Even though Bob Hartman makes reference to it in his liner notes, and even though the credits reference it as well, Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out is NOT represented in the collection. Here is why: the liner notes refer to Bob's song "I Love The Lord" from the first praise album, but the actual CD features the song "I Love You, Lord" from Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus. It's only a very slight mistake, and is actually understandable, considering the song titles are very similar.
As for the rest of the compilation, Bob did a good job with selecting the track list and - although very brief - his liner notes are an interesting read. Of course, there are plenty of other songs that could have very easily been part of the "ultimate" Petra collection - such as some of my favorites "Sleeping Giant", "Underground", "Hit You Where You Live", "Counsel Of The Holy", and many others. However, with 19 studio albums and 2 official live recordings released over a span of 31 years, it would be difficult to choose 33 tracks that make the "ultimate" Petra collection. In reality, the "ultimate" Petra collection is the band's ENTIRE catalog.
The collection is a good listen, and does seem to flow rather nicely. For anyone who may just be discovering Petra for the first time, I would recommend this compilation over any other one, simply for the fact that it covers most of the band's musical career and all 4 record labels (Myrrh, Star Song, Word, Inpop). For longtime Petheads who already own all of Petra's albums, The Ultimate Collection offers nothing new or rare (I would love to see a compilation sometime with remastered versions of "Who Do You Listen To" and some of the other rare Petra non-album recordings), although as I already mentioned, Bob's notes are a quick yet interesting read.
