Washes Whiter Than - 1979 - Star Song

Petra went through a lot of changes for this album, but with their lineup and musically. They went from a hard rock sound in their first two albums to a more mellow 70's soft rock sound on this album. John Degroff is out as well as Greg Hough, and in is Rob Frazier on lead vocals and keyboards. Greg X. Volz is also back again as the guest lead singer for a second album. However, shortly after this album was released, Rob Frazier left the band and Greg Volz accepted the role as the sole lead singer. No more do you hear Bob Hartman on lead vocals, though he does sing backing vocals. The album starts of with "I'm Thankful", which is soft rock song but it does have a fantastic melody and lyrics. You hear a lot more acoustic guitar on this album, on songs such as "Why Should the Father Bother?", "Yahweh Love", and "Mary's Song", "Yahweh Love" being the best of these 3 in my opinion. The vocal melody and chorus are just heavenly (and really fun to sing). My guess is they were trying to get more mainstream with thier sound and "radio friendly", as well as "Christian friendly" since even in the late 70s, many Christians considered rock the "devil's music". That doesn't mean this album doesn't have song nice rock songs. The top picks on this album musically are the "Magic" songs, "Magic Words" and "Magic Mirror". The guitar is still a little chunky and the solos are great, but the vocals certainly steal the show. Sadly, when the compilation album came out for this, "Magic Words" and "Couldn't Find Love Without You" was omitted because they couldn't fit on the CD. In my opinion, that was a poor decision and these albums should have been released separately. However, you can find these songs on YouTube.

Rating:

SONG LIST:

1. I'm Thankful

2. Why Should the Father Bother

3. Morning Star

4. Magic Mirror

5. Mary's Song

6. Yahweh Love

7. Couldn't Find Love Without You

8. Taste and See

9. Magic Words

10. Deep Love

Petra was:

Rob Frasier: Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Bob Hartman: Guitars

Greg X. Volz: Vocals

Drums: Randy Nichols (studio)

Bass: Chip Meyers (studio)