The Petra Zone

Since I made a poll for every Petra album, I wanted to share in a summary of the results.

First, the obvious outcome was the favorite song from each album... (with votes and % included)

Petra – “Walkin’ in the Light” (6, 26%)
Come and Join Us – “God Gave Rock n Roll to You” (11, 42%)
Washes Whiter Than – “Why Should the Father Bother” (6, 25%)
Never Say Die – “Angel of Light” (10, 33%)
More Power to Ya – “Judas’ Kiss” (12, 39%)
Not of this World – “Grave Robber” (12, 36%)
Beat the System – “Adonai” (8, 27%)
Back to the Street – “Shakin the House” and “Whole World” (10, 28%)
This Means War! – “This Means War!” (7, 23%)
On Fire! – “Mine Field” (9, 32%)
Petra Praise – “I Love the Lord” (15, 60%)
Beyond Belief – “Creed” and “Beyond Belief” (8, 31%)
Unseen Power – “Sight Unseen” (9, 31%)
Wake-Up Call – “Just Reach Out”, “Praying Man”, “Underneath the Blood” (5, 23%)
No Doubt – “Enter In” (7, 32%)
Petra Praise 2 – “I Waited for the Lord on High” (4, 25%)
God Fixation – “St. Augustine’s Pears” (9, 45%)
Revival – “Send Revival” (7, 44%)
Jekyll & Hyde – “Jekyll & Hyde” (7, 28%)


So, what do you think? Is this representative of the band's "best songs"?

More additional info...

The album that got most votes was Back to the Street. Also, as noted above, two of its songs got a significant amount of votes (10). This was quite a surprise to me because, although the total of votes doesn't necessarily equate to how good/bad the album is, I always thought most people didn't care about this album. I know I didn't, but ironically, I've warmed up to it ever since I made this poll. It was the one album that I barely touched, but it has certainly gotten up a couple of notches ever since.

The albums with less votes are Petra Praise 2 and Revival. Also, worthy of note is the fact that Petra Praise 2 was the only album where not a single song broke the 5-vote barrier. Some people brought up "We Need Jesus", which wasn't in the poll because of the 10-options limit, but I was still surprised that people were so lukewarm to it.

Another interesting fact, which was actually noticed by sickasadog, is that This Means War! is the only album where every song got at least one vote.

That list would make the best best of

Nice work Thief!

I just created a playlist with these songs and listened through it this morning while working. Normally I don't like mixing pre-Volz/Volz/Schlitt eras in a listening session, but this was very listenable. A bias towards the harder songs (not that I mind!), but overall a good representation of Petra's work over three decades. This isn't the playlist I'd put together to "win over" someone completely unfamiliar with Petra (I might lose them before "Walkin" was over ) but for a new fan this would be a great "flyby", IMO.

Thanks!

Here's a similar list with the highest vote-getters from all albums...


I Love the Lord (15, 60%)

God Gave Rock n Roll to You (11, 42%)

Judas’ Kiss (12, 39%)
Grave Robber (12, 36%)

Angel of Light (10, 33%)
Shakin the House (10, 28%)
Whole World (10, 28%)

St. Augustine’s Pears (9, 45%)
Mine Field (9, 32%)
Sight Unseen (9, 31%)

Creed (8, 31%)
Beyond Belief (8, 31%)
Adonai (8, 27%)

Send Revival (7, 44%)
Enter In (7, 32%)
Jekyll & Hyde (7, 28%)
Chameleon (7, 23%)
This Means War! (7, 23%)
It Is Finished (7, 23%)
Bema Seat (7, 21%)

No Doubt (6, 27%)
Walkin’ in the Light (6, 26%)
Why Should the Father Bother (6, 25%)
Come and Join Us (6, 23%)
Dance (6, 21%)
Hit You Where You Live (6, 21%)
Beat the System (6, 20%)

Just Reach Out (5, 23%)
Praying Man (5, 23%)
Underneath the Blood (5, 23%)
Lucas McGraw (5, 22%)
For Annie (5, 17%)
He Came, He Saw, He Conquered (5, 17%)
Get On Your Knees and Fight Like a Man (5, 17%)
Rose Coloured Stained Glass Windows (5, 16%)

I Waited for the Lord on High (4, 25%)