Early Years

Petra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 1996)
• Original Release Date: February 6, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Starsong / Emd
• ASIN: B000000UZ4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,584 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Praise Ye the Lord

2. Taste and See

3. Never Say Die

4. The Coloring Song

5. Chameleon

6. I'm Thankful

7. Why Should the Father Bother?

8. Mary's Song

9. Father of Lights

10. Yahweh Love

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Starsong just can't let go, November 25, 2000

By 

Brent A. Mikel (Maysville, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early Years (Audio CD)

Petra contracted with Starsong Records for several years during the late 70's and on through the 80's. When they joined Word/Epic with "Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out" in 1989, Starsong began releasing a myriad of best-of collections. Many were creatively titled "Rock Block," "Petraphonics," etc., but it is clear the business goals of Starsong were to capitalize many more times on the status of Petra. "Petra: The Early Years, Volume 1" plays into that collection of "best-of's."

It is humorous to note the cover shot of the CD has the Petra line-up that did NOT record many of the songs listed. Most of the songs were done with Greg X. Voltz singing lead vocals, and Rob Frazier sings lead on the only song Greg did not front ("Why Should the Father Bother?" - good song too). Yet, Petra did not hit its pinnacle until after vocalist John Schlitt joined the band, and he is pictured on the front CD jacket. If you want to be really picky, only Bob Hartman (guitars) played with Petra during that time. The other muscians in the photo did not join until later (oh well!). Petra has undergone many line-up changes over the years.

Anyway, this is a good collection of Petra songs coming from albums released in 1979 and 1981. The songs are well written and play out very well. You will be impressed with the quality of the recordings too. Buy this "best-of" collection only if you do not already have "Washes Whiter Than" and "Never Say Die." All the songs from "The Early Years" come from these two unique albums.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best songs, December 27, 1999

By 

"fionana" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early Years (Audio CD)

I will always be convinced that Petra's older music is the best, these songs on this album are certainly wonderful. I particularly like Taste And See, The Coloring Song, More Power To Ya and Yaweh Love.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Huh?, November 13, 2006

By 

M. McLaughlin (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early Years (Rpkg) (Audio CD)

Somebody please help me out here. Why is John Schlitt on the album cover (in a band photo that looks like the "Back to the Street" days) when all of the songs on this album are from a time before John Schlitt replaced Greg X Volz as lead vocalist? John Schlitt is not a part of any of these songs. Somebody really goofed up somewhere.

Regarding the lineup, I have all of the early Petra albums and this seems like a solid compilation, except that it does not include "Angel of Light". Mary's Song is a great song for the Christmas season (and originally written by comedian Mark Lowry).