Petra remasters

I know that Bob put together Classic Petra a few years ago and did an album that brought some of the old songs up to modern production.  Although there has been no update since February, Greg X. Volz was working with former members of Petra with a group called CPR (Classic Petra Revisited) and they were redoing even more Volz years' music.

I wonder why no one ever remastered their whole catalog and did a big box set?

Well, I will keep on wondering as I start on my own huge undertaking of creating my own remastered Petra history.

I would like to see a reissue or box set of nothing but their true rock songs.
You could probably fit all of them on 2 or three discs.
The one issue I always had with bands like Petra, White Heart, Liaison and other bands was they always had too many ballads and middle of the road songs, like they were trying to please everybody.

I would suspect it has to do with the label that owns the masters. Maybe they feel there isn't enough interest. And by re-recording the old tunes and making them better they own the rights to the new versions (like Stryper did).

Oh, for the band, re-recording is the way to go.  I am just surprised that the label/labels involved didn't come together to do a huge box set as this is one of the few bands in Christian rock that could actually pull this off due to having such a large body of work and fans of each or even both main eras.

Right now, I am working on remastering the Schlitt years.  This is my favorite era, but the latter albums where Bob was not recording with this are definitely not as good.  They were trying too hard to be alternative rock and CCM pop at the same time.  Petra means rock, and some of those albums just didn't.  But, it isn't quite as obvious until you boost everything in a remaster.  Everything is louder, and you will notice just how mellow the guitar tones are.

After that, I'll work on the Volz era. I might as well have the equivalent of a personal box set.

Was never a huge Petra fan.  Definitely like the Schlitt era best.  I did get to see them a couple of times in concert and they were great live.

Xid wrote:

Was never a huge Petra fan.  Definitely like the Schlitt era best.  I did get to see them a couple of times in concert and they were great live.

Same here (except I never saw them live).  The Schlitt era (at least the early rocking records) were my favorite.  I also agree with Dale, it would be great to just have the rockers on one big remastered compilation, much like White Heart many of their albums were just too laden with mellower stuff to keep me very interested.

I felt the same way with Idle Cure.  Heard "Breakaway" and went out and bought the album.  It wasn't bad, just needed more rockers.

Petra has released many CDs, long before I discovered the Christan Rock music.
That's why I only have Jekyll & Hyde.
I've to figure out if Petra was better with John Schlitt or with Greg X. Volt.

It really depends on what you are interested in, Vonnie.  If you like the more rock side of someone like Journey, then either era could be for you.  The only reason I like John Schlitt better is because he was the singer when I first discovered the band.  I have nothing against Volz's voice at all.  The other reason I like the Schlitt years better is because the older albums sound so dated.  That is why I am remastering everything I have of theirs--to bring it up to more current standards so I can really listen to everything.

I know I like the Volz years as I loved the Classic Petra album they did.  It had remakes of the old Volz tunes.

For you, I'd suggest Petra:

This Means War
On Fire!
Beyond Belief
Unseen Power
Wake Up Call
No Doubt

And from Classic Petra:

Back To The Rock

Wait, who's Petra? Never heard of them...

I like Schlitt better as a vocalist and Petra took on a little more edge to their music when he came on board.  Volz has an excellent voice and I liked the Beat the System album.

While I would never call Petra's music aggressive, having the albums boosted for today definitely showcase that they were a rock band but with some pop sensibilities.  The 70s and 80s were big on those fronts as the softer ballads got radio airplay.  With everything compressed, you can hear that Louie was a much better drummer as many of his runs/fills are kinda hidden in the mix.  He and the bass players definitely worked hard to put together a powerhouse rhythm section that is hard to hear on the original recordings.  Being remastered, you can hear this.  You can also hear a bit more of Bob's riffing and how he was emulating some of the 80s metal scene during the Schlitt years.

I've completed a few of their albums now.  Working with their music isn't hard as you have great recordings and plenty of frequency range to begin with.  "On Fire!" is huge sounding and comes off more like an 80s metal record.  "Wake Up Call" sounds more in line with the previous 3 or 4 albums as remastering makes the guitars a bit more crunchy overall.

I think I am going to run everything of theirs through the system just to see what, if anything, changes.

"Beyond Belief" is a masterpiece by itself, but it sounds even better with the sonics beefed up!  I never really thought so back when I heard it, but after remastering you can tell that this is on par with any keyboard laden hair metal band of the day like Europe, Bon Jovi, etc.

I am going to go all the way back to "Washes Whiter Than" just because I can.  I won't do their debut as I have never liked it.  There are two or three songs on it I like but I don't even own a digital copy of it.

Beyond Belief is easily my favorite of their Schlitt era.

On Fire!, Beyond Belief, Unseen Power, and Wake Up Call are 4 in a row hits for me.  Add Jekyll & Hide to the list, and those would be the best that Petra did in their whole career in my opinion.

Beyond Belief is a great album.

Chris, thanks for the suggestions.
You know I'm a hard rocker.
I've to check out the albums you've listed for me.

Chris, thanks for the suggestions.
You know I'm a hard rocker.
I've to check out the albums you've listed for me.

Would you ever share those remasters with us Chris? I think most of us would be honest about whether we already own the albums or not. (I own them all.) I'd love to hear the improved sonics you're describing.

Follower of Jesus wrote:

Would you ever share those remasters with us Chris? I think most of us would be honest about whether we already own the albums or not. (I own them all.) I'd love to hear the improved sonics you're describing.

I am reluctant simply because I got slammed pretty hard for sharing them before when I was doing them.

This brings to mind a question I've had for awhile. Since there are folks here with real experience in the recording biz, I'll fire away.

How do you remaster or remix something if you don't have access to the original tapes? I know the EDM world is all about remixes. Alldat mentioned doing a remaster. What does this mean? How do you do that? Hip-hop's use of samples I completely understand, but this has me stumped.

With a remix, you have to have the original source material because you are literally mixing the individual tracks that were laid in the studio.

With remastering, though, you really only need a clean digital copy.  You can adjust the EQ to make some things stand out more.  You can add more compression to hold back overly loud frequencies and excite quieter ones so that you get two things.  If the mix was originally done right, then you will get more clarity in the overall sound with remastering.  Also, you get more volume.

With my personal remasters, I also adjusted the overall volume (called normalization) of all of Petra's albums so that they all seem like they have the same loudness.  It isn't an exact science there, but all the albums seem to be the same loudness overall.  That is a plus as mixes and masters of albums have only gotten louder.  Petra's early catalog isn't nearly as loud as say "Jekyll & Hyde".  With mine, they are very similar.

alldat, I'm assuming you are aware of the "Loudness Wars". isn't it bad to increase the volume because of that?

Not really.  You have to play around with the volume of the finished master to find the threshold of where you are creating ear fatigue.  What is ear fatigue?  Have you ever listened to something that you should have liked but something just turned you off instantly?  Many times, it will be cymbals too loud or the overall production is muddy because of too much loudness.  You can't put your finger on it, but it just doesn't sound right.  The more you listen to it the more your ears get tired.

With mastering or remastering, you don't want to reach the ear fatigue level.  You want a big modern sound even with older releases.  Of course, you won't get something super old (like the 70s Petra albums for example) to reach modern levels.  They were recorded in analog and made to have a warmer sound that focused more on the guitars, keys, and vocals.  Most of today's music is recorded thick and muddy and focuses on the bass and drums.  That thick bass-heavy sound causes ear fatigue when you listen for a while.  I think that, for me, this is why I grow tired of many modern rock bands like Skillet, The Letter Black, etc.

so, in what you are describing, you are not cutting off the highs as this guy describes on these two snare hits?