Search - Various Artists :: Never Say Dinosaur

Great tribute/cover album

rnorton828 | Riverbend, IL | 02/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1996, Star Song Records, which had been Petra's home label during the 80's, released Never Say Dinosaur, a compilation album of artists recording covers in Petra classics in their own respective styles. For the most part, I found this CD to be quite enjoyable. Was Star Song just looking for another way to cash in on Petra other than issuing another "Best of" compilation? More than likely, but it was great to hear many of these artists pick up these classic songs and put their own creative stamp on them. My favorite songs here include Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows, covered by Jars of Clay, All the King's Horses by Plankeye, Road to Zion by Sixpence None the Richer and Galactic Cowboys' remake of Not of This World. Other tracks I liked included The Walter Eugenes' cover of Judas' Kiss, Audio Adrenaline's Taste and See, Yahweh Love by Sarah Jahn and Wake Up by Grammatrain. Nearly all of the songs covered here are from Greg X. Volz era of Petra. The only song from the John Schlitt era that is remade on this CD is All the King's Horses (from This Means War!). It would be nice to see another CD with some more songs from the Schlitt era being covered, plus a few more from the GXV era as well. Altogether, Never Say Dinosaur is a great cover album, and a fitting tribute to a band that has just retired after 33 years of music ministry. Petra's music lives on through the artists they have influenced, and this CD is a testament to that."

I really wanted to like this one...

Chad Oberholtzer | Boalsburg, PA, USA | 03/31/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'll show my cards right away and admit that I'm a huge fan of Petra. I have many of their albums and enjoy them all. So, I had big hopes for this tribute album, in which some quality bands play some of Petra's classic tunes. I was sorely disappointed.



One issue is that only a handful of the bands on this album are still on the music radar, just ten years later. Jars of Clay and Audio Adrenaline are still alive and well, for good reason, but most of the other groups or individuals have either disbanded or disappeared into irrelevance. That is for good reason, too. Quite frankly, most of them are rather forgettable.



The other issue is that the arrangements of most of these songs just don't work. Quite honestly, there are only a few songs that are even tolerable. Jars of Clay does a decent job on "Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows," and Sixpence None the Richer's version of "Road to Zion" is solid. There are few others that are mediocre, but most of the songs are actually quite painful to the ears. I have no idea if any of the bands did their own arrangements or if someone else can be blamed for the problems, but it's just bad. I understand that the attempt was to contemporize these classic Petra hits, but something was amiss. Maybe Petra songs don't translate well to other bands, or maybe they were just poorly executed.



In any case, I really don't like this album much at all. I have concluded that I'll stick to Petra doing Petra. That'll work just fine for me. Unless you have a particular band or song that you'd like to hear done differently than elsewhere, I'd have a hard time recommending this album to anyone. Die-hard Petra fans will wonder what happened to their favorite songs, and non-Petra folks will just think it's weird. I appreciate the effort, but it's just badly done."

THIS CD IS ''DA BOMB DIGGITY"!!

Chad Oberholtzer | 07/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I simply love this CD. It is great for long road trips with a group full of jr. high / high school kids. My favorite song is the Coloring Song; it's too corny to not like."