The Petra Zone

Hold on, we're entering rocky terrain now...



Didja know... Schlitt said in an interview that this was "the best record we've ever done".


Also, since the poll only allows 10 options, if anyone wants to vote for "We Hold Our Hearts Out to You", just say it.

I know most people point at this album as the "beginning of the end", but there's a lot to like here. I think "Enter In" and "Right Place" are great, rocking songs, I'm a huge fan of "More Than a Thousand Words", and "No Doubt" is one of my all-time favorites. Actually, that's the one I voted for. I also have a soft spot for "Two Are Better Than One".

Maybe they should've eased down on the ballads in the second half of the album, but I think that the issues with Petra at this time had more to do with the overall musical landscape, than it had to do with a specific album, or a specific set of songs. The 90's were a tough decade for most classic rock bands, Christian or secular, and Petra was no exception. They just didn't handle the motions as well as they should.

But all in all, I think this is a solid album with some great songs, and others that were more average. It's not on my Top 5, but it would probably be on my middle tier, as far as ranking goes.

I think I will vote for the unlisted track "We Hold Our Hearts Out to You".

I voted for Think On These Things, second favorite, but my favorite song is We Hold Our Hearts out To You.

I thought this album was okay. We Hold Our hearts Out to You is probably my fav on the album; I did this in my band for a while and the crowd loved it.

I like the rock stuff on this one too but it is different than the other rock from Petra I was used to. I know that they were still playing for the youth and trying to win them over to Christ but I feel that the older rock they had always been doing had been lost. What about us 40-somethings that grew up with them? Were we supposed to blindly accept the newer stuff because it was Petra?

With that said, I feel that maybe the 30-40-somethings have been swept under the rug in the name of capturing the youth. We need guidance and good music too But I digress.....

I liked Heart of a Hero and the other rock songs here but again, it was a newer rock. I do not believe that this was one of their best. It was good, yes.

I agree that this maybe spelled the end...pre-programmed drums again, new keyboardist, new live guitarist, Bob handling the behind the scenes stuff (guitar-wise and otherwise, I assume) and John Schlitt taking a more active role in being the voice for the band.

I feel that sometimes I feel that John maybe had too much of a voice for the band. From what I read from reviews and interviews and other stuff from this site, that maybe John wanted all of the reigns and stuff. I believe that John is a great singer but just stay with singing and let the management people that are approved by the entire band do their management stuff...

Anyway, I like this album but not as much as the previous stuff. I really did not listen to the stuff after this until J&H. There really was nothing for me from them at this point. I just went back to previous albums and drew strength from that.

Grace,
Harry

I voted for the song No Doubt; somewhat of a bright spot on album that is just so horrible that I no longer own a copy(The only Petra album to get this distinction). The drums were downright embarrassing, plus the overall sound quality and production was awful. I thought the lyrics were 5th grade Sunday School lyrics and seemed childish and really coming from an artist just starting out and really hadn't got his chops down yet. Nothing on this album said Petra too me. I'm a rocker at heart so you know its bad when someone like me thinks the only thing that I might be willing to save is a ballad. How can an artist put out a great album(WUC) two years prior and then come out with something like this? IMO this was not the beginning of the downfall of Petra this was jumping off a cliff thinking that they needed a new fan base Petra; this was the time that a lot of fans from the 80's said I'm done and out. I do not even acknowledge this album in Petra's Discography.

I think it's way to harsh not to acknowledge this in Petra's discography.

Carolina Petra Fan wrote:I think it's way to harsh not to acknowledge this in Petra's discography.

That's your opinion which I not only accept but acknowledge. I stand by my opinion.

The stare-3D-image was fun though.

Boray wrote:The stare-3D-image was fun though.

I never did figure that one out. I've had the album for years and I still only see a bunch of colors floating around. Never did find out what it's supposed to be, haha.

I'm colour blind and because of that the 3D doesn't work for me.

But you have to admit, the rest of the artwork is corny mid-90s. This is the kind of stuff you're ashamed of ten years later.

The music, though, is very good. When I first heard No Doubt I thought there were too many ballads, same as with God Fixation. Content-wise I can see why John would be so proud of the album, but it just doesn't have that rock edge.

executioner wrote:I voted for the song No Doubt; somewhat of a bright spot on album that is just so horrible that I no longer own a copy(The only Petra album to get this distinction). The drums were downright embarrassing, plus the overall sound quality and production was awful. I thought the lyrics were 5th grade Sunday School lyrics and seemed childish and really coming from an artist just starting out and really hadn't got his chops down yet. Nothing on this album said Petra too me. I'm a rocker at heart so you know its bad when someone like me thinks the only thing that I might be willing to save is a ballad. How can an artist put out a great album(WUC) two years prior and then come out with something like this? IMO this was not the beginning of the downfall of Petra this was jumping off a cliff thinking that they needed a new fan base Petra; this was the time that a lot of fans from the 80's said I'm done and out. I do not even acknowledge this album in Petra's Discography.

I echo these feelings except, I voted for Enter In. The rest of the album,

p-freak wrote:I'm colour blind and because of that the 3D doesn't work for me.

But you have to admit, the rest of the artwork is corny mid-90s. This is the kind of stuff you're ashamed of ten years later.

The music, though, is very good. When I first heard No Doubt I thought there were too many ballads, same as with God Fixation. Content-wise I can see why John would be so proud of the album, but it just doesn't have that rock edge.

Is colorblindness why I couldn't see it? What was the 3D art depicting?

No Doubt is one of my favorite albums, Enter In and Two are better than one are at the top for me.

I felt this was farewell album for me... We hold our hearts out to you, was felt like a good bye song... things would never be the same.

Jonathan wrote:

p-freak wrote:I'm colour blind and because of that the 3D doesn't work for me.

But you have to admit, the rest of the artwork is corny mid-90s. This is the kind of stuff you're ashamed of ten years later.

The music, though, is very good. When I first heard No Doubt I thought there were too many ballads, same as with God Fixation. Content-wise I can see why John would be so proud of the album, but it just doesn't have that rock edge.

Is colorblindness why I couldn't see it? What was the 3D art depicting?

I think it just says PETRA, but I've never read it with my own eyes.