I'm a huge Petra fan, and Christian Music fan in general. Been listening to Petra since becoming a Christian in 1985 after an Amy Grant concert. Happy you reviewed this outstanding song featuring John Schlitt, who replaced the original vocalist Greg X Volz, (who himself is defiantly no slouch mind ya... ) ^V^ This song as you mentioned is the perfect tempo, drive, vocals and smashing drums. I've seen Petra live in 1988 when they played at Great Adventure and blew everyone away with 'This Means War.' Jekyll and Hyde is the perfect song of theirs, but don't avoid other albums they have. Not all their songs are heavy, but they are power rock, and ballads. One of the really good favorites of theirs that shows John's Vocal Range is the song 'Enter In'. Others are 'MineField' and 'Wake the Dead.' Another band I would love to request is more rock, is WhiteHeart. They and Petra usually traded best Rock albums year for year at the Dove Awards. Rick Florian has one of the best higher range vocal voices I ever heard. Just think of Tommy Shaw from Styx, although a good bit younger. Here is one of Rick Florian's first live shows, and he just belts out this song Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Christian here. ruclips.net/video/54RhlFUuRt8/видео.html The whole band is outstanding, with the amazing Gordon Kennedy on lead guitar with TWO Solos. And he would go on to win a Grammy with Eric Clapton as well. He would also be included in the concert and concept album by Garth Brooks' Rock album, The Life and Times of Chris Ganes, with bassist Tommy Simms and the drummer (name I have momentarily forgotten) from WhiteHeart. Other very notable WhiteHeart songs to listen to are Find a Way, ruclips.net/video/FpP3y9o9MtU/видео.html Bye Bye Babylon, ruclips.net/video/73D9fTGdYSQ/видео.html Vandetta, Let The Kingdom Come, LIVE Version where Rick Florian gives one of the Highest screech notes in his songs, it's that powerful. ruclips.net/video/ZL_wHq-bNS0/видео.html Cheers mate, and you gained a follower.... great channel... God Bless ya... DeafGryphon
Been listening to Petra since they first arrived. Their 50th Anniversary recently. They are a cross generational group that has produced many different styles of Rock and Roll. Also both acoustic and electric. They were reincarnated with a new lead singer during the first half of their life span and switched to a harder Rock style at that point. I am fairly certain they are in the Rock and Roll hall of fame somewhere for their ground breaking musical achievements. They are definitely iconic in the Christian arena and have received numerous awards and recognition. Jekyll and Hyde is a stand out song but I assure you that they have many other songs that you would equally enjoy. God Bless PETRA. May their music live on forever.
This was Petra's last real album and it was also pretty much their heaviest. Any christian rock/metal fan loved this album, and they only had one issue with it, that being there weren't enough solos. Petra generally released rock albums, but every now and again they ventured out into hard rock.
The lack of solos, while disappointing, was forgivable, because those of us who were longtime fans knew that it was an artistic choice as opposed to a lack of chops. Bob Hartman is one of the best guitarists around, so his decision to limit the solos on Jekyll & Hyde certainly wasn’t due to a lack of ability. I can respect that.
Petra is my all time top of the list favorite Christian rock band and still will be till i die. I started listing to petra back in 1990 on there beyond Belief album after that i was hooked for life Thank you for sharing
I grew up on Petra in the 80’s and 90’s. They were hard rock overall and would say, to describe their sound, they would be the Journey of the Christian market. One of the best bands ever in my opinion.
This was actually their final studio album before the founder & lead guitarist retired. Nothing like they ever recorded before. They did a live album after this called Farewell. This was the only album with this kind of straight up, guitar forward(no keyboards) hard rock/metal feel. There were some hard rock songs on some previous albums but nothing like this. I love this album
This was Petra’s heaviest song ever. Loved it! My only complaint is the song was screaming for one of Mr. Hartman’s guitar solos. It would have been epic.
Petra was a pioneer in Christian rock music started in 72. I found Petra in the late 80s as a kid with the Album "On Fire" which is probably the next heaviest Album Petra ever did ( I recommend this album too) with Jekyll and Hyde the heaviest and is that way through the entire album not just the one song. Petra has a vast variety of styles through their many albums and many excellent songs. Other bands I suggest are Whitecross, Barren Cross, Ken Tamplin, Tourniquet, Deliverance, Holy Soldier, X-Sinner (similar it AC DC), Resurrection Band
You might like Judas Kiss, Fired Up, Seen & Not Heard, and Midnight Oil. Petra had such longevity (1972-2013) because they could do so much variety. Some albums like God Fixation were more acoustic while albums like Beyond Belief were more of the 80s hair band style and Beat the System used a lot of synth that was taking over in the early 80s.
Rob Rock is a great vocalist, his work w Impellitiri was awesome. Petra fan hete, though i no longer have any of thier music, I have everything. Hartman was a very underrated guitarist, the best kept secret of Christian rock, very versatile. The vocalist Jon Schlitt (spelling?) came from a rock band called Head East and had a few hits. Petra's earlier vocals were great too, by Greg Volz, but Schlitt came as Petra went hard rock. Petra had two solid "worship albums". Great to hear them again.
To me the album Jekyll & Hyde is a standout. It is the first album since the 1990 Beyond Belief that I've actually listened to more than a couple of times. My first Petra-album was Back To The Street (1986). Since then I've discovered their older 80's stuff as well. I love their early 80's albums [More Power To Ya (82), Not Of This World (83) and Beat The System (84)]. And while they did get a bit more heavy on a few songs during the 90's I don't think those albums hold up to the quality of their early to mid 80's discography. The song Mine Field from the 1988 On Fire album is one of my favourite heavy rock songs of Petra. However, the album as a whole doesn't live up to This Means War from the year before. The album I did take the longest to start enjoying was This Means War (1987). It is also the album I find most consistent when it comes to quality, and the album I today like the most. Other albums have more catchy songs to draw you in from the start. But if you listen to TMW for a few weeks it really grows on you. Well... it grew on me, at least. If you love Rock, you may find Petra good. If you love Metal, not so much.
I had a few Petra albums WAY back. I always thought they were a bit hit & miss. They had some great metal / hard rock tracks, then they had some stuff that was just too mellow for me. This is my first time hearing this track - sounds really good
Jekyll and Hyde is one of Petra's heaviest songs. They're more of a AOR rock band. Good, but I wouldn't call them a metal band. But this song is definitely a favorite.
Have all of PETRA's music. Been a fan since early 70's. This is the only PETRA album that didn't have keyboards. All of us PETRA fans begged Bob Hartman to do a "HEAVY" album and for the last PETRA album, He finally did. They are now touring as 2 seperate bands. Classic Petra with Greg X. Volz and Bob Hartman and John Schlitt still touring as PETRA.
Wow not many react to Petra.. I got into them back in the 80's because of Stryper. I know I kinda went backwards. Also the band SHOUT w/ Ken Tamplin on vocals and guitar.. that is one talented dude.
I've been listening to petra since the eighties, this album was a real heavy experience they decided to to a full metal album in previous albums they would put some softer songs in ,but not this one ,Mark you should listen to the track perfect world which is from the same album its really heavy too,FYI they had Peter Furler and Phil Joel from the Christian band the Newsboys on this track Pete was on drums and Phil on bass plus backing vocals ,great album imo
Hit You Where You Live!! Defector, Mine Field, Seen and not Heard, I Am On The Rock, All About Who You Know all decent heavier tunes This Means War, Council Of The Holy, Armed And Dangerous, Perfect World, Sight Unseen, Dance, He Came He Saw He Conquest (Farewell version).
Also, I have not dived into the Petra catalog as of yet, except for a few standout tracks that I came across such as: Creed, He Came He Saw He Conquered. I see on Spotify they have a catalog that will take weeks to listen to, so now I have a week or more work of new music I need to get into thanks to you again Leigh. :) Thanks for doing this one.
I am also a huge Petra fan. I am 61 years old and grew up in the early days of their sucess. In my opinion, Greg Volz had the better voice. John was the best replacement possible. But when I play Petra, I almost always play the Greg Volz albums. And yes, I own all the Schlitt albums.
Great review Leigh! I appreciate you reviewing Christian Oriented Music as well as the mainstream music. Petra has been one of my top 5 bands since the 80s and I have all their studio and live albums. To give you a historical rundown, they were formed in 1972 by guitarist Bob Hartman. They released Petra in 1974 which is more of a Southern Rock and Hard Rock similar to the Eagles and Lynrd Skynrd. They released Come and Join Us In 1977 which is more straight forward 70s Rock. Washes White Than was released in 1979 which was more Light Rock. They refined their sound in 1980 and over the next few years they had more of an Arena Rock sound similar to Boston, Styx, Journey, Foreigner and Bon Jovi. They got heavier around 1987 and the next several albums have a heavier sound bordering on Hard Rock to Heavy Metal on some or several songs per album up to the early to late 90s. They slowed down after 2003 when they released their heaviest album Jekyll and Hyde. Since the mid 2000s a couple versions of the band appeared to do dates and record albums like 2 Guys From Petra Vertical Expressions 2007, Classic Petra Back to the Rock 2011 and CPR (Classic Petra Revived) Back to the Rock 2 in 2017. One of the long running singers Greg Volz (1976-1985, 2000-current) was offered the lead singer position of REO Speedwagon prior to joining Petra. One of the former members of Kansas during 1981-1985 John Elefante produced many of their albums as well as many other bands like Bruce Springsteen and Ritchie Sambora, Alabama, Amy Grant, Barry Manilow, Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Julio Ighlesias, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, etc. John Elefante and John Schlitt (lead singer from 1986 to 2006 and off an on since then) and Petra keyboard player John Lawry is in a band call Jay Sekulow Band. Jay is the drummer and a Civil Rights Attorney. They do Classic Rock covers and originals and will do live performances. Here are many of the songs they do: Styx Fooling Your Self ruclips.net/video/1b5CjvqcoFg/видео.html, Boston Foreplay/Long Time ruclips.net/video/om-oM-gXPEs/видео.html, Badfinger No Matter What ruclips.net/video/2HM6l9hKaNk/видео.html, Argent Hold Your Head Up ruclips.net/video/MM7RiqJ6HjQ/видео.html, Bob Dylan All Along the Watch Tower ruclips.net/video/thKOmVAx7yY/видео.html, Jesus is Just Alright ruclips.net/video/5oh7kchkPNc/видео.html. John Elefante was in a band called Mastedon as lead singer and Dave Amato of REO Speedwagon was a co-member. Here are 2 of their albums: It's a Jungle Out There full album ruclips.net/video/zmHWxCxRlf0/видео.html, Lofcaudio full album ruclips.net/video/TzFTG_l5eWk/видео.html. Here are some songs Dave Amato sang lead on: Glory Bound ruclips.net/video/1r463zG8Nbs/видео.html, Love That Will Survive ruclips.net/video/7shGn9bE_NQ/видео.html, Right Hand ruclips.net/video/DpSvUSqnjkc/видео.html, When it all Comes Down ruclips.net/video/XzyUlagz6l4/видео.html, Here is John Elefante with Kansas Fight Fire With Fire ruclips.net/video/TuFkavneS60/видео.html, Play the Game Tonight ruclips.net/video/TuFkavneS60/видео.html. I highly recommend doing a reaction video for Mastedon Right Hand.
If you havent heard Darrell Mansfield, I suggest you react to Walk with me Jesus - live and People get ready - live. He is an awesome Christian blues performer and plays the harmonica like you wouldnt believe. Again, if you havent heard of him, give him a listen to. You will not be dissappointed.
Love this album. Check out the rest of it. The others were similar to Journey style. And then they moved to acoustic for a couple of years then went metal on this album. They always kept up with current rock music. Love it man keep it comin.
Petra and resurrection band were the first 2 Christian rock bands that I heard starting back in 1983… Both of those bands are kind of the godfathers of our industry… Knowing your style, I would probably check out beyond belief, unseen power, and wake up call… John and Dino Elefante had their thumbprint All over Petra for a lot of years, so the production quality is always going to be superior… My first Petra albums were more power to ya and not of this world… would definitely recommend checking out Resurrection band aka Rez…Recommended albums would be innocent blood, silence screams, and Lament (produced by Ty Tabor from King X)
🙀 The Christian rock/metal scene more or less started (for me) in 1984 to around 1990. I've seen Petra live with Resurrection Band and Barnabas. Since I had the first 6 Petra albums, I can say that some songs were rockin' and others were mellow (like what Wes said). But I've always liked "Not of this World" for its song writing. Obviously Jekyll and Hyde is the heavier side of Petra, great song.
I always thought Defector was a great riff followed by a mediocre song. I'd rather see Leigh react to Petra's 1977 tune, Woman Don't You Know. I'd like to see his face when that crazy drum solo begins. ruclips.net/video/1IlmXOozJR4/видео.html
This has always been my favorite track of Petra. They‘ve been there from the beginning of me listening to Christian Metal. I love it because of the music, as I also like Stryper. And yeah, they have more of those songs, while also offering some variation.
Forgot to mention before, I can't help but laugh when I watch your head as you listened to it because I betcha I listened to it 50 times in the days after I got the CD last week and my head did exactly the same thing, even after repeated listens. I challenge anybody to listen to it at full volume and NOT head-bang! The Pope would head-bang to this. They should play this shit to coma patients, it would have them moving in no time! BTW, Petra means "rock" in Greek and this does indeed R-O-C-K!
They are definitely not metal! But I like quite a bit of their earlier stuff, if you want a bit heavier old christian rock check out rez band! The older the better!
Fun reaction = new subscriber. Here's the lowdown on Petra - they aren't the first Christian rock/metal act, but they might have been the first to have dual lead guitars, back in the early '70s. Their first full studio album came out in 1974, and their last, Jekyll & Hyde in 2003. Their heaviest albums were the first two (1974 and 1977) and the last one (2003). In between they had a reputation for being a creative, radio friendly, AOR/Arena rock band that mirrored acts like Journey, Def Leppard, and Cinderella. Throughout their career it was an open secret that founding member guitarist Bob Hartman was a hard rock/metal guy at heart. As a result, their live shows were twice as loud and twice as heavy as their studio work. For fun, check out their live "Praise Medley" video from 1985. It's a fascinating glimpse at Petra at the peak of their popularity. ruclips.net/video/t_DdOB982yo/видео.html
X_METAL 335 was the one who recommended this to us on the 1984 Livestream. I agree, the only thing it lacks is a cracking guitar solo, but as you say, it was the times. Hell, even Metallica abandoned the great solo around this time. In this song I thought it was cool how they sort of highlighted the drummer in place of the guitar where you'd expect the guitar solo. The rest of the album isn't this heavy, but there are some other tracks on it worth checking out. Thanx to X_METAL for turning me on to this and to Leigh for reacting to it! Cheers!
I listened to it and do remember that one. My older sister had that album (on 8 track!) back in the day because I remember the album cover. I must remember it from that time because I don't remember hearing it in recent years. Good song. I may have to explore them more, now that I'm 53 years old....
Much heavier than earlier releases...I dig it heavy riffs singer sounds a bit like Kevin from Quiet Riot...check out Holy Soldier...if you did Stryper.
I think I would agree with other fans of Petra with the On Fire, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power with emphasis on songs like Minefield, Counsel of the Holy, Underground, Seen and Not Heard, Destiny and Sight Unseen; two songs from each album respectively.
Lead singer John Schlitt still putting out the power vocals at 70+. When I first heard him with Head East on the song Dance Away Lover I consider his vocal skills to be on par with Steve Perry though edgier. John was a substance abuse wreck and Head East had to dismiss him. John became a person of faith and then became Petra’s second lead singer. In recent years past he has joined his old pals of Head East for shows and has collaborated with John Elefante of Kansas.
I agree with the other comments, this album is definitely Petra’s heaviest - it seemed like it came out of nowhere because of a string of softer albums after Unseen Power in 1992.
Petra pioneered the Christian rock scene and paved the way for bands like Stryper to come later. This album was, indeed, one of their best, and, unfortunately, it came at a time when precious few people were interested in guitar solos, so you only hear snippets of them on this entire album. Other songs worth hearing on this album include "Stand," Test of Time," and "Life As We Know It." Other Petra songs from their career in this same ballpark are "Judas Kiss," "Heart of a Hero," "Midnight Oil," "Adonai," and "Minefield." To your point, however, they were definitely more on the hard rock spectrum than in the metal world.
I got put off christian rock because there were 2 hopeless christian music engineers back in the 80s who didn't know how to record properly....the only decent rock band was petra and they had a good guitar sound but more importantly they were engineered well too ...
I'm a huge Petra fan, and Christian Music fan in general. Been listening to Petra since becoming a Christian in 1985 after an Amy Grant concert.
Happy you reviewed this outstanding song featuring John Schlitt, who replaced the original vocalist Greg X Volz, (who himself is defiantly no slouch mind ya... ) ^V^
This song as you mentioned is the perfect tempo, drive, vocals and smashing drums. I've seen Petra live in 1988 when they played at Great Adventure and blew everyone away with 'This Means War.'
Jekyll and Hyde is the perfect song of theirs, but don't avoid other albums they have. Not all their songs are heavy, but they are power rock, and ballads. One of the really good favorites of theirs that shows John's Vocal Range is the song 'Enter In'. Others are 'MineField' and 'Wake the Dead.'
Another band I would love to request is more rock, is WhiteHeart. They and Petra usually traded best Rock albums year for year at the Dove Awards. Rick Florian has one of the best higher range vocal voices I ever heard. Just think of Tommy Shaw from Styx, although a good bit younger.
Here is one of Rick Florian's first live shows, and he just belts out this song Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Christian here. ruclips.net/video/54RhlFUuRt8/видео.html The whole band is outstanding, with the amazing Gordon Kennedy on lead guitar with TWO Solos. And he would go on to win a Grammy with Eric Clapton as well. He would also be included in the concert and concept album by Garth Brooks' Rock album, The Life and Times of Chris Ganes, with bassist Tommy Simms and the drummer (name I have momentarily forgotten) from WhiteHeart.
Other very notable WhiteHeart songs to listen to are Find a Way, ruclips.net/video/FpP3y9o9MtU/видео.html Bye Bye Babylon, ruclips.net/video/73D9fTGdYSQ/видео.html Vandetta, Let The Kingdom Come, LIVE Version where Rick Florian gives one of the Highest screech notes in his songs, it's that powerful. ruclips.net/video/ZL_wHq-bNS0/видео.html
Cheers mate, and you gained a follower.... great channel... God Bless ya...
DeafGryphon
Been listening to Petra since they first arrived. Their 50th Anniversary recently. They are a cross generational group that has produced many different styles of Rock and Roll. Also both acoustic and electric. They were reincarnated with a new lead singer during the first half of their life span and switched to a harder Rock style at that point. I am fairly certain they are in the Rock and Roll hall of fame somewhere for their ground breaking musical achievements. They are definitely iconic in the Christian arena and have received numerous awards and recognition. Jekyll and Hyde is a stand out song but I assure you that they have many other songs that you would equally enjoy. God Bless PETRA. May their music live on forever.
This was Petra's last real album and it was also pretty much their heaviest. Any christian rock/metal fan loved this album, and they only had one issue with it, that being there weren't enough solos. Petra generally released rock albums, but every now and again they ventured out into hard rock.
The lack of solos, while disappointing, was forgivable, because those of us who were longtime fans knew that it was an artistic choice as opposed to a lack of chops. Bob Hartman is one of the best guitarists around, so his decision to limit the solos on Jekyll & Hyde certainly wasn’t due to a lack of ability. I can respect that.
Petra is my all time top of the list favorite Christian rock band and still will be till i die.
I started listing to petra back in 1990 on there beyond Belief album after that i was hooked for life
Thank you for sharing
Petra is my all time favorite
I grew up on Petra in the 80’s and 90’s. They were hard rock overall and would say, to describe their sound, they would be the Journey of the Christian market. One of the best bands ever in my opinion.
On fire album was closest to metal all others just awesome rock
A pretty good definition: never thought on them like this before, but makes complete sense!
This was actually their final studio album before the founder & lead guitarist retired. Nothing like they ever recorded before. They did a live album after this called Farewell. This was the only album with this kind of straight up, guitar forward(no keyboards) hard rock/metal feel. There were some hard rock songs on some previous albums but nothing like this. I love this album
This was Petra’s heaviest song ever. Loved it! My only complaint is the song was screaming for one of Mr. Hartman’s guitar solos. It would have been epic.
I made a comment to Mark yestwrday. If all of Petra's music was like this I would have been a fan. This song absolutely blew me away.
One of the best Petra songs !!!
Petra was a pioneer in Christian rock music started in 72. I found Petra in the late 80s as a kid with the Album "On Fire" which is probably the next heaviest Album Petra ever did ( I recommend this album too) with Jekyll and Hyde the heaviest and is that way through the entire album not just the one song. Petra has a vast variety of styles through their many albums and many excellent songs.
Other bands I suggest are Whitecross, Barren Cross, Ken Tamplin, Tourniquet, Deliverance, Holy Soldier, X-Sinner (similar it AC DC), Resurrection Band
Singer is John Schlitt formerly of the band Head East.
Love this song from Petra.
love it
You might like Judas Kiss, Fired Up, Seen & Not Heard, and Midnight Oil. Petra had such longevity (1972-2013) because they could do so much variety. Some albums like God Fixation were more acoustic while albums like Beyond Belief were more of the 80s hair band style and Beat the System used a lot of synth that was taking over in the early 80s.
That was one mean driving song. Major vocal intensity from beginning to end.
Petra and KISS were my favorites until Stryper came along... all awesome bands... I still play this one...thanks for sharing
Rob Rock is a great vocalist, his work w Impellitiri was awesome.
Petra fan hete, though i no longer have any of thier music, I have everything. Hartman was a very underrated guitarist, the best kept secret of Christian rock, very versatile. The vocalist Jon Schlitt (spelling?) came from a rock band called Head East and had a few hits. Petra's earlier vocals were great too, by Greg Volz, but Schlitt came as Petra went hard rock.
Petra had two solid "worship albums". Great to hear them again.
Petra is awesome!! One of my most favorite bands! ❤❤
All fired Up is a great song! Give it a listen. 😊
To me the album Jekyll & Hyde is a standout. It is the first album since the 1990 Beyond Belief that I've actually listened to more than a couple of times. My first Petra-album was Back To The Street (1986). Since then I've discovered their older 80's stuff as well. I love their early 80's albums [More Power To Ya (82), Not Of This World (83) and Beat The System (84)]. And while they did get a bit more heavy on a few songs during the 90's I don't think those albums hold up to the quality of their early to mid 80's discography. The song Mine Field from the 1988 On Fire album is one of my favourite heavy rock songs of Petra. However, the album as a whole doesn't live up to This Means War from the year before.
The album I did take the longest to start enjoying was This Means War (1987). It is also the album I find most consistent when it comes to quality, and the album I today like the most. Other albums have more catchy songs to draw you in from the start. But if you listen to TMW for a few weeks it really grows on you. Well... it grew on me, at least.
If you love Rock, you may find Petra good. If you love Metal, not so much.
Both Petra and Resurrection band came out in the same year they were both pioneering in Christian rock as well as Sweet comfort band
Sweet comfort band formed in 73 the next year
I always loved Rez (Resurrection ) Band who pioneered along with Larry Norman what's called Christian Contemporary Music
You should also check out some of their older songs with Greg Volz as lead singer he had an awesome voice and sound
For some of my favorite Petra hard rock songs check out Mine Field and I Am On The Rock.
Midnight Oil from Petra is also has the heavier sound. From the 90's
I think one of Petra song i consider heavy is "Right Place" from the album No Doubt and it was released 1995 over 25 years ago.
I'm a big Petra fan, and the album Wake up call is also quite heavy especially the song Midnight Oil.
I have all their CDs
Leigh, their album On Fire from 1988 is another of their heaviest albums!!!
Definitely their heaviest album, but the album On Fire was also a hard rock / metalish album that definitely had some rockers on it
I had a few Petra albums WAY back. I always thought they were a bit hit & miss. They had some great metal / hard rock tracks, then they had some stuff that was just too mellow for me. This is my first time hearing this track - sounds really good
Mind field and midnight oil underneith the blood are also harder rock.
Jekyll and Hyde is one of Petra's heaviest songs. They're more of a AOR rock band. Good, but I wouldn't call them a metal band. But this song is definitely a favorite.
Have all of PETRA's music. Been a fan since early 70's. This is the only PETRA album that didn't have keyboards. All of us PETRA fans begged Bob Hartman to do a "HEAVY" album and for the last PETRA album, He finally did. They are now touring as 2 seperate bands. Classic Petra with Greg X. Volz and Bob Hartman and John Schlitt still touring as PETRA.
Petra's best song
woot #1 ;) good pick. Much heavier than their earlier stuff. Then again they were founded in the 70's
Lead singer is from 70s secular rock band ‘Head East.’
You should check out Judas Kiss awesome song
Check out the riff on "Perfect World" off the same album.
Favourite Petra album is “On Fire”. 80s hard rock (similar vein to Def Leppard).
That’s my favorite as well 👍
'Hit you where you live' being my favourite person on the album
Wow not many react to Petra.. I got into them back in the 80's because of Stryper. I know I kinda went backwards. Also the band SHOUT w/ Ken Tamplin on vocals and guitar.. that is one talented dude.
This song reminds me of Monster-Skillet.
I've been listening to petra since the eighties, this album was a real heavy experience they decided to to a full metal album in previous albums they would put some softer songs in ,but not this one ,Mark you should listen to the track perfect world which is from the same album its really heavy too,FYI they had Peter Furler and Phil Joel from the Christian band the Newsboys on this track Pete was on drums and Phil on bass plus backing vocals ,great album imo
Check out “test of time” on same album
Hit You Where You Live!! Defector, Mine Field, Seen and not Heard, I Am On The Rock, All About Who You Know all decent heavier tunes This Means War, Council Of The Holy, Armed And Dangerous, Perfect World, Sight Unseen, Dance, He Came He Saw He Conquest (Farewell version).
Also, I have not dived into the Petra catalog as of yet, except for a few standout tracks that I came across such as: Creed, He Came He Saw He Conquered. I see on Spotify they have a catalog that will take weeks to listen to, so now I have a week or more work of new music I need to get into thanks to you again Leigh. :) Thanks for doing this one.
Petra has been around since '74
Schlitt sounds like Andi Deris here and it is a lot heavier than their usual stuff aside from On Fire!
you have to check out whitecross and barren cross they are from the 80s and are awesome
Greatest Christian Band ever!
I am also a huge Petra fan. I am 61 years old and grew up in the early days of their sucess. In my opinion, Greg Volz had the better voice. John was the best replacement possible. But when I play Petra, I almost always play the Greg Volz albums. And yes, I own all the Schlitt albums.
Great review Leigh! I appreciate you reviewing Christian Oriented Music as well as the mainstream music. Petra has been one of my top 5 bands since the 80s and I have all their studio and live albums. To give you a historical rundown, they were formed in 1972 by guitarist Bob Hartman. They released Petra in 1974 which is more of a Southern Rock and Hard Rock similar to the Eagles and Lynrd Skynrd. They released Come and Join Us In 1977 which is more straight forward 70s Rock. Washes White Than was released in 1979 which was more Light Rock. They refined their sound in 1980 and over the next few years they had more of an Arena Rock sound similar to Boston, Styx, Journey, Foreigner and Bon Jovi. They got heavier around 1987 and the next several albums have a heavier sound bordering on Hard Rock to Heavy Metal on some or several songs per album up to the early to late 90s. They slowed down after 2003 when they released their heaviest album Jekyll and Hyde. Since the mid 2000s a couple versions of the band appeared to do dates and record albums like 2 Guys From Petra Vertical Expressions 2007, Classic Petra Back to the Rock 2011 and CPR (Classic Petra Revived) Back to the Rock 2 in 2017. One of the long running singers Greg Volz (1976-1985, 2000-current) was offered the lead singer position of REO Speedwagon prior to joining Petra. One of the former members of Kansas during 1981-1985 John Elefante produced many of their albums as well as many other bands like Bruce Springsteen and Ritchie Sambora, Alabama, Amy Grant, Barry Manilow, Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Julio Ighlesias, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, etc. John Elefante and John Schlitt (lead singer from 1986 to 2006 and off an on since then) and Petra keyboard player John Lawry is in a band call Jay Sekulow Band. Jay is the drummer and a Civil Rights Attorney. They do Classic Rock covers and originals and will do live performances. Here are many of the songs they do: Styx Fooling Your Self ruclips.net/video/1b5CjvqcoFg/видео.html, Boston Foreplay/Long Time ruclips.net/video/om-oM-gXPEs/видео.html, Badfinger No Matter What ruclips.net/video/2HM6l9hKaNk/видео.html, Argent Hold Your Head Up ruclips.net/video/MM7RiqJ6HjQ/видео.html, Bob Dylan All Along the Watch Tower ruclips.net/video/thKOmVAx7yY/видео.html, Jesus is Just Alright ruclips.net/video/5oh7kchkPNc/видео.html. John Elefante was in a band called Mastedon as lead singer and Dave Amato of REO Speedwagon was a co-member. Here are 2 of their albums: It's a Jungle Out There full album ruclips.net/video/zmHWxCxRlf0/видео.html, Lofcaudio full album ruclips.net/video/TzFTG_l5eWk/видео.html. Here are some songs Dave Amato sang lead on: Glory Bound ruclips.net/video/1r463zG8Nbs/видео.html, Love That Will Survive ruclips.net/video/7shGn9bE_NQ/видео.html, Right Hand ruclips.net/video/DpSvUSqnjkc/видео.html, When it all Comes Down ruclips.net/video/XzyUlagz6l4/видео.html, Here is John Elefante with Kansas Fight Fire With Fire ruclips.net/video/TuFkavneS60/видео.html, Play the Game Tonight ruclips.net/video/TuFkavneS60/видео.html. I highly recommend doing a reaction video for Mastedon Right Hand.
you'd like Bloodgood also
If you havent heard Darrell Mansfield, I suggest you react to Walk with me Jesus - live and People get ready - live. He is an awesome Christian blues performer and plays the harmonica like you wouldnt believe. Again, if you havent heard of him, give him a listen to. You will not be dissappointed.
Love this album. Check out the rest of it. The others were similar to Journey style. And then they moved to acoustic for a couple of years then went metal on this album. They always kept up with current rock music. Love it man keep it comin.
Gotta do ‘Rawkfist’ by Thousand Foot Krutch’.
Petra and resurrection band were the first 2 Christian rock bands that I heard starting back in 1983… Both of those bands are kind of the godfathers of our industry… Knowing your style, I would probably check out beyond belief, unseen power, and wake up call… John and Dino Elefante had their thumbprint All over Petra for a lot of years, so the production quality is always going to be superior… My first Petra albums were more power to ya and not of this world… would definitely recommend checking out Resurrection band aka Rez…Recommended albums would be innocent blood, silence screams, and Lament (produced by Ty Tabor from King X)
Bob Hartman & Petra were close friends with Kansas back in the early days.
Petra!
🙀 The Christian rock/metal scene more or less started (for me) in 1984 to around 1990. I've seen Petra live with Resurrection Band and Barnabas. Since I had the first 6 Petra albums, I can say that some songs were rockin' and others were mellow (like what Wes said). But I've always liked "Not of this World" for its song writing. Obviously Jekyll and Hyde is the heavier side of Petra, great song.
Check out Petra Hit You Where You Live
Petra fans back me up here, there may be better ones but Leigh would go nuts over Defector right? Great metal riff with AOR throughout.
I always thought Defector was a great riff followed by a mediocre song. I'd rather see Leigh react to Petra's 1977 tune, Woman Don't You Know. I'd like to see his face when that crazy drum solo begins. ruclips.net/video/1IlmXOozJR4/видео.html
This has always been my favorite track of Petra. They‘ve been there from the beginning of me listening to Christian Metal. I love it because of the music, as I also like Stryper. And yeah, they have more of those songs, while also offering some variation.
Check out these Christian bands, Bride, Bloodgood, Baron cross, Whitecross, skillet, Thousand foot crutch, Rez band
Reaction starts from 3:47
First thing I notice with this album was their drummer, who has been with them since '80, didn't play drums
Forgot to mention before, I can't help but laugh when I watch your head as you listened to it because I betcha I listened to it 50 times in the days after I got the CD last week and my head did exactly the same thing, even after repeated listens. I challenge anybody to listen to it at full volume and NOT head-bang! The Pope would head-bang to this. They should play this shit to coma patients, it would have them moving in no time! BTW, Petra means "rock" in Greek and this does indeed R-O-C-K!
I grew up listening to Petra. Then for 30 years they made pretty lame stuff but J&H is really amazing.
you might like chameleon if you were looking for something from their early days
I'm a Christian but never paid much attention to Christian rock. This is pretty good
They are definitely not metal! But I like quite a bit of their earlier stuff, if you want a bit heavier old christian rock check out rez band! The older the better!
Fun reaction = new subscriber. Here's the lowdown on Petra - they aren't the first Christian rock/metal act, but they might have been the first to have dual lead guitars, back in the early '70s. Their first full studio album came out in 1974, and their last, Jekyll & Hyde in 2003. Their heaviest albums were the first two (1974 and 1977) and the last one (2003). In between they had a reputation for being a creative, radio friendly, AOR/Arena rock band that mirrored acts like Journey, Def Leppard, and Cinderella. Throughout their career it was an open secret that founding member guitarist Bob Hartman was a hard rock/metal guy at heart. As a result, their live shows were twice as loud and twice as heavy as their studio work. For fun, check out their live "Praise Medley" video from 1985. It's a fascinating glimpse at Petra at the peak of their popularity. ruclips.net/video/t_DdOB982yo/видео.html
X_METAL 335 was the one who recommended this to us on the 1984 Livestream. I agree, the only thing it lacks is a cracking guitar solo, but as you say, it was the times. Hell, even Metallica abandoned the great solo around this time. In this song I thought it was cool how they sort of highlighted the drummer in place of the guitar where you'd expect the guitar solo. The rest of the album isn't this heavy, but there are some other tracks on it worth checking out. Thanx to X_METAL for turning me on to this and to Leigh for reacting to it! Cheers!
You're welcome mate
Best and hardest Petra song ever is Judas Kiss - ruclips.net/video/Gx9K4qdCGlY/видео.html
My favorite album is definitely More Power to Ya. Greg Volz just hits different, legendary
I listened to it and do remember that one. My older sister had that album (on 8 track!) back in the day because I remember the album cover. I must remember it from that time because I don't remember hearing it in recent years. Good song. I may have to explore them more, now that I'm 53 years old....
Judas Kiss is a great song, but it is more like a power ballad as opposed to hard rock.
@@shaundavis7979 maybe not by todays standards, back when I heard it as a kid, when it fist released it was hard rock
Much heavier than earlier releases...I dig it heavy riffs singer sounds a bit like Kevin from Quiet Riot...check out Holy Soldier...if you did Stryper.
I think I would agree with other fans of Petra with the On Fire, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power with emphasis on songs like Minefield, Counsel of the Holy, Underground, Seen and Not Heard, Destiny and Sight Unseen; two songs from each album respectively.
Petra came out of the 60's Jesus movement. They started gaining popularity in the 70s.
Lead singer John Schlitt still putting out the power vocals at 70+. When I first heard him with Head East on the song Dance Away Lover I consider his vocal skills to be on par with Steve Perry though edgier. John was a substance abuse wreck and Head East had to dismiss him. John became a person of faith and then became Petra’s second lead singer. In recent years past he has joined his old pals of Head East for shows and has collaborated with John Elefante of Kansas.
I agree with the other comments, this album is definitely Petra’s heaviest - it seemed like it came out of nowhere because of a string of softer albums after Unseen Power in 1992.
Before Petra, John Schlitt was the lead singer of Head East... Check out "Never Been Any Reason." Petra is the greatest of all time.
That album is designed to stop you in your tracks! The mix, the layout is nothing short of spectacular !!!!!...................
Petra pioneered the Christian rock scene and paved the way for bands like Stryper to come later. This album was, indeed, one of their best, and, unfortunately, it came at a time when precious few people were interested in guitar solos, so you only hear snippets of them on this entire album. Other songs worth hearing on this album include "Stand," Test of Time," and "Life As We Know It." Other Petra songs from their career in this same ballpark are "Judas Kiss," "Heart of a Hero," "Midnight Oil," "Adonai," and "Minefield." To your point, however, they were definitely more on the hard rock spectrum than in the metal world.
I got put off christian rock because there were 2 hopeless christian music engineers back in the 80s who didn't know how to record properly....the only decent rock band was petra and they had a good guitar sound but more importantly they were engineered well too ...
C'mon dude, join the real Christian army, not the stuff you hear about in the news about Christianity. You'll love it. So much truth to discover. :)