Matt Privett

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s second live album, twenty-third overall, and final album under the Petra banner, 2005’s Farewell.

The Backstory

The decline of Petra in the late 1990s and 2000 had given way to a revival (pun intended) of sorts in the early part of a new decade. A new three album deal with Peter Furler backed Inpop Records had produced Petra’s third praise album, Revival, and then, finally, a return to rock with Jekyll & Hyde, the hardest of all Petra albums, which was very well received by fans. The band finally seemed to stop trying to gear their sound toward whatever was now the prevailing sound of the times, and instead, Bob Hartman just wrote Bob Hartman songs and the band went back to just bringing it. Still, they were getting older, and with one more album on their Inpop deal it was natural for Petra to begin thinking about what the future held, and how long that future would be.

Eventually, the decision was made that Petra, after 33 years, would bid “farewell.” It was determined the last album would be a live album, a concert to sum up over three decades of legendary Christian rock. It all took place on October 4, 2005, in Franklin, TN, a suburb of Nashville, and would be made available on CD and DVD.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s twenty-first studio album, and twenty-second overall, 2003’s Jekyll & Hyde.

The Backstory

Revival, released in 2001, was Petra’s third praise album, and in a time when praise albums were dominating the Christian music industry, it was their second such album within a four year span. The album had some great songs but didn’t make much of a splash on the charts, though it was well received by fans. Still, Petra fans were wanting more from the band. 

Fans began campaigning for Petra to go back to the rock, back to the sound of the late 80s and early 90s, when the band enjoyed its highest peak. Inpop Records agreed with the idea and work on a new album began. Bob Hartman was encouraged to not try to write songs to be like what was popular at the time, but to just be himself. Hartman liked that idea, and Jekyll & Hyde was conceived, inspired by the Robert Louis Stevenson story. It would become an album the band saw as make-or-break.

The bigger story for the band behind the scenes, however, was the departure of drummer Louie Weaver, who had been with the band since 1981. No reasons were made public at the time, and to my knowledge none have ever come to light. Apparently it was John Schlitt’s decision, and you have to believe Bob Hartman would have concurred to keep moving forward. It does appear that, whatever happened, reconciliation has come about over the years, thankfully. Still, that left the band without a drummer. Greg Bailey was hired as bassist. He also collaborated in writing one song and did background vocals. However, Peter Furler of Newsboys, who ran Inpop, used Wade Jaynes and Phil Joel to play bass. As for drums, while Justin Johnson is featured in part, Furler himself replaced Weaver for recording, even touring with the band until Paul Simmons was hired.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s twentieth studio album, and twenty-first overall, 2001’s Revival.

The Backstory

The latter half of the 1990s had been tumultuous for Petra. Bob Hartman had decided to stop touring after the Wake Up Call tour in 1994. He still wrote and played on No Doubt in 1995, and had a role in writing a few songs on the next couple of albums, but his departure had been a huge change. The lineup of the group was a revolving door for the rest of the decade and into 2000 as Petra searched for its identity. What was it now and who was it going to be going forward? The album Double Take in 2000 may have won the band another Grammy, but it was a commercial bomb, did not achieve the hoped for radio success, and turned off many long time fans of the band.

To add to the unsettledness of the band, after 2000 it was without a record label, its deal with Word/Epic having run out. What record label would want to invest in a band which was clearly, at this point, on the decline – and to some, its deathbed? Enter Newsboys frontman Peter Furler, who had co-founded inPop Records in 1999. inPop’s focus was, for the most part, independent artists with international flavor, but with something to offer the world of Christian music. But Furler remembered it had been Petra that brought Newsboys touring with them back in the day. A show from the Unseen Power tour in Greenville, SC, in October 1992 ranks as my favorite concert ever attended. Newsboys opened for Petra that night, and ended up breaking out in the years proceeding. Furler didn’t forget Petra, so they were signed to a three album deal.

But who would Petra be? Hartman decided to come back and play, but everyone else from the band except for John Schlitt and Louie Weaver moved on. This was fine. These three had been in Petra since, at the most recent, 1986. So they would bring in session artists to fill the gaps. Additionally, they decided that if they wanted to bring Petra back to life, so to speak, a third praise album was the way to go. Enter Revival.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s nineteenth studio album, and twentieth overall, 2000’s Double Take.

The Backstory

By any measurable standard, it is fair to say that as the world breathed a sigh of relief that the planet didn’t explode because of Y2K, Petra was running on proverbial fumes. Roster turnover had taken its toll on the band. Just who was Petra now? A change in musical styles had been less than enthusiastically received by passionate fans, casual fans, and radio. Just what was Petra now? And where were they going and what were they going to be?

Petra had one album left on their deal with Word Records and there was no guarantee of what was in store for the band after that. There was discussion about another live record, but that was nixed with cost being one factor. Instead, in lieu of the band’s dearth of radio hits over the past several years, Petra decided to run several of their old hits back in a new, more modern, and hopefully more radio-friendly style. John Schlitt said the purpose of this album was “to reintroduce [these songs] to a generation that never heard any of these songs.”

In addition, Trent Thomason came on as the new keyboardist, while Kevin Brandow moved on.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s eighteenth studio album, and nineteenth overall, 1998’s God Fixation.

The Backstory

By 1998 Petra was a band that seemed to be searching for who it was and where it was going in the world of Christian music. After becoming a force on the CCM charts for much of the 80s and into the 90s, by the middle of the decade the band’s chart success and appeal was beginning to wane, as bands like dc Talk, Newsboys, and others were on the ascendancy. As John Schlitt once said to HM magazine, “Petra wasn’t selling worth a stink. Petra was going down the drain (because of internal problems), and I don’t want to go down the drain yet. Personally, if it means kids are interested in a new style, I believe we can do it. If it means getting three new members to do it, I guess it has to be done.” Petra did get three new members before the a second praise album in 1997. Kevin Brandow, Pete Orta, and Lonnie Chapin were added to the fold. The resulting album, Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, had some quality songs, but the album as a whole didn’t seem to register either with casual Christian music fans or with Petra diehards. So when it came time for Petra to release its next traditional album, there was quite a bit of curiosity as to what direction it would take.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s seventeenth studio album, and eighteenth overall, 1997’s Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus.

The Backstory

As if Petra hadn’t experienced enough change going into No Doubt, with John Lawry’s departure during the previous tour, Bob Hartman’s decision to come off the road, and the additions of Jim Cooper and David Lichens on keyboard and guitar, respectively, the band experienced more upheaval than ever before going into their next album. Ronny Cates decided it was time to step aside after being with Petra since 1988. Beyond that, Cooper and Lichens were not retained after just one album. A lot of that seems to have been the decision that the next album would be a second praise and worship album. Their first, Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out (1989), had been very successful, and in an environment in which Petra’s popularity was waning among younger listeners, the decision was made to make another album with a Petra take on the sound of praise and worship songs of the time.

Cooper and Lichens were not on board with the decision and were removed from the band. I will have more to say about what I think of the decision to go with another praise album later. Nevertheless, that left three spots to fill on what had been a five man band since for the better part of two decades. Lonnie Chapin, who came to Petra through a connection with touring with Whiteheart, became the new bass player. Kevin Brandow took on keyboards and would play some guitar as well. Pete Orta became the lead guitarist.

Amidst all of the change, Petra would come to release Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus. How would be received? How good was it?

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s sixteenth studio album, and seventeenth overall, 1995’s No Doubt.

The Backstory

Petra came into the recording of No Doubt facing more uncertainty about the future than perhaps any time since the very early 80s. Arguably, not even the departure of Greg X. Volz and addition of new front man John Schlitt was as much of a shock to the system as the departure of John Lawry during the Wake-Up Call tour, followed by the announcement that, while remaining a part of the band, Bob Hartman would no longer be touring. Wake-Up Call had done well with the people who vote for things, winning another Grammy and another Dove Award. And though it catch on as much as previous albums in a rapidly changing musical environment, Petra fans still enjoyed it very much. Still, Hartman viewed Wake-Up Call as a transitional step (agreed), and things I’ve read and heard from other band members indicate he wasn’t alone in feeling Wake-Up Call was not Petra at their best. 

When it came time for the next album Petra danced with the ones who had brung them. John and Dino Elefante opened a studio in Nashville and the band went back to the duo who had produced their albums from 1986–1992. Hartman was still on board, writing songs and playing on the album. David Lichens, who John Schlitt met while playing a solo date, would join the group on tour and was included in promotional materials. Jim Cooper, who had worked with Lawry while was Petra’s keyboardist, came on during the Wake-Up Call tour and would remain for No Doubt. The question became what would Petra sound like in an era in which the arena rock sound was now being eschewed for grunge and hip/hop? Was their still room for Christian rock?

Adding even more intrigue to the release of the new album was that it came just a few months after the release of Shake, John Schlitt’s solo debut, featuring “Wake the Dead.” You can listen to that here.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s fifteenth studio album, and sixteenth overall, 1993’s Wake-Up Call.

The Backstory

Unseen Power had given Petra another award winning album that connected with fans, even if it didn’t quite reach the mass appeal of Beyond Belief or have as many radio hits. The band and producers had intentionally tried to do different things during the recording of the album. Bob Hartman wrote about how the band had needed to shift their direction, but this was more of a transitional step. In some interviews I’ve read and heard in recent months I’ve also gotten the impression he wasn’t the only band member less than thrilled with how Unseen Power turned out. Of course, I think that’s a shame because it’s my favorite album. Period.

After Unseen Power the band released their fourteenth album, Petra En Albanza, a Spanish language version of 1989’s Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out. Then, however, it was type to release their next English language album.

Wake-Up Call would be that album, and it would actually be the album which brought substantial change. The arena rock sound was becoming less popular at the time, being supplanted by grunge rock, pop, and hip-hop. Another tweak in the sound was coming. Add to that the band’s desire to stay home in Nashville to record – they had recorded the past few albums in California – and it amounted to a change in producers for the first time since the Elefante brothers produced Back To The Street in 1986. Brown Bannister, well known in the contemporary Christian music industry for his work with The Imperials, White Heart, and most notably, Amy Grant, was brought on to produce from Nashville.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s thirteenth studio album, and fourteenth overall, 1991’s Unseen Power.

The Backstory

Petra was riding as high as it ever had, achieving an unprecedented level of success with their 1990 release Beyond Belief. A new generation of fans had been building over the course of the past few albums after the addition of John Schlitt and a change in styles. As Petra prepared to write and record their follow-up, one might have thought they would do more of the same. But as Bob Hartman writes in More Power to Ya: The Petra Devotional, “By this time, the recording process with John and Dino [Elefante] was beginning to feel somewhat mechanical. We all knew it, so we set out to intentionally go about things differently.” Would “differently” work? Unseen Power was the result.

In celebration of Petra turning fifty years old in 2022, here at mattprivett.com I am going album by album through their discography and reflecting on the role their music has played in my life. In this post my focus is Petra’s twelfth studio album, thirteenth overall, most successful, and probably most well-known, 1990’s Beyond Belief.

The Backstory

After This Means War! and On Fire!, Petra was riding higher than they ever had. Then, touring with renowned evangelist Josh McDowell, they released Petra Praise in the fall of 1989, and it only became they biggest seller ever. It appeared they had reached their summit as a band. But with the same lineup from the past two albums still intact (Schlitt/Hartman/Cates/Lawry/Weaver), Petra still had a higher rock to climb. In the summer of 1990 they released their first studio album with Dayspring/Word Records, Beyond Belief. 

Album Information

Beyond Belief would prove to be Petra’s biggest seller, going gold. It would also garner the group its first Grammy Award after five nominations. To go along with the album the band produced a mini-movie (below) that became a youth group staple. It contained music videos from the album.