Petra - The Early Years

Reviewed by Norman Smith

Back to the dark ages of 1979 and 1981 for this 10 song collection culled from the albums 'Washes Whiter Than' and Never Say Die'. Two years does make a difference. The later Never Say Die' tracks being better produced, displaying more effective understated use of multi-harmonies and giving the two outstanding songs, "The Coloring Song" (erm... my spelling's not too hot either) and "Chameleon" which is a timeless attack on compromised Christianity. And that's about it really. At least half of this album is best forgotten, but let's face it - 1979 was a pretty big time duff year for music: Supertramp and Disco were major players, so Petra weren't alone on the field of mediocrity. The Early Years' is welcomingly low-budget price. Shame it's mostly low-budget material too.