Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Brilliant album.....to say the least...., 4 Sep 2007
This review is from: God Fixation (Audio CD)
God Fixation is where Bob Hartman reached his lyrical height actually, not on Beyond Belief. Yes, Beyond is awesome but the songs to me arent as frank and hard hitting as the ones on this gem of a record. and quite frankl;y i dont give a toss if the rock sound has been toned down, these songs are still totally amazingly produced with brilliant musicianship and performances.
The songs with power:
If I Had To Die For Someone: This song is one of the bands toughest and most intense messages ever, it really gets to you and makes you consider your life in a new light.
Hello Again has brilliant lyrics and a brilliant edgy tune, and also cool rhymes eh?!
Just A Matter Of Time: another potent rocker with an intense message that again makes you think about the choices in your life. Inspiring stuff yet again.
Falling Up has mandolin, i love mandolin! Up until here i thought that Mark Heard was the only artist who give a mandolin justice, but wrong! Bob can carry on playing the brilliant thing on this uplifting ballad!
Over The Horizon is a catchy song with rollicking acoustic guitar, a sound i really like with an open and honest message yet again.
God Fixation finally fulfilled a wish for me to do with Petra. It had totally pumping intro bass! Ronny was always excellent at the bass, but he never got the chance to do a solely bass solo, but here is Lonnie giving the bass some welly!
Set For Life is an excellent song, almost about my life to the dot. Great guitars too!
Magnet Of The World is the pungent message again, even more so then If I had to die for someone. Get this truth inside your head and think about it properly!
Shadow Of A Doubt happens to be my second favourite petra song ever.
St Augustines Pears seems to harken back to the heavier petra years with its full on rock and lyrical strength.
The album ends with a music fest in The Invitation, so many cool sounds and great acoustic guitar again. Wow, this album is flaming incredible...i like it more and more as i get older. it really gels with me enought o say that this album is in my top twenty albums of all time.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay guys, quit playing around ..., 26 Nov 2000
By Brent A. Mikel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: God Fixation (Audio CD)
One of the most dangerous things you can do is criticize a craftsman who takes great pride in his craft. "Gulp" - here goes. I have been a Petra fan since "More Power To Ya" (1982). I have even purchased the albums prior to that, and have all the studio (non "best-of") collections since then (except "Double Take"). My opinion is that the strongest efforts came between 1988 and 1993 ("On Fire", "Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out", "Beyond Belief", "Unseen Power", and "Wake-up Call"). The band has changed drastically since then a couple of times, and the present line-up is the umpteenth "new" band in several years. No offense, but that takes a toll on the quality of music released. Gone is the full-time creative genius of Bob Hartman. He still plays on the albums and contributes songs, but his efforts are limited now. Also gone are the musical wizardry of John Lawry (keyboards) and adept writing skills of Ronnie Cates (bass). Even Jim Cooper's (more keyboards) and David Lichens' (more guitars) talents have moved on to other directions. Hopefully, the new nucleus of Pete Orta, Lonnie Chapin, and Kevin Brandow will gel with John Schlitt and Louie Weaver to produce the quality of music Petra fans have come to love during the past three decades (not just years). What these guys need to do is to rock. Fulfill your potential! Let go of the reigns that hold you down to the level of a pop outfit. Kick loose the straps that bind you and allow the aggressiveness of distorted guitars, the energy of thumping basses and drums, and the uninhibited sounds of imaginative keyboards return to the Petra sound. John Schlitt's voice can handle it. Shucks, he's been singing hard rock for what? ... 30 years? All sarcasm aside, "God Fixation" is a decent pop/rock album. The song writing is good although a little more attention to melody can be gained by the next new release. The lyrics, again, point to the Father and do a great justice to encourage us to relate with God. What we need are more straight-ahead rockers like "A Matter of Time", playful guitars ("St. Augustine's Pears"), and up-tempo energy ("God Fixation"). Petra still ranks as a solidly popular rock-n-roll outfit. Parents, they are safe for your kids. In fact, I believe they still have a heart for youth which may explain some of their experimentation with styles recently. Unfortunately, Petra needs to get a little bit more aggressive because groups like Third Day, Audio Adrenaline, and P.O.D. (who are all good Christian bands too) are setting the style standards right now. By-the-way Petra, don't try rap-core!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good, but I would have like a little more guitar, 27 July 2000
By Jay Cavallaro - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: God Fixation (Audio CD)
Yeah, better than Petra Praise 2 and Double Take, but not better than those older late 80's and early 90's albums. The songs on here were great though. I LOVEEEEEEEED "A Matter of Time" (which totally ROCKED! TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERS HERE). But I wish there were more hard rocking songs. But Petra is good, they can adapt to any kind of music and do a pretty good job at it. I did expect more, though. But one CLASSIC song on here (written all by Bob Hartman, of course) is "St. Augustine's Pears". Man that song starts off awesome and it's so cool. The last song was pretty good (Invitation). It's what you should expect from 1998 bands. Anyway, if you are one of those people that LOVE the rock they used to have, don't worry, they aren't done for yet. If you think DOUBLE TAKE was their last effort, just wait til what John Schlitt has promised to be the "ROCKER"! ....Which they are working on right now! I know you can't wait, this one is gonna bring them back,I tell ya!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is the Rock Gone?, 6 Dec 1999
By Larry D Birks - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: God Fixation (Audio CD)
Quite frankly, when I first dropped the cd in my player and turned the volume up, I was wondering who kidnapped my favorite band? I've got all the Petra albums, and have been a huge fan since 1983. Yet here was something I wasn't ready for: Petra - Unplugged! But, I have my standards, and I gave it my usual 7 listens before passing judgement. The result? One of their best! Yeah it doesn't rock your brains out, but they've put out plenty in the last few years to do that. This album does something totally new: It grows on you! The more you listen, the more you can't stop relistening! If you like anything old or new of Petra (even going back to the early days) go buy this one! I predict it will become an underground classic.
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