Taste And See, which is a funky, horn-infused number, is probably my favorite. This isn’t a bad album but is more mellow than the first two. Rob Frazier joined as songwriter and vocalist but only stuck around for this album. Volz, who had done guest vocals on the previous album, returned as the primary singer. All of the founding members (save Hartman) left and he was given the task of reinventing Petra for the first time. Petra’s third album came after the band suffered its first real shake up. Still, there are some good songs here and I occasionally pull it out for nostalgia’s sake. Musically, the album is all over the place and lacks any real consistency. Augustine’s Pears is probably my favorite in spite of the confusing title. It takes a decidedly modern feel (for 1998) and doesn’t feature any stand out tracks. Even though he didn’t tour, he still contributed as songwriter and guitarist during the making of the album. This is the first album released during Bob Hartman’s sabbatical from the road. There are no definitive moments here and it comes across as just one more praise album in a flooded market. The choices are hit-and-miss and the performances lack the intensity of Petra’s first (and ground-breaking) praise album, but the album is listenable. This is the only Petra album to consist entirely of cover songs. Hartman came back on board and Inpop Records (Peter Furler’s label) released Petra’s third praise album. This is the only Petra album that I just can’t listen to.Īfter the dismal Double Take, Petra could only go up. Interestingly enough, this was the last album they released before Hartman came back on board full time. The two new originals ( The Longing and Breathe In) are decent songs but aren’t enough to salvage this one. Honestly, they sound like bad cover versions with John Schlitt singing. The semi-acoustic approach is not what causes the album to fail, it’s the fact that the original melodies are completely scrapped and the songs become completely unrecognizable. It was an attempt to reintroduce several of their classic tunes to a new audience. In this brief post, I will attempt to give my personal rankings for each of their twenty-four albums.Įven though it won a Grammy, this is probably the worst album in Petra’s storied career. Even now, after semi-retiring, they continue to be one of the most influential voices in Christian music. Although fans occasionally take sides, Petra was able to consistently deliver solid albums with both Greg X. With the exception of a nine year period when he did not tour (he still wrote and played on the albums), Hartman has been the driving force behind one of Christian music’s most successful groups. Armed with an ever revolving line up of musicians, primary songwriter and guitarist Bob Hartman has been the one constant. Since releasing their self-titled album in 1974, Petra have sold over ten million albums, won four Grammy Awards (they were nominated for fourteen), won ten Dove Awards, and cemented themselves as one of the founding fathers of modern Christian rock music.
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