The Petra Zone

I recieved the 40th anniversary compilation set today and it inspired me to make a list of the Ulimate compilation set that I would do if I had the power to do so. I decided that it would be a 3 CD set. One CD would be compiled of the songs from each album (not including Praise 1, Praise 2 and revival albums) that appeared most on all the other Petra Compilation albums. The second CD would be compiled of all my personal favorites from each album (2 from Beyond Belief to make 20 songs). Or my second favorite if my favorite was on the first CD. The 3rd CD would be compiled with 1 song from each album that has yet to appear on any other compilation albums. Feel free to comment or make your own.

DISC 1- most popular Petra songs on compilation albums
1. Backslidin' Blues (Petra)
2. God Gave Rock N' Roll To You (Come & Join Us)
3. Why Should The Father Bother (Washes Whiter Than)
4. The Coloring Song (Never Say Die)
5. More Power To Ya (More Power To Ya)
6. Grave Robber (Not Of This World)
7. Adonai (Beat The System)
8. Thankful Heart (Back To The Street)
9. This Means War! (This Means War!)
10. All Fired Up! (On Fire!)
11. Creed (Beyond Belief)
12. Dance (Unseen Power)
13. Just Reach Out (Wake-Up Call)
14. No Doubt (No Doubt)
15. God Fixation (God Fixation)
16. Jekyll & Hyde (Jekyll & Hyde)

DISC 2- My favorites of the rest
1. Gonna Fly Away (Petra)
2. Without You I Would Surely Die (Come & Join Us)
3. I'm Thankful (Washes Whiter Than)
4. Angel Of Light (Never Say Die)
5. Judas Kiss (More Power To Ya)
6. Bema Seat (Not Of This World)
7. It Is Finished (Beat The System)
8. Shakin' The House (Back To The Street)
9. Kenaniah (This Means War)
10. Hit You Where You Live (On Fire!)
11. The King Of Glory Shall Come In (Petra Praise)
12. I Am On The Rock (Beyond Belief)
13. Underground (Beyond Belief)
14. Destiny (Unseen Power)
15. Strong Convictions (Wake Up Call)
16. Heart Of A Hero (No Doubt)
17. A Matter Of Time (God Fixation)
18. Ancient Of Days (Praise 2)
19. Oasis (Revival)
20. Stand (Jekyll & Hyde)

DISC 3- Never before released on a compilation album
1. I'm Not Ashamed (Petra)
2. Where Can I Go (Come & Join Us)
3. Magic Mirror (Washes Whiter Than)
4. I Can Be Friends With You (Never Say Die)
5. Run For The Prize (More Power To Ya)
6. Blinded Eyes (Not Of This World)
7. Speak To The Sky (Beat The System)
8. Another Crossroad (Back To The Street)
9. All The Kings Horses (This Means War!)
10. Defector (On Fire!)
11. Last Daze (Beyond Belief)
12. Hey World (Unseen Power)
13. Underneath The Blood (Wake Up Call)
14. More Than A Thousand Words (No Doubt)
15. St. Augustine's Pears (God Fixation)
16. Test Of Time (Jekyll & Hyde)

It is important to note that "I Can Be Friends with you" made the 3rd disc by default because all of the other songs from "Never Say Die" appear on at least 1 compilation album. The albums from "Never Say Die" to "Beat The System" are well represented on compilation albums. There aren't very many songs to choose from on those albums to put on the 3rd disc.

When you look at all the great songs Petra has had over the years, this was quite hard to do. I took about three songs from each of their albums and came up with a "5-CD Set":

Disc One
Wake Up
Storm Comin'
Backslin' Blues
Without You I Would Surely Die
Come and Join Us
Woman Don't You Know
Why Should the Father Bother
Yahweh Love
Taste and See
The Coloring Song
Chameleon
Praise Ye the Lord

Disc Two
More Power to Ya
Judas' Kiss
Road to Zion
Not of this World
Grave Robber
Pied Piper
Beat the System
It Is Finished
Hollow Eyes
John's Solo/Jesus Loves You/The Race
Bob's Solo
Louie's Solo

Disc Three
King's Ransom
Fool's Gold
Thankful Heart
This Means War!
He Came, He Saw, He Conquered
Get on Your Knees and Fight Like a Man
Mine Field
First Love
Somebody's Gonna Praise His Name
I Love the Lord
No Weapon Formed Against Us
I Will Celebrate/When the Spirit of the Lord

Disc Four
I Am on the Rock
Creed
Beyond Belief
Dance
Sight Unseen
Hey World
Praying Man
Underneath the Blood
Sleeping Giant
No Doubt
Right Place
Think on These Things

Disc Five
Be of Good Cheer
Medley from PP2
We Need Jesus
A Matter of Time
God Fixation
Magnet of the World
Send Revival, Start with Me
Amazing Grace
How Long
Jekyll & Hyde
All About Who You Know
Test Of Time
Back To The Rock
Too Big To Fail
Holy Is Your Name

My "ultimate compilation" is to cue up every Petra album on my MP3 player and put it on shuffle. You get one classic song after another. It's great!

Here is mine:
Buy all of the albums except for the compilations.

I actually listened to a home made Petra Mix tape in the car the other day. It must have been from around 1987. It was pretty interesting to see that my favorites up to 1987 haven't changed much since then.

I did a "compilation" CD a while back and I remember having a hard time choosing 15-20 favorite songs to fit on a CD. If I can find it, I'll post whatever I had in it here.

I found the CD compilation I made several years ago. I made this shortly after Jekyll & Hyde was released (2003) and at that time, I wasn't that familiarized with some of Greg Volz songs. Still, I tried to have a good representation of each era among the favorites I chose.

1. Jekyll & Hyde (2003)
2. Breathe In (2000)
3. Come and Join Us (1977)
4. This Means War! (1987)
5. Witch Hunt (1985)
6. Praying Man (1993)
7. Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows (1982)
8. Defector (1988)
9. Dance (1991)
10. St. Augustine's Pears (1998)
11. Enter In (1995)
12. All Fired Up (1988)
13. Get On Your Knees and Fight Like a Man (1987)
14. Judas' Kiss
15. Underneath the Blood (1993)
16. Angel of Light (1981)
17. Adonai (1985)
18. Creed (1990)

If I made a compilation now, 10 years later, there would probably be some differences, but I still think this one is a good representation of my favorite songs as well as Petra's styles throughout its first 30 years.