After more than 50 years of making Christian rock history, Petra may have recorded its final album-and the band made sure it wouldn't go out on a disappointing note.
Petra frontman John Schlitt has revealed that the legendary Christian rockers approached their latest album, Hope, believing it could be their last. In a new interview with ChurchLeaders, Schlitt and founder Bob Hartman also opened up about career regrets, lessons learned the hard way and the surprising staying power of Petra's music.
"We figured it was our last album and we didn't want people going, 'Oh, they should have stuck with the last one,'" Schlitt admitted.
That possibility apparently put extra pressure on the band while making Hope. Schlitt said Petra spent a full year working on the record, refusing to settle until each song felt right.
"It took us a year to do it, because every song had to be reworked and reworked and reworked until we were happy with it," he explained.
The finished album even surprised Schlitt.
"I love all 10 songs," he said. "This one totally surprised me."
Hartman singled out "Looking Back" as his favorite song on Hope. The track has become particularly meaningful as he reflects on God's faithfulness throughout his life and Petra's remarkable journey.
"Now I look and I say that's why that was there," Hartman said. "God is so amazing."
But the conversation wasn't entirely nostalgic. Schlitt also dropped a startling admission about one decision he wishes he could undo: Petra's No Doubt tour.
"I would have told myself, cancel the 'No Doubt' tour," Schlitt said.
Why? The decision apparently came with a financial price that lasted far longer than the tour itself.
"It put me in debt for 10 years," Schlitt revealed, adding that pride influenced his thinking at the time. "I was listening with my heart rather than my head."
Hartman has his own advice for his younger self. After decades of criticism and outside opinions about Petra and its approach to Christian rock, he said he wishes he had spent less time listening to what other people thought the band should be doing.
"I would tell myself, stop listening to other people and what they say you're doing and you should do or you shouldn't do," Hartman said. "God was sending me on a straight line, but I was being influenced by what I was hearing."
Despite the mistakes and pressures along the way, Hartman believes Petra's music has endured because its central message has remained unchanged.
"I think Petra's music is timeless," he said. "The message never changes."
And Petra's story isn't disappearing quietly. The band's music will soon reach movie theaters through Beyond Belief, which releases Aug. 28. Hartman hopes the film will introduce a younger generation to Petra-not simply because he wants the band rediscovered, but because he still believes in the message behind the songs.
Whether Hope really becomes Petra's final album remains to be seen. But after more than five decades of groundbreaking Christian rock, controversy, success, setbacks and comebacks, Schlitt and Hartman sound determined that if this is the band's last studio statement, Petra will finish on an album they're proud to leave behind.
