Beat The System

Beat the System is the seventh studio album of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1985.
It is the first album to feature John Lawry on keyboards, although he only joined towards the end of the recording process; his contributions were limited to some overdubs on the songs "Beat the System", "Clean" and "Adonai". Most of the keyboards on the album, as well as all the bass and drum parts, were performed by session musician Carl Marsh; Petra members Mark Kelly (bass) and Louie Weaver (drums) did not perform on the album. Fairlight programmer Rhett Lawrence added some elements to "Clean" and "Hollow Eyes". Carl Marsh's programming, under the direction of producer Jonathan David Brown, veered the sound of the album more in the techno-rock genre of music.
It is also the last studio album to feature the vocals of Greg X. Volz.
The album includes the band's second cover of "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", the first being on 1977's Come and Join Us. While the album credits Argent's Russ Ballard as sole songwriter this version, like the earlier version, contains lyrics not heard in the original Argent version.
Guitarist Bob Hartman stated that the recordings of some songs were left unfinished for the album and subsequently never released.
Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance in 1985.

Lineup

Greg X. Volz (E-Band, Classic Petra, CPR) - Vocals
Bob Hartman (Classic Petra, II Guys From Petra) - Guitar
John Lawry (Forerunner, Classic Petra, CPR) - Synthesizer Programming

Guest Artists

Rhett Lawrence - Synthesizer Programming
Carl Marsh - Synthesizer Programming/Keyboards/Drums/Bass