More Power To Ya

More Power to Ya is the fifth studio album of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1982. This was the first album to feature Louie Weaver as the official drummer. It also features the vocals of bassist Mark Kelly in the song "Disciple".
Shortly after recording Never Say Die, Petra hired Louie Weaver, previously a drummer for early Christian rock acts Randy Matthews and Fireworks. The band's touring lineup was set, and Petra went on the road for 300 days in 1982, playing 162 shows, stopping only for the five weeks it took to record the follow-up album, More Power To Ya, that summer.
The album built on the themes introduced by its predecessor, from the artwork, again featuring electric guitars, this time doubling as Star Wars-style spaceships, to the music, which again featured a mix of hard-driving rockers and radio-friendly ballads. The formula was becoming clear: Two radio ballads (the title track and "Road to Zion" fitting the bill this time), one Volz-penned praise tune ("Praise Ye the Lord" on Never Say Die, "Let Everything That Hath Breath" for More Power to Ya), and six or seven straight-ahead progressive rock songs written by Hartman, touching on topics aimed mostly at young Christians.
Petra also used the record to defuse the backmasking controversy, which had begun to spread into Christian music, as conservative church leaders accused Christian artists of hiding subliminal messages that could only be heard when records were played in reverse. Inserting a blatant piece of backmasking in the break between the title track and hard rocker "Judas' Kiss," the band's message was less than subtle. Played in reverse, the backmasked portion stated: "What are you looking for the devil for when you oughta be looking for the Lord?" It was not the first, nor would it be the last, time Petra weighed in against critics of contemporary Christian music.
The title track became a smash radio hit, the fourth-hottest song of 1983 on Christian adult contemporary radio, and the album was hailed as Petra's best yet:
Ever since Washes Whiter Than, the "new" Petra has been working out the bugs of a polished pop-rock sound. With their latest release, More Power to Ya, say goodbye to bugs. Petra has crafted a style that could easily lock horns with anything on the industry charts and win.
The band also began receiving attention from the mainstream music industry, as Billboard dubbed More Power to Ya a "Top Album Pick" and praised the band's "surging music, tough lyrics and effective vocals." Helped by the positive press and Star Song's recent distribution deal with Word Records, the album quickly surpassed the sales of Never Say Die, jumping to sixth on the Billboard inspirational chart within three months and trailing only albums by pop and traditional Christian artists such as Amy Grant, Sandi Patti and the Imperials.
A year after its release, More Power to Ya remained one of the five best-selling albums in Christian music, while Never Say Die remained in the top 20, more than two years after it hit the shelves. At the end of 1982, the two albums had sold nearly 100,000 units combined. By the next summer, More Power to Ya alone had topped 125,000, a total nearly unthinkable for a Christian rock album just 12 months earlier. More Power to Ya would not drop out of the Top 40 Christian albums until June 1985, more than two and one-half years after its debut.
Originally released in 1982, this was Petra's fifth studio release and considered a "Top Album Pick" by Billboard. It was re-released many times and was also re-released in 2012 for it's 30th anniversary featuring 3 live bonus tracks taken from their 1986 live album, "Captured In Time And Space".

Lineup

Greg X. Volz (E-Band, Classic Petra, CPR) - Vocals
Bob Hartman (Classic Petra, II Guys From Petra) - Guitar
Mark Kelly (Classic Petra) - Bass
Louie Weaver (Randy Matthews, Fireworks, Classic Petra, CPR) - Drums
John Slick - Keyboards/Lead Vocals/Synthesizer

Guests

Steve Porcaro (Toto) - Synthesizer/Synth Programming