Customer Reviews

Come & Join Us

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Contrary to the last review of this CD, my personal opinion is that this album ushered in what was to be Petra's best years.

The title track, with the dual guitar riffs, was groundbreaking for its time. Christian rock music didn't sound this good. To appreciate this album's sound, you need to have been a Christian teen at the time of its release in 1977 and know what pitiful music we had to listen to from the Christain side of the house. With this album, Petra gave us Christains something to be proud of. It had the message AND it had a sound and production value that you didn't feal ashamed to put it on for friends.

This album is for the hardcore fan of today who wants to have all of Petra's music. And it is for oldtimers like me to be able to listen again to the music that helped to lay the foundation for which every single Christain rock band travels today.

I challenge anyone to find another Christian rock album put out in 1977 that even comes close to this album. I have no doubt you won't.

If you are a fan of the Greg X. Volz Petra, then you'll enjoy this album. It isn't very popular at all, but it includes a different version of "God Gave Rock and Rolll" and is alot like the Eagles. Great album!!!!!!!!

"Come and Join Us" may not be as polished as some of Petra's later work, but it's infinitely better than the stuff they cranked out after Greg X. Volz left the band (no offense to his replacement). "God Gave Rock 'n Roll to You" is, without a doubt, the best song on the album. It's a classic that ranks right up there with many of the legendary, secular songs of the 70's. As another reviewer mentioned, this album was particularly amazing when you considered the kind of "Christian Music" that had been put out up until that time. The late 70's was the the birth of true Christian rock (Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Keith Green and others were either exloding on to the scene or hitting their prime). This is a must-have for any die-hard Petra fan, and a great suggestion for anyone who loves classic rock.

After entering the scene in 1974 Petra returned three years later with a giant step away from their scattered, uneven and under produced self-titled debut. On Come And Join Us Petra gave us hints of things to come, including the debut of "guest vocalist" Greg X. Volz, who would go on to become the band's frontman for the next nine years. Most of the tracks on Come And Join Us lack the cohesiveness and punch of later efforts. The gem (unpolished as it is) on the project is "God Gave Rock And Roll To You."

This album is a worthy addition for true Petra fans and CCM music collectors. The casual fan who is familiar with Petra's later projects will not find much that is recognizable here. A better starting point would be 1979's breakthrough Washes Whiter Than.

-Mike

If you want a Petra album that has the refined work of Petra version 1.0, so to speak, then this is it. At the height of Christian rock's controversy within the established Christian radio community, Hartman wrote material that was so rockin' it had to be delayed for a later album; however, this album still has what it takes to get you going in a good, Christian direction. Petra (rock) on!

Don't get me wrong . . . I prefer early Petra. I believe that they really began to hit their stride with "Never Say Die," and I never really dug what they produced after Greg X Volz left the band. (Nothing against John Schlitt.)

HOWEVER . . . this album is an uneven release; the band clearly is still figuring out a lot of things- musically, lyrically, theologically. "Sally," a song about a girl who "used to be so nice" but now is "smokin' weed and drinkin' and probably fooled around" is embarrassing all around. The vocals on "Ask Him In" are overly smarmy (who gave THAT guy the mike?), and the "Star Wars laser sound solo" on one of the songs- I forget which- possibly "Holy Ghost Power," is disco-era excess at its best.

Despite these criticisms, I have to say that "God Gave Rock and Roll To You," is a classic. The album-opening performance here is better than the "Beat the System" rendition, and far preferable to the cover version by KISS (used in the sequel to "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure") The guitar work is a premonition of the great inter-locking guitar parts we'd hear on later tunes like "Chameleon." If the album were more like the title track, I probably would still own it. Instead, I gave my copy away to a fan who was curious about their earlier stuff

If you're a diehard Petra fan, go ahead and collect this one for interest and for the couple of truly great tracks. Otherwise, start with "Washes Whiter Than" and work your way forward.

I'll never forget how much grief this album gave me, because in my cassette only days, this album was way out of print in that format and my family had to search for me. I remember seeing cd copies and going near crazy because I wanted to hear it so bad. Well when I finally acquired it, "Come And Join Us" had to grow on me, but I gave it nearly as much listens as any of their other stuff. I was Petrafied back then, what can I say?

I'm really put off by how overlooked and shunned this album is. Bob Hartman only gave a small paragraph dedicated to it and reviewed none of the songs on the Petra "More Power To Ya" songbook. He also completely skipped it when he compiled the Definitive Collection when the band called it quits in 2005. I see alot of the reviews on here pretty much rate it as rubbish, saying "oh this is for completists only" or "try these other albums first". Well OK, maybe. But one thing I learned as a Petrafied fan over the years, the band evolved so many times with a revolving door of members and stylistic changes. It's all apple's and oranges really. Each era was pretty much its own thing. The early years with Greg Hough and Borb Hartman on vocals sounded more akin to Eagles country-esque 70's rock, the Greg X Volz days dominated much of the 80's with its groundbreaking albums like "Never Say Die" "More Power To Ya" and the techno flavored "Beat The System. Then with John Schlitt coming in the late 80's and John & Dino Elefante behind the knob turning, they got a Kansas/Def Leppard/AOR flavor that culminated in the mega hit album "Beyond Belief", the band at maybe their heaviest and most chart topping era.

So putting this album in comparison to all that and saying it sucks just isn't fair. As some of the other reviewers pointed out, what other band except maybe Rez was doing anything hard rock in the Christian scene? There couldn't have been much of a budget for something like "Come And Join Us" and yeah over 30 years later this sounds very dated. Obviously! But there's a definite progression here from the first album, which Hartman characterized as very green and not some of his best lyric writing. Not to mention it was made on a shoestring budget. "Come And Join Us" the band sounds more confident, performance-wise as well as lyric wise. You can sit back and take potshots at stuff like "Sally" or "Holy Ghost Power" if you like, but let's consider a few things. Sally may have some corny lyrics, but then again AC/DC has been writing silly hokey lyrics for decades and people still flock in droves to buy their new albums. Much the same could be said for KISS's lyrical dreck half the time. So what's wrong with being a little goofy in Christian rock? "Holy Ghost Power" is meant to be humorous, obviously, c'mon. And this album was recorded in the disco era, let's remember. Even KISS couldn't escape disco's evil clutches on their "Dynasty" album.

Let's consider the good stuff on here as well, like "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" with its awesome opening crescendo. Songs like the title track and "Without You I Would Surely Die" are straight forward rock songs that get from A to B. "Women Don't You Know" is my favorite, it basically turns into an extended jam session, changing up the pace and riff, giving everyone a chance to shine - even the bass player gets a few moments! The drum solo has always fascinated me and that silly laser effect, well who cares? Back then it was cool to mess around with synth effect in music, so why not? Hartman certainly isn't the best vocalist in the world, but he certainly doesn't sound out of place crooning over "Ask Him In" which sounds oddly reminiscent of old America. I don't hear anyone calling America smarmy. Best thing with "Come And Join Us" is to keep things in perspective, where the band was at the time, the technology and production. Every band grows and in Petra's case got better with every album, and this was a fun stepping stone in that process. Frankly I wish they'd made one or two more like it before they lapsed into the Greg Volz era. But oh well.

I don't own Petra's first cd but I own all the rest up to "This Means War" and from there I lost interest in what the band created. I think from that point the band went downhill dramatically. Anyway, I'm not going to waste time on a real cd review of this album. The album has a mix of vocalists and at least one of the singers has no business singing in ANY band, especially a rock band. There are many BAD tracks on this cd and three to five decent songs. Some of the songs on this cd are simply embarrassing and I would most definitely turn the cd down very low when another car was beside me. This cd is for HARDCORE Petra fans ONLY. Washes Whiter Than, which I think came NEXT, is LEAPS and BOUNDS above this effort. This cd doesn't show a lot of talent or promise. Good thing the band got it together rather QUICKLY.

After making a great self-titled album, Petra releases an album with nearly same style. Still, the quality of the songs isn't as good as it was in debut album. "God Gave Rock And Roll to You" is a great version of this Ballard's song. I would say that the music in itself is quite near the bands Led Zeppelin and AC/DC than Kansas, at least in this album and of course in debut album. It's with gospel lyrics however, and with a different kind of voice but still good rock. The song "Holy Ghost Power" is probably the funniest song in this album. The singer (Greg Hough) sings in a funny voice in that song. Greg Volz sings in two songs ("God Gave Rock And Roll to You" and "Woman Don't You Know"). Although there is great vocals and some great songs, the songs like "Sally" and "Where Can I Go" are not in my favorite top-lists. Recommended only if you are really great Petra fan.
Stars: God Gave Rock And Roll to You, Holy Ghost Power, Come And Join Us

This is my favorite Petra album, and I've been a Petra fan since 1988, when their 15th-anniversary collection WAR AND REMEMBRANCE first came out on CD.

First, the good news. This album is literally packed with great music, including the funk-edged "Holy Ghost Power"; Hartman's modernized (for its day) version of Psalm 139, "Where Can I Go"; and the bizarre instrumental stylings of "Woman Don't You Know." This album is a must-own for anyone, Christian or not, who enjoys well-played 1970's guitar rock!

However, I did--just today--discover one thing that surprises me about this album. Greg Hough's vocals on "Woman Don't You Know" sound greatly similar to Elton John's on "Pinball Wizard," the most well-known track from The Who's rock opera "Tommy." Why is this?

Anyway, let me close this review by saying that although I own this album on cassette tape, I would love to get it on CD one of these days!