PETRA means rock...

[Jez]

Quickly answer my question please. Do I buy 'Wake up call'? Seems pretty cheap everywhere. Is that because it sucks dog balls or is it worth getting?

 

Yes, Not as good as 'Beyond Belief' but quite good non the less if you see it cheap.

[metalmaniac777]

Don't know if I qualify as a Petra expert, but here goes...

 

"On Fire!" is about on par with "This Means War," meaning if you like one, you should like the other.

 

"Beyond Belief," as you have discovered, is this band's masterpiece. If you're looking for that same sound/style, your next purchase should be "Unseen Power." The songs "Destiny," "I Need to Hear from You," "Dance," and "Sight Unseen" easily could have appeared on "Beyond Belief."

 

"Wake up Call" is where things start to get a little sketchy. There are some really good songs on there ("Midnight Oil"; "Underneath the Blood"; "Sleeping Giant") but there are also some real duds. Honestly, can't see this one being a keeper for you, but you will find a few songs you enjoy.

 

"Jekyll & Hyde" is another must-own, in my opinion, and is probably their hardest-hitting album (though being Petra, we're not exactly talking heavy metal here).

 

Bottom line, if you're looking for the right purchase order, it's as follows:

 

"Unseen Power"

"Jekyll & Hyde"

"On Fire!"

"Wake up Call"

 

You are now armed with great knowledge. Use it wisely.

[Geoff]

Quickly answer my question please. Do I buy 'Wake up call'? Seems pretty cheap everywhere. Is that because it sucks dog balls or is it worth getting?

 

Yes, Not as good as 'Beyond Belief' but quite good non the less if you see it cheap.

Thanks mate. 'Wake up call' and 'Jekyll and Hyde' are both on their way to me.

[Geoff]

Don't know if I qualify as a Petra expert, but here goes...

 

"On Fire!" is about on par with "This Means War," meaning if you like one, you should like the other.

 

"Beyond Belief," as you have discovered, is this band's masterpiece. If you're looking for that same sound/style, your next purchase should be "Unseen Power." The songs "Destiny," "I Need to Hear from You," "Dance," and "Sight Unseen" easily could have appeared on "Beyond Belief."

 

"Wake up Call" is where things start to get a little sketchy. There are some really good songs on there ("Midnight Oil"; "Underneath the Blood"; "Sleeping Giant") but there are also some real duds. Honestly, can't see this one being a keeper for you, but you will find a few songs you enjoy.

 

"Jekyll & Hyde" is another must-own, in my opinion, and is probably their hardest-hitting album (though being Petra, we're not exactly talking heavy metal here).

 

Bottom line, if you're looking for the right purchase order, it's as follows:

 

"Unseen Power"

"Jekyll & Hyde"

"On Fire!"

"Wake up Call"

 

You are now armed with great knowledge. Use it wisely.

And I thank you too. As noted, I just bought 'Wake up call' and 'Jekyll and Hyde' (because both were cheap as chips). But yeah, 'Unseen power' is top of my list. That and 'On Fire!' seem a little more expensive, though not too bad to be honest. If 'On Fire' is very similar to 'This means war' I might wait for bargain basement opportunity.

[Geoff]

Okay, so I got 'Wake up call' and 'Jekyll and Hyde'. First impressions:

 

'Wake up call' ; sometimes I wish these guys would just call these things parody albums and hence give us permission to laugh without feeling bad. This disc has some of the most laughable lyrics I have ever heard, namely in what is by far the album's best song - 'Praying Man'. Good strong track, but totally ridiculous lyrics. Aside from that 'Marks of the Cross' is probably the next best song on this, though once again the lyrics are very poor. I just don't know about this disc. It started out promising as neither of the first two songs is too bad and both have decent lyrics, but it seems the stronger the message the worse the songs get, aside from 'Praying man'. I haven't decided yet if this will be a keeper (I doubt it, to be honest) as there just aren't that many good songs on this at all.

 

'Jekyll and Hyde' ; Okay, I can see where everyone's coming from with the cool new ballsy sound and everything but despite a decent sound there is something big missing here. Good songs. Where they at? The opener is the best song on this and aside from one track towards the end there's really nothing else worthwhile here. Stuff like 'It's All About Who You Know' and 'Would'a, Should'a, Could'a' is just awful.

 

Honestly, of the two I have to say I prefer 'Wake up call' but I'd be surprised to see either stay in my collection.

 

I think I just want to get this 'Unseen power' disc and call it a day with these guys... but yeah, still very interested to get this one.

[metalmaniac777]

Okay, so I got 'Wake up call' and 'Jekyll and Hyde'. First impressions:

 

'Wake up Call'; sometimes I wish these guys would just call these things parody albums and hence give us permission to laugh without feeling bad. This disc has some of the most laughable lyrics I have ever heard, namely in what is by far the album's best song - 'Praying Man'. Good strong track, but totally ridiculous lyrics. Aside from that 'Marks of the Cross' is probably the next best song on this, though once again the lyrics are very poor. I just don't know about this disc. It started out promising as neither of the first two songs is too bad and both have decent lyrics, but it seems the stronger the message the worse the songs get...haven't decided yet if this will be a keeper (I doubt it, to be honest) as there just aren't that many good songs on this at all.

 

'Jekyll and Hyde'; Okay, I can see where everyone's coming from with the cool new ballsy sound and everything but despite a decent sound there is something big missing here. Good songs. The opener is the best song on this and aside from one track towards the end there's really nothing else worthwhile here. Stuff like 'It's All About Who You Know' and 'Would'a, Should'a, Could'a' is just awful.

Yes, definitely still pick up "Unseen Power," as it's right up there with "Beyond Belief." I warned you the rest of their stuff was patchy (though I'm a bit surprised at your dislike of "Jekyll & Hyde," which I think is really good).

 

You honestly rated "Praying Man" and "Marks of the Cross" the best songs on "Wake up Call"? I would easily rate "Underneath the Blood" as not only the best song on this album, but one of Petra's overall best. Next up would be the opener, "Midnight Oil," followed by the title track. "Praying Man" and "Marks of the Cross" are middle-of-the-road tracks to me.

 

As already expressed, your distaste for "Jekyll & Hyde" catches me off guard. "Woulda Shoulda Coulda" is catchy as hell, yo!! I just really like the balls on this CD. The killer riff on "I Will Seek You" never fails to get me moving.

 

As I told you in our other conversation, I grew up with Petra as part of the soundtrack of my youth and therefore they hold a special, nostalgic place in my collection, so I probably cut them way more slack than the average listener--like yourself--would.

[Geoff]

You honestly rated "Praying Man" and "Marks of the Cross" the best songs on "Wake up Call"? I would easily rate "Underneath the Blood" as not only the best song on this album, but one of Petra's overall best. Next up would be the opener, "Midnight Oil," followed by the title track. "Praying Man" and "Marks of the Cross" are middle-of-the-road tracks to me.

I just didn't like the choruses on most the songs especially, and 'Underneath the blood' and 'Sleeping Giant' were very guilty of this. 'Midnight oil' was fine... as I said, showed some promise. I didn't mind those first two songs... but yeah, after that it lost me bar the two I mentioned. Title track? Am I missing a song on my copy?

 

As already expressed, your distaste for "Jekyll & Hyde" catches me off guard. "Woulda Shoulda Coulda" is catchy as hell, yo!!

Oh man, I HATED that chorus. On my very first spin I actually skipped the rest of the song after the end of the 2nd verse. HATED it. The CD does have a little bit of balls, but there are a lot of heavy CDs out there... I prefer the ones with great songs.

 

As I told you in our other conversation, I grew up with Petra as part of the soundtrack of my youth and therefore they hold a special, nostalgic place in my collection, so I probably cut them way more slack than the average listener--like yourself--would.

Yeah, as I mentioned I can fully appreciate that. Me coming into the Petra scene late leaves me with a lot of stuff to compare these guys with and they just plain and simply do not match up well at all, but I can understand a big difference in opinion between me now hearing them for the first time compared to someone who has grown up with them.

[kethdredd]

Strangely enough, I do not own a single Petra album.

[phaffas]

Strangely enough, I do not own a single Petra album.

Sinner!