The Petra Zone

In my opinion...in this order

Jackyll and Hyde
Unseen Power
Revival
Petra Praise II: We need jesus
Not This World
No Doubt
Beyond Belief
Wake Up call
On Fire
Captured in time and Space

Here is my vote:

Jeckyll and Hyde
Unseen Power
Wake Up Call
No Doubt
Petra Praise I
BEyond Belief
Revival
Rock Block
God Fixation

And best two solos: "Unfit for Swine," and "Shake."

my vote
Jeckill and hide
beyond belief
on fire
this means war
no doubt
not of this world
petrapraise1
We need jesus
washes water than
revival

According to almost 500 Petra fans who have voted so far on A Guide to Petra, here are the current top 10 favorites:

1. Beyond Belief (349 votes)
2. On Fire! (213 votes)
3. This Means War! (203 votes)
4. Unseen Power (202 votes)
5. Wake-Up Call (163 votes)
6. More Power To Ya (154 votes)
7. Beat The System (142 votes)
8. Jekyll & Hyde (127 votes)
9. No Doubt (123 votes)
10. Not Of This World (123 votes)

Captured in Time & Space is a close runner-up... in fact, if you take into account the people who voted for their LEAST favorites (counting a -1 for each Least Favorite, so a Favorite and a Least Favorite cancel each other out) Captured actually replaces No Doubt on the top 10 list (and the order changes somewhat).


See all the voting results - Add Your Votes

These are mine, There probably somewhat different from most lists.


10. Never Say Die- The first Petra I ever heard.
9. Wake-Up-Call- The drumming was awesome, but lacked the heavy guitars of the past.
8. Come&Join Us- Guitar work was really cool.
7. Not Of This World- A lot of great lyrical points.
6. God Fixation- Very underated, the bridges on each song were very catchy.
5. On Fire- Until JAH the heaviest Petra has ever been.
4. This Means War- I liked the whole theme of the album WAR! The best album cover.
3. Beyond Belief- All the songs are very strong.
2. More Power To Ya- This album really spoke to me, and still does today.
1. Jeckyl&Hyde-This will go down as one of the greatest CCM albums of all time. This is what Petra has wanted to do for years now, and what they should have been doing all along.


2 notables missing:

No Doubt- By far their worst did not like the electronic drums. Even though John seems to like it, Bob will tell you it was a BIG mistake(read his book)
Beat The System- A lyrical album but was really lacking the punch of the 2 previous albums. John Lawry and Bob were the only 2 to play on the album. The drums and bass lines were down with keys and computers.

Executioner... I have to say, I agree with you on almost every point! My order is a little different, but you have a lot of very valid points. My top and bottom five are on my site already...

i remember reading something about the producer of CITAS hiring some keyboard players for the recording sessions, which would mean John Lawry didn't play on it.

I don't think there's a Petra CD I dislike...So I'm easy to please, so sue me. I do like some more than others, however.

My list:

1. Beyond Belief...There's just something special about this one. It's worth listening to it for the title song, "Prayer" and "Love" alone. And Johnny and Ronny were still with the band, too.

2. J&H...They should have done this one a long time ago.

3. This Means War...Good spiritual warfare stuff. "Don't Let Your Heart Be Hardened" still makes me cry. So I'm sentimental.

4. Back To The Street...The first CD John did with Petra...Need I say more? Worth it just for "Thankful Heart".

5. On Fire...Real rocking stuff. And yes the mushy ballads. I love "First Love" and "I Am Available."

6. Beat The System...The first Petra CD (album at the time) I ever heard, it's special to me.

7. More Power To Ya...Worth listening to for the title song, "Judas' Kiss" and "Rose Colored Stain Glass Windows" alone.

8. Not Of This World...I'd have gotten it just for the title song, but good stuff.

9. Wake Up Call

10. Unseen Power

Honorable mention...God Fixation, I think it's a very underrated album. I know not everyone cares for it, but it has some good songs on it. "Over The Horizon" is a beautiful song. I agree "No Doubt" isn't one of their strongest albums, but I like the title song a lot.

Of course John's solo albums deserve to be mentioned, and Greg's solo albums are good too.

Shell,

I am Available is on This Means War! , not On Fire!

Petrafan,

How did John not play on the album? It was live recording of a concert, and John did the whole tour.

MJ,

I'm kind of surprised about your least fav being Unseen Power. What are some of the things you did not like about it?

Yep, you're right Exe, my mistake. "First Love" is on "On Fire" though. "Open Book" is another good one on "On Fire."

Many times, studio muscians will be used when a CD is being recorded. I think I read somewhere a studio musician played on "Beat The System," although it has been awhile and I'm not positive. That may be the one he's thinking about; I don't know how they could do that with a live CD either. I'm not sure about the reasoning behind that, unless it's just a decision the producer or whoever makes. Johnny sure did rock in concert. They should have turned him loose when they were recording in the studio.

My top ten list 1Beyond Belief 2 More Power To Ya 3 On Fire 4 Unseen Power 5 No Doubt 6 Wake Up Call 7 We Need Jesus 8 Not Of This World 9 Double Take 10 Beat The System. All of these albums had many good songs to listen to. Notables that i didn't include in my top ten list but i still like are Jekkyl and Hyde, Back to the Street and Revival.[

Shell,

I believe there was someone on there that did the fairlight programming, which has something to do with using a computer as an instrument. I guess that is where the programable drums and bass came in; Other than that only Bob & Johnnie played on the album. I do not know anything about on how to record an album, so maybe someone else can enlighten us.