God Fixation: Current Sounding

[fcollazo]

Listening to God Fixation today through the Bose system of my Mazda CX5 reveals a very current sounding album. Very crisp, clear and natural tones. Sound ver fresh even 21 years after its release. Very good production and great interplay of the 2 guitars involved. I really like it and wonder what would have happened if they continued with this style. Love the bass and drum sounds too. John also sounds very versatile too.

[dihigo]

It's too bad none of the songs on this album appeared on Farewell.

[George Harrison]

I used to dislike this album but it has grown on me a bit. Although I prefer a harder, older, more classic rock sound, it's not a bad album. The guitar work is still nice in many places, still has some lead work, and the songwriting is okay. It compares well to other pop/rock albums from that time IMHO.

Production is okay also, and feels a lot less artificial than say OF!, BTS or BB (I do love the writing on those albums though)

True, a number of the songs weren't written completely by Bob Hartman, and the style did seem less like Petra than previous albums. Not as disimilar as DT and Revival tho

A Matter of Time, Falling Up, If I Had to Die for Someone, Set for Life, St Augustine and Hello Again are my favs from that album.

[Mountain Man]

As I like to say, God Fixation is a very good album; it's just not a very good Petra album. It was released at a time when fans were clamoring for Petra to return to its roots with a loud and proud in-your-face rock album, and instead we got... a cross between alternative rock and adult contemporary. It was quite a shock to the senses listening to this album for the first time. I kept checking the cover to make sure that I really was listening to Petra and hadn't picked up a different CD by mistake.

That said, I do like this album. It has some good songs and a great sound (seems to utilize less processing than your typical Elefante Bros. production); but as far as Petra albums go, I rank it pretty far below their best like More Power To Ya and Wake Up Call.

[brenthandy]

This is a tuffy. The band needed to morph to gain an audience and the audience they brought to the dance was not large enough to feed them anymore. So, the old guys say it's not authentic while authentic wasn't selling. I get it. The band was damned if they do and damned if they didn't.

I like two songs on that release as Bob-era Petra songs. The rest I appreciate and like from a songwriting perspective, but think of them as John Schlitt solo band songs. The production was fine. It sounds pretty organic. If you listen deeply, there are some pretty interesting things going on from time to time. Lots of layers.

The album has the guys on a school bus. That makes me chuckle. During this era, they were doing less touring and more fly in dates with none of their production. They traveled with FOH, MON and LD techs, played to some tracks from a Tascam DA-8 and keys off stage as well. The imagery of having a keyboard player on stage wasn't cool anymore I suppose. They all looked tired. John was carrying a heavy load. They were killing it on stage at shows. They were tight, I will give them that, but the arrangements were different because Pete couldn't play Bob's parts. He didn't have a problem ripping off his favorite player's ideas but wouldn't play Bob's parts. It was frustrating to John. John wanted what made those songs identifiable to still come through. I get it. Players want to have their own identities (even though nobody REALLY does. Everyone is influenced by someone else. And, how does a young kid nobody has heard of walk in the shoes of Bob freakin' Hartman?). There is a fine line between making something your own, tipping your hat to the original and alienating people. I don't know that most would hear a difference or care. It wasn't Petra anymore to me. But I understand why it was what it was.

[gman]

I saw them live during this period, and they were good for sure. The sound was heavy and tight. Definitely not Bob. I was glad when Bob came back, but I feel like that was botched. Like they could have toured with somebody and done so much more.

[Mountain Man]

Yeah, nobody could accuse "God Fixation" Petra of not putting on a good show. They were a great bunch of singers and musicians, though Pete Orta could have done more playing and less showboating.

[brenthandy]

Yeah. The posing and twirling stuff was kind of old. The whole running wild and posing thing was juvenile IMO.

[Mountain Man]

Yeah. The posing and twirling stuff was kind of old. The whole running wild and posing thing was juvenile IMO.

Everything he did screamed out "Look at me!" and took attention away from the rest of band, which strikes me as a bit selfish.

I met him in person once, and he was actually a pretty chill dude, so I think that may have just been his stage persona.

[brenthandy]

Oh for sure. He was a young player, young believer, nice guy.

[Shell]

I had the chance to meet Pete several times, and he was a nice guy. His stage presence may not have been for everyone, but I found it entertaining. Of course, I am someone who liked David Cassidy and the Monkees way back when she was a kid, so maybe I can relate to the juvenile stuff. Did I just admit that on a messageboard?

John, Ronny and Greg Volz all moved around a lot too. It's a stage presence thing. And yes, I like God Fixation and I enjoyed the concerts I had the opportunity to go to during that time.

[Mountain Man]

It's more than just moving around a lot. Pete Orta's on stage antics were exaggerated almost to the point of parody..

[Shell]

I understand that, and I get why it would annoy people. As has been pointed out, they did some good shows during that time though.