Published in the CR Mag 38

Tuesday 1st April 1997

Petra - Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus

STYLE: Rock
RATING

OUR PRODUCT CODE: 2491-180
LABEL: Word 7019929605
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £4.99

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Back in the '80s, Petra's first praise album saw the rock crying out! In the "90s, rock fans will suspect that after the high energy No Doubt" album, "Petra Praise T sees the band wimping out! Although rock flavoured, the acoustic nature of a lot of this means that some of the songs sound (shock, horror!) decidedly similar to a mainstream worship album from someone like Maranatha! Hard to believe, eh? Cheek out "Show Your Power", "I Love You Lord" or the medley and be shocked as Pctra go soft pop! There are of course moments where they rock *n" roll like good "uns. "Be Of Good Cheer" has an absolutely huge Petra riff and vocal chant! "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" gallops along, however overall it feels more like the band have abandoned their youth ministry and recorded an album for 30 somethings! Even the presence of John Elefantc and Foreigner's Lou Gramm singing with Schlitt on the excellent rock ballad "We Need Jesus" fail to rescue this from the mire of lameness. Personnel changes mean that their 25th anniversary will see yet another new line up on the road. Let's hope John Schlitt. Louie Weaver and new colleagues can get a bit of bite back in the band and remember how to rock!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Matt in Poole @ 21:31 on Feb 13 2011

I would honestly have to rate this seriously wonderful album as one of the very finest of Petra's long career. What makes it works for me? The very fact that for once it has a truly different style to it. And the inclusion of a lot more acoustic guitar works for me, as I am a mega fan of acoustic guitar. And never before or after has an album put together so much acoustic work with electric still aplenty, so well!

Yes, and there are still the wonderful rockers along the way though. There's Bob's brilliant Be Of Good Cheer for a start, which has literally grating guitars that blast the ears! His other tracks The Holiest Name and Lovely Lord too are incredibly beautiful praise tracks, especially Lovely Lord, which must rank as one of Bob's finest ballads of all time.

I love the simple production of Show Your Power too, one of the best renditions of this song I've heard. And the opener Moses Song surprised me when I first played the album, I never expected to hear so much mandolin on a Petra song! But I say let there be much more of this excellent instrument! John Schlitt is still bringing the stage down with his soaring tones, and the new band members instantly make their presence felt. And Louie is still the master drummer. This is one of the finest Praise albums it's been my pleasure to hear! This is about as far from predictable and run of the mill for Petra as you can get. A whole ten out of ten!

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Petra - Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus

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