Stars: 5 out of 5Pros: Wonderful lyrics
Cons: A few dated tracks
The Bottom Line:
Takes me back in time
With truths worth remembering
Some dated music
Going Back to My Senior Year with This Timeless Release
Have you ever noticed how some music always reminds you of a
certain time and/or place? That's the
case for me with this disc. I got Al
Denson's The Extra Mile right before I started my senior year of high
school. And even with all those years in
between, listening to it reminds me of that year.
The song that does that more than any other is "Shine
Out the Light." This song was the
official theme song of See You at the Pole for my senior year, so I heard it
all over Christian radio September of that year. It was an appropriate pick as it is a call to
share the hope we have in Christ. It's a
keyboard heavy anthem that really stirs you to action.
I am happy to say that the disc really has stood the test of
time. Okay, okay, so I do have a bit of
a bias since I've been listening to it for so long. But it really isn't nearly as dated as it
could have been. Released in 1992, it
does make use of keyboards, but only occasionally do they head in the
synthesizer direction. Instead, they are
part of a music landscape populated by the likes of guitar, bass, piano, and
drums. The result is a sound that is
mostly timeless and not dated.
The disc actually opens with "I Still Believe in
Forever." We're in soft rock
territory here with heavy drums and Al contrasts the reality of God's promises
with the hurt we can experience here on earth.
But things slow down almost immediately as we hit the quiet
finger picked guitar of "I Choose to Follow." Even when the keyboard and drums come in, we
really don't get much louder than the initial few bars. I especially like this song since it acknowledges
the distractions of the world while still committing to follow God.
"Extra Mile" falls into the anthem category. The keyboard based song celebrates the power
of friendship. I have had some true
friendships like this over the years, and this song always makes me smile as I
think of how much they have meant to me.
There are three songs from this release that always stick
together in my mind. I'm not exactly
sure why, since the themes are different, as are the way they are
presented. The first is "If We
Believe," which gives us a call to share our faith in a series of
"If...then" statements like "If we believe Jesus lives/His power
lives within." It's up tempo and
also one of the more dated tracks on the disc.
The drums sound more like a drum machine, and the keyboard is definitely
heading into synthesizer territory.
Up next is "Call
Me.
Finally goes "Stand Up." Again, we've got a heavy synthesizer feel to
it. (Hey, maybe that's why I associate
these songs in my mind.) As the title
suggests, it's a call to live for Jesus in a world that has rejected Him. What really makes this song fun for me is the
deep, deep voice used to sing the last line of the chorus. I'd love to be able to tell you for sure it
is Al Denson singing that line, but I can't.
I even saw him sing this song in concert, but he always managed to turn
his back to the audience before that line was sung.
About the half way point, there's a beautiful ballad about
forgiveness. "To Forgive"
starts out talking about a time when he was hurt (in general terms), while
verse two reminds us that God has forgiven us, so we truly need to forgive
others. I have a hard time forgiving at
times, and this song really convicts me of that.
But the ultimate song on forgiveness here is the final
track. Again, we're dealing with a slow
ballad. It's heavy on the piano and
various strings here, making a beautiful backdrop to the lyrics. You can really hear the passion in Al's voice
as he sings of the forgiveness we can experience from God.
While a few of the tracks do date the disc, The Extra Mile is still a solid collection of songs. If
you can track it down, you'll be glad you did.
CD Length: 49:03
Tracks:
1. I Still Believe in Forever
2. I Choose to Follow
3. River
of Light
4. Extra Mile
5. If We Believe
6. To Forgive
7. The Love We Know
8. Call Me
9. Stand Up
10. Shine Out the Light
11. That's What My Father Would Do
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