It's truly a rare thing for a rock and roll band to take twenty-five years off between albums with almost nothing in-between. And it's even more rare to have all the original members back in the saddle for the latest go round. All this rarity comes with a natural bit of nervous energy and questions for both the band and their longtime fans. Will this latest outing be a dud and besmirch the band's fine track record? Will the band still have that mystical "it" that made them treasured in the first place? Can you capture the energy of the old days? Do you have anything more to really say to the world artistically?

So, it is a great joy to report that Target and the Arrow, the first new album by Minnesota's own (and beloved Christian Music veterans) PFR, picks right up where they left off with 2001's Disappear and feels like (at first, that is) no time has gone by at all. It rocks smartly and weaves its clever pop melodies, biting guitars and incisive lyrics together in a great overall album that is both a refreshing throwback and one of the best albums you will hear this year. With longtime PFR producer and collaborator Jimmy Lee Sloas back in the studio as well, Target can sit on the shelf with PFR's classic output of the 1990's.

The band kicks the door off its hinges with the raucous and vibrant "Find Our Way," which is the kind of rollicking opener that the band was known for. With sharp vocals and instrumentation, the band feels a bit wiser in their years and offer some hard-won wisdom to the world: "Is it you or is it me Something's changed / That much is certain / Seems bigger Than just point of view / One leaning in One closing the curtain / Why do I keep on fighting When no one comes out a winner / The truth is we're both saint and sinner / We don't know what we don't know We're all trying to find our way / You make proof from mystery / I did too but can't any longer Now I'm out on the periphery / Where there's still room / For question and wonder / I will fight to keep on trying." This plea for unity and acceptance of different points of view, set against some wonderful crunchy guitars, shows a perspective that only the years passing by can bring. There is a void of mature CCM rock and roll bands out there, and with just this tasty and wise rock and roll nugget of a song, the band shows what a veteran's perspective can bring.

The great tunes keep rolling in. The following "Something" continues this "old timers" perspective on life and faith, and the need to offer grace to each other on the journey of life: "We're on our way to something / To someone, to becoming / Who we are, who we'll be / We're en-route to something / Everybody here wants to know / That they belong to something real / Something bigger than just how they feel / We all want someone to know our name." A real, lived-in, measured and wise perspective is hard to find in any genre of music these days, and it's a welcome message to find from the PFR fellows.

The best moment here is the epic "Ghost In Me," which marries the band's love of classic rock music structures with a great lyric about regret and moving on: "The ghost in me is definitely / On a pilgrimage / Like the healing shrine of Lourdes but mine / Is quiet, almost silent / As I go gray the years betray / My youth's ideals / Creeping near the edge / Where I think of the end / And wonder, oh I wonder Is this all of us / If I'm honest I'll stop hiding / Let the little bits out a little at a time / Fearless at the thought of how much work this will be / I will send my ghost home so he can be free." The line "I will send my ghost home so he can be free" might be one of the best ways of describing moving on from one's past that's been put to music. And "Worth The Fight" and "We Were Wrong" finish out the album's theme of humility and the personal grit needed to keep moving forward in life. "We Were Wrong" is a particularly moving ending number with its mournful, slowly strummed guitar and downbeat-yet-hopeful lyrics "I'm not confident / We were wrong." This juxtaposition of confidence and resignation is a masterful mix of emotions and shows that the PFR gentlemen have lived a lot of life (haven't we all?) in the last twenty-five years.

Target and the Arrow is a virtuoso return for PFR and a thoroughly lived-in set of songs that show that a life of faith is not without its weary moments and joyful ones too, mixed all together.

(*Editor's Note: The song "Ghost in Me" includes a mild profanity in the line "Who are these takers / That don't give a d*mn")

- Review date: 9/24/26, written by Alex Caldwell of Jesusfreakhideout.com