Description
Great Lenghts is the third album by the American pop/rock band PFR, released on Vireo Records in December 1994. The album was recorded by Steve Bishir with Jimmie Lee Sloas producing. Mixed by Rick Will.
From its first “getting our feet wet” album to the smashing sophomore disc ‘Goldie’s Last Day‘ to the traditionally “difficult third album,” PFR has locked onto a musical style and become quite comfortable in that genre. These boys unapologetically play pop music in the manner of late ’60s Beatles, as filtered through contemporary influences such as Crowded House, The Posies and Jellyfish; it’s clever lyrically and very engaging musically. Actually, PFR has helped revive a purer pop sound which had virtually disappeared from Christian rock. A lot of the credit for this must go to producer Jimmie Lee Sloas, who possesses a keen ear for a musical hook and superior taste in vocal arrangements. Latter day Beatlemania is evoked on the ‘White Album’ delicacy of «Life Goes On», the harpsichord and orchestra bells of the title track, the latent ‘Abbey Road’ fell of «See the Sun Again» and the muted psychedelics of «It’s You Jesus». One should detect more of a modern rock attitude in «Wonder Why», «The Love I Know» (with its pretty vocal and string arrangement), the guitar-driven «Blind Man, Deaf Boy» and the high-energy cover of Keith Green’s «Trials Turned to Gold». The band rocks its hardest on «Last Breath», coming within a whisker of evoking a King’s X sound.
On the lyrical side of the equation, Joel Hanson again wrote the bulk of the material. Hanson tackled five tunes alone and co-wrote one track with Mark Nash; Patrick Andrew co-wrote the title song with Sloas and penned «Last Breath» on his own, while auxiliary guitarist/backing vocalist Gordon Kennedy composed two songs, «Life Goes On» and «Merry Go Round». But no matter the author, the common theme among the tracks is taking responsibility for working out one’s own salvation and appreciating the “great lenghts” to which the Father went to assure that we would eventually see the love that’s been under our nose all along. Kennedy writes what’s perhaps the best last word in the closing «Life Goes On» – “The wounds will heal, starting over ain’t no big deal/ They rebuilt Rome, and life goes on.” If there’s anything to critizie about this otherwise fine album, it’s that it might actually be too consistent. Even within the context of PFR’s chosen genre – modern pop – the band occasionally falls a wee bit short of enough variety to be completely satisfying. But whatever its minor flaws, ‘Great Lengths’ is still quite impressive. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, January 1995]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/great-lengths/724569732)
CD tracklist:
01. Great Lengths – 2:32
02. Wonder Why – 3:15
03. Merry Go Round – 4:59
04. The Love I Know – 3:48
05. It’s You Jesus – 4:02
06. Trials Turned To Gold – 2:28
07. Blind Man, Deaf Boy – 2:54
08. See The Sun Again – 3:23
09. The Grace Of God – 3:43
10. Last Breath – 2:56
11. Life Goes On – 3:54
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Vireo Records.
The January 1995 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on PFR.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.