Search - Steven Curtis Chapman :: The Great Adventure

An Important Step in Chapman's Career, but the Best Was Yet

Chip Webb | Fairfax Station, VA | 07/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Steven Curtis Chapman clearly had ambitions for The Great Adventure (1992), his fifth studio album since his solo debut First Hand was released five years earlier. His three previous projects, Real Life Conversations (1988), More to This Life (1989), and For the Sake of the Call (1990), each had several high-charting contemporary Christian music (CCM) singles. Furthermore, Chapman had been rewarded by his peers with multiple Dove Awards; both his peers and the public obviously liked what he was doing. But the pop/country artist didn't feel he had "arrived" yet, so he set his sights high for this project. His efforts were rewarded: the memorable singalong title track and his subsequent first concert tour with a band made him the most popular contemporary Christian artist around, a title that he would hold for about a decade.



The album begins well, with J.A.C. Redford's clearly western-inspired instrumental "Prologue." It's an enjoyable instrumental piece that nicely leads into the title track. Unfortunately, it's less successful as a setup for the entire album because the album falls short (a bit) in thematic unity. The title track itself is probably the song for which Chapman will most be remembered, with the possible exceptions of "I Will Be Here" and "Dive." Despite the somewhat tired analogy on which the song hinges, Chapman's lyricism here has progressed light years beyond that seen on his earliest albums. (Just compare the multitudes of clichés on Real Life Conversations with the lyrics on this album.)



The next three tracks successfully develop the album's main theme by defining what this adventure looks like. Chapman connects the Fall of humanity with Christ's redemption in a likeable pop shuffle called "Where We Belong." He then writes of human beings' need for each other after the Fall (think of Adam and Eve away from the Garden of Eden in a hostile world) through a personal, country-tinged power ballad of commitment to his wife, "Go There With You." The strings add a good deal to this impressive song. Finally, Chapman defines what paradise looks like today, outside of the Garden of Eden, in the irresistible, driving "That's Paradise." The answer: paradise is about salvation through Christ, loving God, and loving others.



The remaining six tracks are more practical; they illustrate the challenges involved in pursuing the "great adventure." The first three deal with discernment. "Don't Let the Fire Die" is an impassioned, moving plea from Chapman to a friend who is losing his heart for God. It's arguably the album's best song. "Got to B Tru" is a fun tune that uses the singer's inability to rap well as an illustration of how Christian witness must be real rather than forced. "Walk with the Wise" is a pretty ordinary contemporary Christian song -- nothing horrible, but nothing exceptionable, either. The title sums up the message.



Two tracks then focus on our relationships with others. "Maria," about a hurting soul, should be a moving ballad but mostly fails to connect with this listener. It does have a surprising Spanish musical tinge and an unusual vocal delivery from Chapman, but otherwise is unremarkable. Much better is "Still Called Today," a plea for human reconciliation that benefits from a nice guest vocal by BeBe Winans and a just-as-strong performance from Chapman. Surprisingly, an album that begins with a grand, sweeping statement comes to a climax with such an intimate song.



Finally, Chapman sums everything up with "Heart's Cry," a song of personal commitment to Christ. It's a quiet, effective denouement that demonstrates the resolve called for in "Don't Let the Fire Die."



Musically, The Great Adventure is mostly pop/country, with the accent as much on country as pop. Popwise, the album sounds like it most fits in the late 1980s, with some nods to the mid-80s and early 90s scattered throughout. It's not hard to start singing the lyrics to Don Henley's "Last Worthless Evening" or John Waite's "Missing You" over some of "Still Called Today's" chords -- and Chapman's lyrics to that song come across as his answer to Henley's "Heart of the Matter."



In retrospect, The Great Adventure probably had the success it did because of the optimism, fun, and joy that Chapman communicates in the title track, "That's Paradise," and "Got to B Tru" (all of which were singles). That sense of wonder had been glimpsed before occasionally (e.g., in More to This Life's "Treasure Island" and "Way Beyond the Blue") and would be featured prominently on Chapman's next studio album, Heaven in the Real World (1994).



The Great Adventure also clearly was not hurt by having the biggest production values of any of Chapman's first five albums. Furthermore, as on his previous two albums, Chapman continued to push himself in different directions vocally. These two features intertwine throughout the album to mostly commendable effect. Chapman aims for both a bigger sound and, in the album's early tracks, a bigger vocal delivery, and succeeds on both counts.



Still, despite its success, The Great Adventure neither addresses its subject matter as well as For the Sake of the Call covered its own material nor is as enjoyable from a pop perspective as More to This Life. The album is very strong up through "Don't Let the Fire Die," with those first five songs (I'm not counting Redford's "Prologue") arguably the best batch that Chapman had recorded up to that point in time. It's disappointing, then, to watch Chapman lose his momentum in the album's second half with a succession of middling-to-very-good, but never (with the exception of "Heart's Cry") great, songs. Chapman would start to realize his potential on Heaven in the Real World, but then really get a shot in the arm under producer Brown Bannister's oversight beginning with Signs of Life (1996). The Great Adventure was an important step in his career, but the best was yet to come. Three-and-a-half stars."

Hard to follow Bruce Brown's review...

Greg Brady | Capital City | 06/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Particularly because he elicits quite a bit of what I'd say about this disc, but I'll try. Chapman on this one has a pop sound leavened slightly with occasional country touches and the odd rap novelty tune (we'll get to that later). Chapman has won countless Dove Awards (the Christian contemporary music Grammy) for songwriting and for the most part it's clear why, even on songs that aren't that interesting musically the lyrics are solid. The album spawned 5 hit singles ("The Great Adventure",#3 and a Dove Award winner for short form music video, "Where We Belong" #6, "Go There with You" #19 (Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song in 1994), "That's Paradise" #3, and "Still Called Today" #20)



HIGHLIGHTS:

The title track is obviously the standout here, a charging invitation to "saddle up your horses" and ride out to spread the Gospel. But as Brown notes, the inflated "Prologue" is a bad way to get this disc underway. It's obviously meant to make the song sound more "epic" but it just sounds pompous. Definitely program past that one. "Go There with you" is a love song that deservedly has become something of a wedding standard for believers. ("I will take a heart whose nature is to beat for me alone/And fill it up with you/Make all your joy and pain my own") It's a song that emphasizes marriage as COMMITMENT...rather than something people do because of giddy infatuation. The delicate "Don't Let the Fire Die" is Chapman's plea for a fellow Christian to "keep the faith" in the midst of trials. Its mellow somewhat countryish tone is somewhat reminiscent of Poco's "Crazy Love". "Maria" is a tender reminder to watch out for those who are hurting without God's love. ("Who's gonna love Maria/Who's gonna touch her with the tenderness she longs for/Like a desert longs for rain") "Still Called Today" is a carpe diem challenge. ("Before the day slips into night and the moments waste away/While it is still called today/We've got to say the words") A soulful vocal from BeBe Winans works surprisingly well in the pop context. Mark Douthit adds a nice soprano sax solo.



LOWS:

"That's Paradise" has a pretty catchy guitar riff and a decent chorus but Mitch Miller-ish "ooh la la" vocals absolutely sink it. Phil Naish should be smacked for pasting those in there. "Got to be Tru" can only be termed a "guilty pleasure" because of it's over the top novelty. Chapman pretending to be "hip-hop" along with ex-DC Talk rapper Toby McKeehan. To his credit, Chapman IS in on the joke ("I gotta stop and just face the facts/The boy don't hip hop") and there's a solid message beneath the goofing: your life has to line up with your professed beliefs. ("It's gonna take some living proof to break through those walls/Yeah, it's got to b tru if he'll believe it at all") It's not one you'll listen to often but you might get the odd chuckle out of it.



BOTTOM LINE:

At this juncture, Chapman's released 1 Greatest Hits CD but most of the best material from this one isn't on it. Chapman fans should have it for the best stuff. Since the only great tune on it is the title one, casual fans might be happy just picking up the Hits disc. (ASIN B000000V5V) Oddly enough, it was this disc that landed the #33 spot on CCM Magazine's Top 100 Christian albums of all time list instead of the better FOR THE SAKE OF THE CALL."

He's a little bit country...

Larry Hehn | Toronto, ON Canada | 10/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For me, this album marks the beginning of Steven Curtis Chapman establishing himself as a songwriter. Yes, he has had very strong and meaningful lyrics on previous albums, but here he does a much better job of matching the music to the flavor and intensity of the words.



He blasts right out of the gate with one of my all-time favorites, The Great Adventure. He then covers a wide variety of tempos and styles, from the tongue-in-cheek rap sound of Got To B Tru, to the upbeat celebration of God's grace in That's Paradise, to the soft, contemplative Heart's Cry. How he can corral such a wide range of styles and make them work in one album is a mystery to me, but hey, it works anyway.



Larry Hehn, author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory"