''On Fire!'' is the tenth studio album of the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band,

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

. It was released in 1988 by

StarSong Star Song Communications is a Christian record label that was started in 1976 by Wayne Donowho, who recruited his friend Darrell Harris. It gained notoriety when it issued Resurrection Band's ground-breaking debut album, Awaiting Your Reply in 197 ...

. The songs of this album are in the

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

category. The lyrics continue the theme of

spiritual warfare Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. It is based on the biblical belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene in human affairs in various ways. Although spiritua ...

featured in their previous efforts, with metaphors making reference to military subtexts ("Mine Field", "Defector"). The band also tackles issues such as

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

("Homeless Few") and other personal and social issues. This is the first album to feature

Ronny Cates Petra is an American music group regarded as a pioneer of the Christian rock and contemporary Christian music genres and was, for many years, regarded as the "world's most popular Christian rock band". Formed in 1972, the band took its name from ...

on bass who would remain with the band until 1995. With his addition to the line-up, the band started their more stable period in terms of line-up. Schlitt, Hartman, Cates, Lawry and Weaver would remain together for seven years and six albums.

Track listing

All songs written by

Bob Hartman Robert "Bob" Hartman (born December 26, 1949) is a Christian artist, guitarist, writer and songwriter. He is the founder of Christian rock band Petra. Hartman was involved with the band from its foundation in 1972 to its end in 2005. He took ...

, except where noted. # "All Fired Up" – 4:30 # "Hit You Where You Live" (music by Billy Smiley and Dino Elefante) – 4:20 # "Mine Field" – 4:28 # "First Love" (music by

John Elefante John Elefante (born March 18, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer. From 1981-1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members fro ...

) – 4:10 # "Defector" – 4:30 # "Counsel of the Holy" (words & music by

John Lawry John Lawry (born June 15, 1950) is a Christian rock musician, composer, producer, and songwriter. He was the keyboardist of Petra from 1984 to 1994. After his departure, Lawry dedicated himself to producing and record engineering. From 2010 to 201 ...

& Danny Kingen) – 3:37 # "Somebody's Gonna Praise His Name" – 4:02 # "Open Book" – 4:28 # "Stand in the Gap" – 4:10 # "Homeless Few" (music by

) – 4:33

Awards

* Nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance The Grammy Award for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards descri ...

in 1989.

Personnel

Petra *

John Schlitt John William Schlitt (born February 3, 1950) is an American singer, who was the lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1986 until the band's retirement in early 2006. Prior to joining Petra in 1986, Schlitt was the lead vocalist for Head ...

– lead vocals, backing vocals *

– lead guitars, arrangements *

– keyboards, computer programming, backing vocals, arrangements *

– bass guitar *

Louie Weaver Louie Adrian Weaver III (born July 13, 1951) is a drummer most famous for being the long-time drummer of Christian rock band Petra. Weaver was dismissed from the band in 2003. He is currently working on several projects. In 2010, Weaver reunited ...

– drums Additional musicians * John Andrew Schreiner – keyboards, programming * Tim Heintz – programming *

Bob Carlisle Robert Mason "Bob" Carlisle (born September 29, 1956) is an American Contemporary Christian music, Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies (band), Allies and Billy Thermal, before launchin ...

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals, arrangements *

Riki Michele Riki Michele (born Michele Bunch, currently Michele Palmer) is a female Christian alternative rock artist. Best known as one of the vocalists for Adam Again, she has also recorded four eclectic solo albums. A reviewer for Knight Ridder describer he ...

– backing vocals on "Homeless Few" * Dino Elefante – arrangements Production * John Elefante – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

at Pakaderm Studio,

Los Alamitos, California Los Alamitos () is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 90 ...

and Woodland Sound Studio,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

* Dino Elefante – producer, engineer * Mike Mireau – engineer * Mannie Parker – assistant engineer * Greg Parker – assistant engineer * Jeff Simmons – assistant engineer * Steve Hall – mastering at Future Disc, Hollywood, California * Dave Rogers – art direction, design * Ken Westphal – illustration

References

{{Authority control 1988 albums Petra (band) albums