The Petra Zone

I know I'm rather late, but I just bought The Power of Praise (Petra's newest greatest hits release on Word Records) last week. I'd like to share some observations with you.

First, I think Word has shown their goal in releasing this greatest hits album so soon after Still means war. Money seems to be their only goal. The inside comments about worship might sound very sincere and I don't doubt they are, but I think it's rather misplaced in such a release that is only there to let Word get more money.

Second, the song selection doesn't show a lot of creativity. The album is almost a combination of Petra Praise and Petra Praise 2. They could've picked more songs from other records.

Third, the Double Take recording of Creed appears on this album. I don't get it. Creed is well-known in the Beyond Belief recording and Word has the rights of Beyond Belief, so why did they choose to include the Double Take recording?? Not that it's not a good song, but it's not a hit, such as Creed from Beyond Belief.

Fourth, as with Still means war, all the songs have been remastered. I haven't had time to listen to the entire album yet, but the re-mastering on some songs of Still means war adds a bonus to the album. Perhaps it is the same with The Power of Praise.

Fifth, and perhaps most interesting to all you petheads. Listen carefully to the recording of We hold our hearts out to You on The Power of Praise and compare it to the recording on No doubt. You'll notice the drums that are there right from the beginning. They did not include the original album version but a slighty altered mix, called the 'Hot mix' that was released as a single to radio stations. For details on this single, check this page.

For the record... when I was approached by Word to do a "Power of Praise" contest (several Webmasters were, not just me), I actually emailed someone at Inpop and told them what was up (Word re-releasing some old stuff to coincide with a new REAL release). That person emailed me back with the attitude that it's kind of how things work, especially in tough economic times. They said, "I wish WE had enough back catalog to do that!" I'm the first to knock all the compilations, but I guess we can't be TOO hard on Word if Inpop isn't even unhappy about it! And at least these compilations, as uninteresting as they are to a true Pethead, do have actual themes to them... the Star Song compilations, at least the last several, don't really even have a reason for being.

Oh well, I guess you just never know. The "War and Rememberance" package is good and "Petraphonics" is pretty good, but that's about it. The others don't serve any purpose. It's the way they do this when a new album comes out that I have trouble with. I've said it before, the business world stinks big time.