earlier. The band had noticeably slipped from the heights it had occupied early in the decade. "Things kind of tapered off for a while," Hartman said of the post-Wake Up Call Petra. "I think there's a really good chance Petra could be back on the upswing." Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus featured few truly hard rock songs, as evidenced when it was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album category. Instead, it placed heavy emphasis on acoustic guitars, mandolins, keyboards and other, more experimental styles. The title track, the album's big radio single, featured guest vocals from Foreigner's Lou Gramm, and though Petra Praise 2 reached No. 1 on the Christian albums chart, overall sales flagged, as the album barely reached the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 155. One secular critic dismissed the disc as "religious muzak" and labeled Petra "the Barry Manilow of Christian rock". We Need Jesus eventually won a Dove award for Praise and Worship Album. The failure of the album to rejuvenate the band's career seemed apparent by September 1997, when Schlitt was asked about the band's success: I would say from my gut that we are probably as low as we're going to go in that valley, and heading for the next peak. That's fine with me because everybody needs a turn. We've been at the top of the mountain twice already, and, if nothing else, we need to get out of the way and let other bands have some fun. I mean, now there's variety that Christian kids can have. And they don't just grab Petra. Now they can grab Jars of Clay, dc Talk or Newsboys. God Fixation (1998) With Orta, Chapin and Brandow established in the band, they joined with Schlitt and Weaver to produce the incarnation's first full-fledged Petra album, God Fixation. The three new members were given broad reign to influence the music as they wrote songs with Hartman, leading to a drastic change toward a mellower rock sound. Though the album was praised by critics as "fresher and more immediate than [Petra] has been in a long time," hailed for "strong" music and songwriting and nominated for a Grammy, fans clearly rejected the album's alt-rock, mid-tempo feel. The album failed to reach any higher than 10th on the Billboard Christian albums chart and missed the Billboard 200 altogether. Faced with criticism that the band had