The Petra Zone

To me "God Fixation" is the most current sounding Petra album of all, with Petra Praise II a close second. The sound, mix of styles, the natural sound of guitars and drums, and the normal range use of John's voice make it my favorite album to listen to right now without it sounding outdated at all. It has way less proccesing of the guitars and drums, so you hear a real classic sound, and I mean tube amp sounds on guitars and real skins on drums with different intensity on snare drum beats for example.

Also "Magnet of the World" and "Set for Life" somehow remind me in sound and structure to some of the tunes in "Not of This World", like "Occupy" for example.

What do you guys think?

I can see what you're saying. I imagine GF and PP2 will age better than the Elefante stuff.

I don't think any discussion of God Fixation can take place without excerpts from this interview John did with HM magazine, probably one of the most frank exchanges about a band's change in direction I've ever read:

The new album, God Fixation, is really a drastic change in style from previous Petra albums... The real question, then, is how committed are you guys to this particular musical style? And answer in this vein: Petra's popularity had been slipping. How much of a role did your slipping popularity play in your decision to play "modern rock?" And if modern rock wasn't "in," would you still have chosen that style?

John replied first by noting the obvious: that Petra has always attempted to shift with the musical styles, which is why you can divide Petra into four distinct musical eras: Late 1970s, early-mid 1980s, late 1980s/early 1990s, and mid 1990s-on. Anyway, the conversation goes on about how committed Petra is to modern rock, as opposed to other kinds of rock, etc. And then we get to this exchange:

What I am wondering is if a lack of commitment to a particular style shows on the album?

"I don't think so. I figure the typical critic will say, 'Ah, there's a fresh new sound, but I can still hear the Petra.' Maybe not... You have opinions. Are you saying we went too far? That it doesn't sound like Petra anymore?"

That's exactly what I'm saying.

"Well buddy, Petra wasn't selling worth a stink. Petra was going down the drain (because of internal problems), and I don't want to go down the drain yet. Personally, if it means kids are interested in a new style, I believe we can do it. If it means getting three new members to do it, I guess it has to be done."

I think God Fixation is the product of an extremely troubled time for Petra, and the result was a subpar album with a few all-too-brief highlights.

I wonder if that troubled time is reflected lyrically. The unrest, the uncertainty, the need to refocus on Christ after tumult. Over the Horizon specifically could be addressing that.

Well, to me GF sounds similar to NOTW and MPTY.

Jonathan wrote:I can see what you're saying. I imagine GF and PP2 will age better than the Elefante stuff.

I think that GF and PP2 were both produced by the Elefantes. John sand on PP2.

Jonathan wrote:I can see what you're saying. I imagine GF and PP2 will age better than the Elefante stuff.

Or maybe the sound of 1988 will be really hot in year 2040

CatNamedManny wrote:I don't think any discussion of God Fixation can take place without excerpts from this interview John did with HM magazine, probably one of the most frank exchanges about a band's change in direction I've ever read:

The new album, God Fixation, is really a drastic change in style from previous Petra albums... The real question, then, is how committed are you guys to this particular musical style? And answer in this vein: Petra's popularity had been slipping. How much of a role did your slipping popularity play in your decision to play "modern rock?" And if modern rock wasn't "in," would you still have chosen that style?

John replied first by noting the obvious: that Petra has always attempted to shift with the musical styles, which is why you can divide Petra into four distinct musical eras: Late 1970s, early-mid 1980s, late 1980s/early 1990s, and mid 1990s-on. Anyway, the conversation goes on about how committed Petra is to modern rock, as opposed to other kinds of rock, etc. And then we get to this exchange:

What I am wondering is if a lack of commitment to a particular style shows on the album?

"I don't think so. I figure the typical critic will say, 'Ah, there's a fresh new sound, but I can still hear the Petra.' Maybe not... You have opinions. Are you saying we went too far? That it doesn't sound like Petra anymore?"

That's exactly what I'm saying.

"Well buddy, Petra wasn't selling worth a stink. Petra was going down the drain (because of internal problems), and I don't want to go down the drain yet. Personally, if it means kids are interested in a new style, I believe we can do it. If it means getting three new members to do it, I guess it has to be done."

I think God Fixation is the product of an extremely troubled time for Petra, and the result was a subpar album with a few all-too-brief highlights.

Hey! I still have that issue of HM...the Petra article is the reason I bought it.

As everyone around here knows, I find GOD FIXATION to be far from a subpar album. In fact, it's my favorite Petra album.

I still remember seeing Petra on the farewell tour. At the meet-and-greet after the show, I handed my GOD FIXATION album to John and Bob to autograph.

After John happily signed it, he handed it to Bob. Bob had a "WTF?!" look on his face...it was priceless! I said, "I know you didn't play on it, but you did write most of it.". Bob laughed and replied, "Yes...yes I did!".

I told them both that the reason GOD FIXATION was so special to me was because it helped me grieve after my Dad died. Bob tentatively asked, "Was your Dad a Christian?". I said, "Yes...he got saved four days before he died.". Bob replied, "Praise God! Then you will see him again.".

There are times when God Fixation to me is a great album, but there are times when I feel its an average one.

1. Bridge work on the album is great artistry
2. Louie truly shines on this one like WUC; you have to wonder what type of enhancement Louie would have brought to the table if he would have played on all the albums.
3. There are some huge throw aways on this one you think what were they thinking.
4. Music on some songs don't fit the lyrics like Hello Again.
5. IMO the guitar work is subpar @ best.

IMO its a bottom 10 CD for Petra's catalog

I remember when I bought God Fixation back in 1998. Sincerely, I was expecting a more powerful album (musically speaking). I listened all the songs and then... I said: "This is not a hard rock album but I like St. Augustine Pears"... Now, after 12 years I say : " I love this album, specially the song: Falling Up"... Of course, St. Augustine Pears, still, is one of my all time favorite Petra songs.