Since 1996
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective
Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
Subscribe
About Us
Features
News
Album
Reviews
Movie
Reviews
Concert
Reviews
Top
10
Resources
Time
Wasters
Contact
Us
Petra: The Praise Collection
Artist: Petra
Label: Word/Curb/Warner Brothers
Length: 2 CDs/26 Tracks/92:42 Minutes
Petra: The Praise Collection is a repackaging of Petra’s two forays into the then-new praise/worship genre. Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out was originally released in 1989 was the most successful of the two albums presented (the album was certified gold). The Rock Cries Out features Petra’s trademark slickly produced Sunday School arena rock with a late-‘80s sound on a passel of then-current praise songs mostly written by other folks. There must have been a LOT of caffeine consumed during the creation of this album, because several of the songs (like "Jesus, Jesus Glorious One") come at you with a whirling-dervish, breakneck speed. At the time I felt (and still feel) that this was sort of a quasi-Petra release since The Rock Cries Out features an over-reliance on background singers other than Petra. If you like late ‘80s Petra and praise/worship music this is for you.
Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus is the 1997 follow-up. The production is still polished, but a tad more organic than its predecessor, and the song selection is a bit muted than the more up-tempo The Rock Cries Out (almost at times sounding like a Petra MTV Unplugged offering). Highlights include the jaunty "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", the classic Petra-rock sound of "Be of Good Cheer," and the anthemic "Ancient of Days." Of the two CDs presented in this collection, this one more resembles the earlier (IMHO), classical Petra sound, ironic because the first was produced by Petra founder Bob Hartman and keyboardist John Lawry. Of note is the HUGE missed opportunity of "We Need Jesus," an excellent song that could have been the highlight of Petra’s career. The song features vocals from Petra lead singer John Schlitt, John Elefante, Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm, and a way-too-loud Gospel choir. And therein lays the problem…way too many vocals. A simple duet between Schlitt and Gramm would have made this song tops. Elefante is a great singer in his own right, but he should have picked a different duet with Schlitt. I understand the desire to get these three classic rock (Kansas, Foreigner, Head East/Petra) together on one song, but there is just too much going on in this song. Still, of the 2 CDs in the collection Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus is the stronger and the sound is less-dated.
The CDs are packed in a nice
box, but there are only single-page reproductions of the original artwork,
and no lyrics, liner notes, or song credits. There are no bonus tracks
and I’m not sure if the sound has been remastered (I suspect not). In this
day and age of deluxe reissues the package feels a tad Spartan, but with
precious few CCM projects being re-released these days (no market for them
seemingly), I guess we have to take what we can get. Regardless, Petra
fans will need to pick this one up (assuming you don’t already own these).
If you already have these there is no need to pick them up, because other
than the nifty wrap around box there are no enticing additional bonuses.
DJ Barry
Barry Nothstine hosts Soul
Frequency (http://www.soulfrequency.com) a weekly FM radio show showcasing
progressive rock, instrumental rock, power-pop, psychedelic rock, rock
classics and more—great rock for the ages!