Revival [Import]

Instead the band found new legs by first persuading the group's founder and leader, brilliant guitarist Bob Hartman, to join them once again and then teaming up an agressive marketing campaign with their new label, InPop. The result is the finest Petra album in ten years.

How did the band do it? Well for starters, they finally dropped the Elephante Brothers as their producers, who refused to push Petra to experiment and helped lead them from being the biggest Christian rock band in the world to one they had trouble selling out small church venues. Nothing against John and Dino Elephante, they were excellent producers for Petra in the late 80s and early 90s, but they often allowed stale songwriting and poor song structure to keep the band from staying relevant. 1998's "God Fixation" is a classic example of potential cut short.

However, producers Dwayne Larring and Jason Halbert of "Revival" deserve the MVP awards for the album, whose sampling job and production is literally fantastic. Larring and Halbert also pushed Schlitt, Hartman and Weaver to experiment with a more modern sound, rather than use the same formula over and over.

There are numerous highlights on the album, including the gripping "Send Revival", one of the best pure modern rock songs to emerge from the Gospel Music scene since Prayer Chain's landmark "Mercury" album of 1995. Have to admit, didn't think this band had it in them.

The remake of "The Noise We Make" is solid, and "Oasis" and "Prodigal Son" sound like radio hits to me. However, the highlight of the album is the fantastic cover of "Amazing Grace", sure to become a staple of Petra's live shows for years to come. "Meet with Me" and "How Long" are both excellent songs. "Better is One Day" seems a little forced, but the album is a five stars because, Praise the Lord, Petra took the risks and reinvented their music yet again, similar to U2's numerous musical reinventions.

Hats off to this pioneer band in Christian music, one that I have been following since my childhood but had largely lost me in the late 1990s. Like a old friend that has returned, Petra's "Revival" album is sure to bring many old fans back into the fold and introduce their music to a new generation of fans.

By the time _Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus_ rolled around, Petra's popularity was waning, so they played it safe, focusing on making good music rather than pushing the envelope. Again, it worked, and four of the songs on that album ("Song of Moses", "Ancient of Days", "Lovely Lord", "We Need Jesus") are among the best songs Petra has ever recorded.

Now we have _Revival_, which is neither original nor musically excellent. And while songs like "Send Revival, Start with Me" and "How Long" are truly moving, others, like "The Prodigal's Song" and "Meet with Me" are pleasant but never really build to anything. The result is an enjoyable album that plays much better than other Petra albums in the last decade (_No Doubt_, _God Fixation_, _Wake-up Call_) but pales in comparison with such greatness as _Beyond Belief_ and _Not of This World_.

I don't fault Petra for that, however. The album is well produced, with lots of guitar work and excellent stereophonic separation. The cover design is nice (I love the reverse image underneath the CD), and songs are presented in a good order to keep the album rocking almost from start to finish. No, I think the weakness lies mainly in the song selection. So many artists are doing praise albums now that most of the best songs have been taken. So Petra did the best they could with what they had to work with. To keep this review from sounding too negative (I really do like the album) let me put it in perspective: _Revival_ is obviously meant to be a transitional album for the band. Their last transitional albums (_Back to the Street_, _Wake-up Call_) were not very good. _Revival_ is better than both of them combined! I can't wait to see where this will lead.

Grade: B-