity with [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6:6&version=KJV Romans 6:6 in the King James Version]] made it impossible to understand that the song is [[IThoughtItMeant not about a man killing his father]]. Never ones to shy away from controversy, these guys.

Or you can let the Old Man[[hottip:*:(Yet another reference to Romans 6:6)]] take his toll\\

* SubliminalSeduction: Parodied twice: ''More Power to Ya'' featured a conspicuous backwards message between two tracks -- "What are ya lookin' for the Devil for, when ya oughtta be lookin' for the Lord?" -- and "Witch Hunt", a song directed towards the accusers, whose bridge included backmasked lines that turned out to just be the spoken lines from the the film ''TheWizardOfOz''.

* SubliminalSeduction: Parodied twice: ''More Power to Ya'' featured a conspicuous backwards message between two tracks -- "What are ya lookin' for the Devil for, when ya oughtta be lookin' for the Lord?" -- and "Witch Hunt", a song directed towards the accusers, whose bridge included backmasked lines that turned out to just be the spoken lines from the rest of the song.

Being the first major band to introduce rock music to a culture known for being largely hostile to it, they were no strangers to controversy, including the predictable accusations from MoralGuardians that they were hiding Satanic messages in their songs. They fired right back in 1982 with a prominent back-masked message at the start of the song ''Judas' Kiss'' (when played backwards, the message says, "What are you looking for the devil for when you ought to be looking for the Lord?"), and in 1985 with the bitingly satirical "Witch Hunt", which accuses their critics of caring more about stamping out things they are suspicious of than actually spreading the Gospel. Eventually they outlived the criticism and went on to win many awards, including four Grammys for Best Rock Gospel Album.

Being the first major band to introduce rock music to a culture known for being largely hostile to it, they were no strangers to controversy, including the predictable accusations from MoralGuardians that they were hiding Satanic messages in their songs. They fired right back with songs such as "Witch Hunt", which accuses their critics of caring more about stamping out things they are suspicious of than actually spreading the Gospel. Eventually they outlived the criticism and went on to win many awards, including four Grammys for Best Rock Gospel Album.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: Every time they've returned from one of their attempts to be LighterAndSofter, but especially ''Jekyll & Hyde''.
** The reuniting of the "classic" lineup (technically the ''first'' classic lineup with the keyboardist from the second) in 2010.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Nearly every song contains some paraphrase of a Bible passage. And in case anyone don't get the reference, the reference was always printed above the lyrics in the liner notes.

* ChristianRock: One of the first rock bands to have a major impact on the christian music culture.

Or you can let the Old Man take his toll\\

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The reaction to changes during the '90s.