Beyond Belief

Description

Beyond Belief is the twelth studio album by the American rock band Petra, released on DaySpring Records in June 1990, a division of Word. Also distributed by A&M Records. The album was recorded at Pakaderm Studios in Los Alamitos, California; with brothers John and Dino Elefante producing. Beyond Belief was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in October 1995.

The band lineup on this album is John Schlitt on lead vocals, John Lawry on keyboards, Bob Hartman on guitars, Ronny Cates on bass, and Louie Weaver on drums.

It’s been three years since Petra released ‘This Means War‘, a hard rockin’ call to spiritual arms. In the interim, they recorded ‘On Fire‘, which some rockaholics – including lead singer John Schlitt – felt might have gravitated a bit too much toward metal, and ‘Petra Praise‘, a wonderful tool for youth groups with a couple of good songs («I Love the Lord», «The King of Glory Shall Come In»), but a novelty nevertheless in the eyes of many serious fans.

Enter ‘Beyond Belief’, in many ways the finest collaboration of Petra and multi-talented producers John and Dino Elefante since 1986’s ‘Back to the Street‘. Petra has certainly moved more and more toward a big, arena rock sound in the past few years (the most obvious fruit of the association with the Elefantes) and ‘Beyond Belief’, if not completely Kansas-inspired, certainly on par with some of the best arena rock music around.

Take for instance, the Bon Jovi-like «Underground», the Def Leppardish «I Am on the Rock» (with its «Pour Some Sugar On Me» chord progressions), and «Armed and Dangerous», on which Schlitt’s Steve Perry sound-alike vocals truly soar. Louie Weaver’s rock steady beat, Ronny Cates’ hard driving bass and Bob Hartman’s increasingly tasty guitar breaks notwithstanding, much of the credit for this BIG sound goes to John Lawry, whose richly textured keyboard work subtly serves as infrastructure for the up tunes and bathes the ballads in ethereality. On the heel of a fine solo effort, Lawry’s group playing truly elevates ‘Beyond Belief’.

Principal writer Hartman shies away from the concept album approach but covers a number of topics that deal with taking the Christian faith beyond the point of believing. «Creed» is a contemporary setting of the Apostle’s Creed; ditto «Love» and 1st Corinthians 13. «Last Daze», a bit of Revelation rock, paints a vivid picture of the “prodigal gone astray” in the final days. And «Seen and Not Heard» laments the fact that too often fellow Christians are stumbling blocks for non-believers (“Too many black sheep in the family/ Too many stones from a house of glass/ There’s too much talk and not enough walk/ Sometimes God’s children should be seen and not heard”). Petra’s done the arena scene for a couple of years now, and ‘Beyond Belief’ proves they belong in the 10,000-seat venues. Things should keep getting better and better for Petra, a group that gets better and better with age. More power to ya, Petra! [Warren Anderson, CCM, July 1990]

Girder Music Promo, Remastered CD/LP, 2023

Beyond Belief was huge, the band’s most successful release ever, peaking at No. 1 on the Christian charts and certified Gold by the RIAA. The radio single «Love» shot to the top of the charts and stayed there, becoming Christian radio’s biggest hit of that year.

It won the band its first Grammy, in the newly created Best Rock/Contemporary Gospel Album category, as well as Dove awards for Rock Album of the Year, Rock Recorded Song of the Year for the title track, and Recorded Music Packaging of the Year. More historically, the Gospel Music Association for the first time honored a rock band as Group of the Year, as Petra beat contemporary artists in the competition.

The band was at the peak of its popularity, playing to sold-out arenas of fans on yet another nationwide tour. In CCM Magazine’s year-end Reader’s Choice Awards, the band swept to first place in multiple categories and garnered many votes for pop/rock artist of the year.

The success of Petra Praise opened the door for even greater success than Petra had seen previously. The Christian rock scene had exploded, and the critics of the past decade had largely been silenced. The band went back to the studio to record a hard-hitting album that would be accompanied by a concept movie, in which the characters interact with the band between music videos.

Lyrically, the album focused on the concept of faith implied by the album’s title, Beyond Belief, with radio singles entitled «Creed», «Love», and «Prayer», as well as the title track and «I Am on the Rock». Musically, the band embraced a hard rock sound reminiscent of Def Leppard, as described by CCM Magazine: “Petra has certainly moved more and more toward a big, arena rock sound in the past few years, and Beyond Belief is, if not completely Kansas-inspired, certainly on par with some of the best arena rock music around.” The band also, for the first time, drew from a handful of local non-accredited artists during the album’s recording.

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/beyond-belief/1165972947)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Armed And Dangerous” – 4:06
A2. “I Am On The Rock” – 4:34
A3. “Creed” – 4:35
A4. “Beyond Belief” – 5:02
A5. “Love” – 4:11

Side Two
B1. “Underground” – 4:29
B2. “Seen And Not Heard” – 3:54
B3. “Last Daze” – 5:01
B4. “What’s In A Name” – 3:32
B5. “Prayer” – 4:14

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Dayspring Records. Remastered by Rob Colwell and re-issued on CD in 2023 through the combined efforts of Girder Music and Word/Curb Records (1500 copies only). Also released on 12-inch vinyl LP by Girder Music pressed on 180 Gram Orange Vinyl.