You can’t keep a good man down, or in this case, a good band! Thanks to Inpop Records, the Petra drum keeps on beating. The line up returns to John Schlitt, Bob Hartman, and Louie Weaver, backed up by a production team of former Sonicflood members Jason Halbert and Dwayne Larring.

“Revival” has the makings of a modern worship album, but lacks the complete energy. For example, “The Noise We Make” drags slowly compared to the Chris Tomlin version. Marketing for “Revival” keyed on having key people listen to prereleases and not telling them who the band was. The word was that many couldn’t name the band. I’d say an old time fan would know John’s vocals right away, but they would also note the undesirable changes in style.

It’s not until half way through that I began to feel like this was a rock solid Petra album. “Jesus, Friend of Sinners” is the best of the new band/production teams efforts. It has the energy and enthusiasm that Petra is famous for. This continues with “Better Is One Day” and “We Want To See Jesus Lifted High.”

As an overall experience I want to expect more from this pioneering group. Old School Petra fans may feel the changes were not needed, but in their defense the band is still rockin’ and many of the risk taken with "Revival" may put crow on my plate. They’ve fought a hard battle to get this far and anything is possible.

-Ken W.