Petra

THE Christian Rock band. Not technically the first, but the first to have a major impact on the culture. Formed in 1972 by Bob Hartman (who had himself just become a Christian at the time) and some friends of his from college, but best known for their work during The Eighties. Appropriately enough, their name is simply Greek for "rock".

The band underwent many, many changes in both its lineup and its sound over the years, but its most well-known lineups -- and the only ones that lasted for more than two albums -- were Bob Hartman (guitars), Greg X. Volz (vocals), John Slick (keyboards), Louie Weaver (drums), and Mark Kelly (bass); and Bob Hartman, John Schlitt (vocals), John Lawry (keyboards), Louie Weaver, and Ronnie Cates (bass). These changes, mainly responding to the changing face of contemporary rock, were mostly welcomed, at least until The Nineties when they moved toward a more Alternative Rock sound, which left fans... disappointed. They returned to a hard rock sound in 2003, before finally disbanding.

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

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 Moral Guardians 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.

Discography (not counting concert albums or the many, many compilation albums released over the years, mainly by their former labels):


 * Petra (1974)
 * Come and Join Us (1977)
 * Washes Whiter Than (1979)
 * Never Say Die (1981)
 * More Power to Ya (1982)
 * Not of This World (1983)
 * Beat the System (1985)
 * Back to the Street (1986)
 * This Means War! (1987)
 * On Fire (1988)
 * Petra Praise: the Rock Cries Out (1989)
 * Beyond Belief (1990)
 * Unseen Power (1991)
 * Wake Up Call (1993)
 * No Doubt (1995)
 * Petra Praise II: We Need Jesus (1997)
 * God Fixation (1998)
 * Double Take (2000)
 * Revival (2001)
 * Jekyll & Hyde (2003)
 * Back to the Rock (2010, as Classic Petra)

Petra provides examples of:
"You can love the Rock, and let Him free your soul
 * Album Title Drop: On Fire (shouted in the song "Hit You Where You Live"), Unseen Power (a short spoken track at the end), and Wake-Up Call (a line from "Sleeping Giant")
 * As the Good Book Says: 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 Romans 6:6 in the King James Version made it impossible to understand that the song is not about a man killing his father. Never ones to shy away from controversy, these guys.
 * Awesome McCoolname: Greg X. Volz (one cash-in compilation by their previous label miswrote it as "Grex X. Volz", which is arguably even cooler).
 * Book Ends: "Visions" from Not of This World, and to a lesser extent the untitled instrumentals that opened and closed Unseen Power.
 * Christian Rock: One of the first rock bands to have a major impact on the Christian music culture.
 * The Cover Changes the Meaning: Their two(!) covers of "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" would probably count from the chorus alone, considering the source, but then we get retooled lyrics like

Or you can let the Old Man take his toll

It's never too late to change your mind"


 * Fan Community Nicknames: "Petheads".
 * Hope Spot: Jekyll & Hyde was their hardest album since 1990 at least, and highly acclaimed... but it was also their last.
 * Just for Pun: Quite a few titles, most of which are only puns in the context of the lyrics. "Altar Ego", "Killing My Old Man", "King's Ransom", "Dead Reckoning", "Midnight Oil", "Believer in Deed", and "Sincerely Yours".
 * Also, their name.
 * Long Runner: Thirty-four years officially, not counting various reunion tours.
 * Lighter and Softer: Washes Whiter Than, and pretty much everything from 1991 to 2000.
 * New Sound Album: It'd be easier to list the albums that don't count. So here they are: ...... Did I go too fast for you?
 * Power Ballad
 * Revolving Door Band
 * Rule of Cool: The '80s album covers, particularly those featuring the "Guitarships".
 * Subliminal Seduction: 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.
 * Take That: They had several songs that were critical of contemporary Christian culture, such as "Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows" and the aforementioned "Witch Hunt," which doubles as a Take That Critics of sorts (and a rare justified example).
 * Visual Pun: The cover of Unseen Power, a photo of turbine windmills.