For Petra fans—when did Petra lose you? (And did they get you back?)

Is there a Petra album where you feel they “jumped the shark” so to speak?

Many would probably point to No Doubt or God Fixation. Some might go back to Wake-Up Call. Perhaps you stop after Greg left.

If you feel this way, did they ever “come back” in your view? Perhaps with Jekyll and Hyde?

Speaking as a raging fanboy, there are only two Petra albums I care nothing for: Double Take and Revival. I like or love everything else. (Yes, even God Fixation). Jekyll and Hyde wasn’t a return to classic Petra, but it’s a good album. 

What say you?

Funny thing, I met the band through God Fixation. And I fell in love instantly with John's voice. I still like that album nowadays, even though I noticed it wasn't not even close to their best material.
But back then, after God Fixation, I moved into Revival and I almost stopped listening to Petra as I didn't care for this album at all. Then I fell in love with Jekkyl and Hyde and then Petra Praise ( the rock cries out)and then I became a die hard fan of the band.

Albums that I don't like: Wake up Call, No Doubt, Revival, Petra Praise 2, and the s/t.

My favorite era is basically everything they have done between 80 and 91. No matter who the singer was, everything was awesome.

They lost me with, En Alabanza, I just didn't understand it.
Seriously though, I like about half of Wake Up Call and only a few songs after that.

Petra was my first christian rock band I found as a young and new christian. Found them while going through our church bass player's record collection. Never say die and More power to ya  and beat the system to be exact. I was hypnotized by the covers! WOW! And just recently learned they were done by the same artist that did King's X First four album covers. Loved the band and were my favorite for a long time.

Then along came King's X, Bride Silence is madness, Stryper, then, Vengeance and Mort and that was the end of Petra for me. So that must've been about wake up call era or just before.

Now, having revisited those albums I only like up to beat the system and Greg Volz years. Amazing music and voice. John I can't handle anymore. I tried listening to the utter saccharine garbage that called themselves Petra in later years. That S*** ain't Petra.

So let's do a summary: Greg X Volz Is amaze balls vocalist and John Schlitt Years are not for me any longer and anything beyond that is garbage and 100% not Petra

The Gate keeper of great taste has spoken, Mmk...

The end

I actually got into Petra because of Jekyll and Hyde, then I went back and acquired almost all of their 80s/early 90s albums (still need to get Not of This World, Back to the Street, and Petra Praise). I did get God Fixation at a thrift store but it sounded so much like extremely mellow alt-rock (think Toad the Wet Sprocket), that I wasnt sure if it was actually Petra.

My Petra era was comparatively short but very intense.  I discovered them between Unseen Power and Wake Up Call.  I bought everything they released to that point (including some of the useless Star Song compilations).  With Wake Up Call, then No Doubt I noticed a progression of more and more ballads.  I wrote off the pink one with the heart on the cover as an aberration and gave God Fixation a chance.  I think I've listened to that one twice.  By then I was into metal and content to ignore the Petra means mellow saccharine (thanks Dustofyears!) worship.  I only happened on Jekyll and Hyde at Best Buy by accident.  I didn't realize they had put out another album, but decided to buy it because I figured a black album cover meant maybe, just maybe they made another rock record.  Obviously I was right.  To sum up and answer the questions: Petra Praise 2 was the loss and Jekyll and Hyde was the back.

Petra was my #1 favorite band from only 1992-1995 but they still count as one of my all-time favorite bands.  I got to meet John Schlitt a few years ago and told him I might not be a Christian today if it weren't for Petra's music during my high school years.

As a kid I rocked Bon Jovi before I knew there was Christian rock/metal. Once I found out (by hearsay,there was no internet back the sonny), This Means War! was my first record and you bet I played it a million times, and I still dig it, aged like fine wine. Same for the follow up, Beyond Belief. Two amazing records. After that it was the Stryper /Believer / Crucified / Vengeance / Tourniquet / Mortification trajectory for me (via Stryper), then followed by a phase of punk and hardcore, first Christian (s/o Crashdog and Strongarm), the secular. Eventually I spiralled off in a 20 year secular hip hop phase, and now that I am back in the fold and there is internet and spotify and all that, I plan to check out more of the Petra discog. I can‘t wait but then I am only at the letter „J“ of my alpabetical trip through my spotify playlist so it will be a minute until I get to P (no pun intended).

Raegoul wrote:As a kid I rocked Bon Jovi before I knew there was Christian rock/metal. Once I found out (by hearsay,there was no internet back the sonny), This Means War! was my first record and you bet I played it a million times, and I still dig it, aged like fine wine. Same for the follow up, Beyond Belief. Two amazing records. After that it was the Stryper /Believer / Crucified / Vengeance / Tourniquet / Mortification trajectory for me (via Stryper), then followed by a phase of punk and hardcore, first Christian (s/o Crashdog and Strongarm), the secular. Eventually I spiralled off in a 20 year secular hip hop phase, and now that I am back in the fold and there is internet and spotify and all that, I plan to check out more of the Petra discog. I can‘t wait but then I am only at the letter „J“ of my alpabetical trip through my spotify playlist so it will be a minute until I get to P (no pun intended).

I just realized Beyond Belief wasn‘t the follow up to TMW, but it was to me ;-)


What aspell they had with TMW, on Fire, praise and BB! I also remember being disappointed with Unseen Power but as I said I was getting into that thrash goodness at the time anyway so that might have to do with it.

God Fixation. What a steaming pile. I loved everything through Wake Up Call. I like No Doubt. But they completely abandoned their sound on God Fixation.

I only had "Beyond Belief" as a kid. I didn't listen to Christian music beyond Tourniquet "Pathogenic," Stryper's hits compilation "Can't Stop The Rock," Mortification "Primitive Rhythm Machine," and a few others I picked up in the mid-90s. Other than "Beyond Belief" I didn't really like any of them at the time and I was too busy buying secular music. 

For me I had to go back and buy Petra's material later in life, of all things, in the mid-2000s. My first purchases were Unseen Power, On Fire, and This Means War. I was underwhelmed by those, sold them off, and gave up on Petra for a while. When I was born again in 2010 and I finally heard "Grave Robber" off of Not of This World (because of the horror punk band Grave Robber), I was amazed and felt like I'd really missed something. I hunted down all the surrounding Greg Volz material. They were instant classics for me. Rediscovering the band, I softened on most of the rest as well.

At this point I own and enjoy everything from Washes Whiter Than through Wake Up Call. Of those, I'm not big on Unseen Power other than a few stellar tracks or Petra Praise (sorry I find this largely terrible).

I own but don't really like Come Join Us.

I own and enjoy Jekyll and Hyde

I'd love to pick up the debut someday. I hope Girder reissues it.

I don't think I'll ever own anything post-Wake Up Call up to Jekyll and Hyde. I don't like what I hear on those.

I’ve always been a bit surprised that Wake-Up Call isn’t more loved. It is a bit ballad heavy, but I think the ballads on it are among the best of the John era, certainly better than the ballads from 86–88. 

For me the golden era is 81–93 (NSD–WUC). My least favorite of that era is Praise 1, although it has some killer tunes, especially the originals (I Love the Lord, The King of Glory Shall Come In).

Have never been much of a fan except for certain songs here and there.
But I liked "No Doubt" quite a bit, it had more of a groove than usual.  
However "God Fixation" is a really awful record!

When i first heard of Petra way back in the late 90's/early 2000's, I pretty much just looked at their most recent album cover and figured they were just another dull CCM band. It wasn't until later that I heard they were a long-running rock band. I listened to "All Fired Up" on a compilation from the 80's, and that showed me that they had at least flirted with hair metal at some point. Around that time, I also heard the title track from Jekyll & Hyde, and I decided that they must've been a lighter glam metal band that was trying to go a little heavier in their latter days.

Recently, I decided to look up their history, and now I see how many genres they've actually encompassed throughout their existence. I've gone back and listened to some early stuff through Not of This World, and I've liked everything to some degree. I also skipped ahead a listened to This Means War yesterday. So far, I like the Greg X. Volz era best, but I haven't heard much from the John Schlitt era. I plan on listening through all of Bob Hartman's stuff. I have low hopes for what came after.

The first couple of albums I just can't get into.  They couldn't decide if they were rock, southern rock, or what.  I just didn't get it and still don't.

I appreciate a lot of the Volz years but probably listen to those the least.  I love his voice, but when I first heard Petra, Schlitt was the voice and that is what I fell in love with.  So, the Volz years just didn't seem as big overall to me.  Sorry, Volz fans!

"God Fixation" is probably my least favorite of the Schlitt era, but even that is an occasional listen for me when I go through their discography.  They were struggling to figure out where to go without Hartman in the band at all, and John wasn't sure whether to stay rock, mix in alternative, or go full CCM.  The album sounds very unsure.  On his solo albums, he found his way and has done a great job of bringing a solid rock slab each time even if the sound overall changes with the years.

With that said, I am a total Schlitt-head and will take even the worse of that era over any of the Volz albums.  I just love John's voice and his heart for the Lord.

God Fixation doesn’t sound much like classic Petra, but there are some really good tunes on it. (Hello Again is kind of a dud, though). To be fair, I don’t think Jekyll and Hyde has their classic sound, either, but it rocks hard and has great riffs.

I just don't like the direction they went, not really my style. I like what Schlitt is doing with Smiley better.

I’ve had more trouble than I would’ve hoped getting into The Union of Sinners and Saints. I love both Petra and WhiteHeart, but Union just seems to lack a certain spark.

I was never really into Petra.  I liked some of their earlier songs but didn't give a listen to much.  Beat The System was the first album I heard start to finish.  A solid album with some great writing.  I liked the singles I heard from Back to the Street and On Fire.  The direction they headed into was more appealing.  This Means War was a really good album and Beyond Belief is one of my favorites.  After that I wasn't paying a lot of attention to new releases in general and haven't really heard much.

I did end up seeing them in concert 2 or 3 times and they were great live.

Pethead wrote:God Fixation doesn’t sound much like classic Petra, but there are some really good tunes on it. (Hello Again is kind of a dud, though). To be fair, I don’t think Jekyll and Hyde has their classic sound, either, but it rocks hard and has great riffs.

Pethead wrote:I’ve had more trouble than I would’ve hoped getting into The Union of Sinners and Saints. I love both Petra and WhiteHeart, but Union just seems to lack a certain spark.

Jeckyl and Hyde would have been their heaviest record and even more well liked if the band had taken the time to include guitar solos instead of trying to be modern and foregoing solos.  For a veteran band, they should have known that the fans love guitar solos!

I like the first album by The Union of Sinners and Saints.  The second one is far outnumbered by rockers and CCM fluff.  I don't care for it because of the sappy pop songs and the overly long medley that also is nothing but slow songs.  It makes the album drag on and on and on and on and on.

Pethead wrote:I’ve always been a bit surprised that Wake-Up Call isn’t more loved. It is a bit ballad heavy, but I think the ballads on it are among the best of the John era, certainly better than the ballads from 86–88. 

It was ballad-heavy compared to anything in the Schlitt era to that point.  It was/is very good but not as good as anything else Schlitt (except Praise I).

Probably lost me around "No Doubt" and got me with "Jekyll and Hyde". Around the time they lost me, I think Christian rock/metal started losing me as a whole. I think part of it had to do with the Christian stores, more than the industry. Before that I could walk into a book store and listen to tons of stuff. When the mid nineties rolled around, it seemed like they were getting more into pushing pop and I didn't discover a lot of cool bands that had released stuff until the early 2000s online.

deathisgain wrote:Probably lost me around "No Doubt" and got me with "Jekyll and Hyde". Around the time they lost me, I think Christian rock/metal started losing me as a whole. I think part of it had to do with the Christian stores, more than the industry. Before that I could walk into a book store and listen to tons of stuff. When the mid nineties rolled around, it seemed like they were getting more into pushing pop and I didn't discover a lot of cool bands that had released stuff until the early 2000s online.

Never thought about that. But it's true. In it's peak christian stores usually had something in stock that would capture my attention, and if they didn't, it wouldn't be too long before they did. Then it dropped off and what was left was a whole lot of boring looking contemporary album covers, pop and praise and worship albums.

The funny thing is I was going to start a thread of bands that were spotty or lost you after a certain point. Petra was one of the first Christian Oriented Rock and Hard Rock and Metal Bands I liked in 1985 along with Daniel Band, Rez, Jerusalem and Stryper. CAPTURED IN TIME AND SPACE was the first album I bought from them. They are still one of my top 5 favorite bands (I'm including various versions like 2 Guys, Classic Petra, CPR and UOSAS) and I have all their albums. To me their best era was from the late 70s Come and Join Us to around Wake up Call and No Doubt. They were spotty from We Need Jesus (I saw them on that tour in the summer of 1997) to Jekyll and Hyde even though those albums has some great songs. In the late 90s they were having band or staffing issues, albums weren't selling as well and was having visionary or identity issues as a band. I love the Classic Petra albums where they rerecorded some of the classics. I'm not a fan of John Schlitt solo music but I like the UOSAS music as it's a mix of Petra and Whiteheart type songs with a bit of Bluesy Southern Rock and Classic Hard Rock thrown in.

This thread is going through an interesting way. There are many different points of view, but we all seem to get "stuck" or cold around the same time and albums. I have some general comments:

- As expected, we all have lost interest in the band for a while. It is no surprise, as Petra has a HUGE story and has been changing through all the decades;

- The band apparently had a very difficult time through the 90's. If you look a little closer, it was a very struggling time for all classic bands. Most of them were either fighting to survive, changing styles in it's music or gone.

- The early 00's was a comeback for many and many bands. They all have tried to modernize its sound and fit the path new metal bands were doing at that time. That explain J&H not having many guitar solos, for instance. It was a very well succeeded record though, as Petra isn't recognized by solos at all.

Along with what Second Wind said above, the lack of solos on J&K never bothered me, because I’ve never really thought of Petra as a solo-heavy band like, say, Van Halen. Bob played solos on some songs and they were excellent and tasteful, but I never thought it was much of a focus in their golden era.