PFR -- Great Lengths

8/10

90's Mainstream Christian Rock wunderkinds, PFR, are back with their third album, Great Lengths, Beatles influence on their sleeves. The opening title-track starts with strings, and a tumble of cascading waterfalls of harmonies that continues throughout the album. While they might have been "mainstream," and seemingly able to write a radio-ballad at will, PFR rocked harder, and had far more musical ability than most mainstream Christian Rock bands of the day, endearing them to those who may not have been naturally inclined toward the genre. The more I listen to them with the opportunity of hindsight, the more I realize how much of an anomaly this band was. They could have backed up any Nashville front-person in a studio, but they really did their own thing, combining a sort of straight-ahead 90's college rock approach with both the aforementioned Beatles-influence and CCM radio sensibilities. You can tell that they know where there bread was buttered, and yet they sound like they are still doing whatever they like. Great Lengths has a leg up on their previous album because it's got just a little more emotion behind it, a little more darkness and tension, maybe simply because the band-members are older and have more life experience. Whatever the case, this is a great shot of nostalgia for anyone who was listening in the 90's, maybe "The PFR Album," and I don't find myself skipping any tracks now, so I think it's safe to say that though it's certainly of a time, it still holds up. I mean, look at these dudes, how can you hate them? Also, how can you hate run-on sentences?


1994 Sparrow Records
1. Great Lengths 2:32
2. Wonder Why 3:15
3. Merry Go Round 4:59
4. The Love I Know 3:47
5. It's You Jesus 4:01
6. Trials Turned to Gold (Keith Green cover) 2:27
7. Blind Man, Deaf Boy 2:54
8. See the Sun Again 3:23
9. The Grace of God 3:43
10. Last Breath 2:56
11. Life Goes On 3:54