“Petra Haden and Bill Frisell finds both Frisell and Haden building layer upon layer of sound, creating a lush and appealing ambience that brings new meaning to a varied programme of originals, standards, traditional pieces and some surprising covers. ”
Petra is one of the most successful Christian rock bands ever, a veritable institution whose name (taken from the Greek word for "rock") has come to reflect not only their music, but their staying power as well, even in spite of Christian radio's reluctance to program their brand of loud, slick arena rock.
Opening with a blues-inflected "Get Back to the Bible," the original eponymous Petra album hearkens more to Southern rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd than to the arena-type groups that they became more associated with, both in vocal style and in musical texture. Who knew that guitarist Bob Hartman could sing? Though the Southern rock theme is predominant here, the style is not very unified on this record, and it is obvious that the group was under pressure to keep things more subdued and "sensible" to be in line with the teachings of the major theologians of the day…
Petra Praise… The Rock Cries Out is the eleventh studio album of the Christian rock band, Petra and their first praise album. It was released on October 3, 1989 by DaySpring Records, marking the band's return to the Word family as the early version of Petra was signed to sister label Myrrh. The music is mostly a collection of traditional praise songs with a rock style. However, there are two original songs, both written by band founder Bob Hartman. The sound is a little different vocally especially, because the keys were chosen for ease of use by youth groups and not necessarily to showcase John Schlitt's voice.