A for Effort
Sara Groves heads in a poppier direction, with very satisfying results. "Esther" shines with producer Charlie Peacock's world-beat tendencies, while "Compelled" sparkles like a lost track from Peacock's former proteges Out of the Grey. "Like a Skin" and "Roll to the Middle" hum with the muted feel of Groves' earlier acoustic work, and her command of a devastatingly appropriate turn of lyrical phrasing is similarly undiminished. This album is a fine counterexample to those who are preoccupied with the banal majority of albums released as CCM.

Sara's Finest Work
In 2004 singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Sara Groves, finally returned with the follow-up to the critically acclaimed masterpiece, ALL RIGHT HERE. Recently Groves gave birth to her second child; the experience brought rise to new questions and conflicts of faith in Groves' heart. "I wanted a guarantee that because I believed and followed [God], that my family was going to be safe... I went to the Bible for comfort and I found Job and Jonah and Paul in prison. So then I had to go back and look at what I believed about life, about bad things happening to good people," she noted. The result brought the realization that what we want isn't always what God knows we need. The insights that Groves garnered make themselves known here, on THE OTHER SIDE OF SOMETHING.

Musically, THE OTHER SIDE OF SOMETHING falls somewhere in between the more progressive ALL RIGHT HERE and the pop/folk of CONVERSATIONS. It's a choice that should please fans of both albums and disappoint neither, since she, along with producers Nate Sabin and Charlie Peacock, pulled off the stylistic marriage with deft elegance. Lyrically, the pen of Groves has never been stronger, as THE OTHER SIDE OF SOMETHING has the most consistently high level of writing of any of her first three projects, which is saying a lot. The packaging of the album is also top notch; a scrapbook of sorts with art direction that seamlessly lines up with the down-home feel of Groves' writing.

"The One Thing I Know" opens the project with jangly guitars and a brighter outlook on life, noticing how "the clouds just parted on a corner of my life." "Jeremiah" contains some of Groves' best word pictures, with lines like "I was standing with a sparkler in my hand / while I stood so proud and profound / you came and burned this whole place down," and "I was warming my hands by this little light of mine" - a terrific use of a reference that any boy or girl who grew up in church will immediately latch on to.

"Compelled," co-written by Charlie Peacock, is a melodic journey through revelation. Containing the line which gives the album its title, Groves also sings of the incredible contradiction that the Christian life is: "what a relief it is to know / I'm a slave to Christ."

Groves also continues to grapple with the intricacies of the marriage relationship in her writing. "Roll To the Middle" reflects on conflict and verbal warfare, but she finds solace and security in the fact that "all the complicated wars / they end pretty simple / here when the lights go out / we roll to the middle." It is a sweet truth that is beautiful in its simplicity and tenderness. "Undone" is remarkable for its transparency and vulnerability, as Groves lays herself bare both to the listener and to the spouse she is seeking support and confirmation from.

The rollicking folk of "Esther" tells the story of a woman who, unable to have children of her own, was called to Africa and ironically ended up with 2.4 million children and in a situation similar to the Biblical Esther, compelled to speak out on their behalf to the "kings of the earth." "The Boxer," which is almost alternative in its mood, drives its point home with repetitive lines such as "when you said this was a fight you weren't kidding" and the "bob and weave / bob and weave" boxing analogy. "All I Need" is delicious in its insightful recognition of how our "needs" in life end up growing in strange and ungainly ways, as the more we get the more we want. As the song ends a chorus breaks into "all you need is love," which you expect to be a tribute to the Beatles until the third line, where it fails to continue the right melody - the echoes to those lines are hilarious, however. The hymn, "Come Thou Fount," closes the project on a sovereign and beautiful note.

In the span of three albums Sara Groves established herself as, arguably, the top singer/songwriter in Christian music. If not the best she is clearly among them. THE OTHER SIDE OF SOMETHING shows that no matter which side of her life Groves is writing about she will tell the story with poetry, poignancy, and excellence. I can't get enough of this album. While it never hit #1 on the sales charts or was certified gold, that only goes to show you that popularity is no real indicator of actual quality.

Conviction
Sara Groves writes all her music with such conviction, it's hard to say any of it ISN'T good. All of it is a peak into her heart and her relationship with Christ. Every song is a story straight out of the Bible...but she also shows that she understands the deeper meaning. She's one of the greatest composers, and writes with her heart and not about what is popular.

This Should Be A Textbook On What Christian Music Should Be.
This is the first Sara Groves project I listened to. I'm one who sometimes reads the reviews after listening to or reading or viewing the subject and compare notes, and I discovered that this may not be her best project. This project was enough to make me a Sara Groves fan, and put to shame over 90% of what is called Christian music today, and it isn't even her best project? Wow!

One thing I've been doing recently with various Christian projects is look at the lyrics. There are some that you know are talking to God because the 2nd person pronouns are capitalized, but "God", "Jesus", "Christ", "Lord", "Savior" and the like are rarely if ever used. On this project, Groves chose not to capitalize references to God, but it is more obvious who she is talking to than other modern recordings, and there is enough usage of the above words to move her lyrics from vague to clear.

Some songs nowadays are actually secular songs from a Christian perspective, looking at a life situation from the viewpoint of a person who just happens to be a Christian. Sara's personal songs come rather from realizing that the secular event is really as sacred as a "Christian" activity, and treats them as such.

One sign of an artist succeeding is, believe it or not, mixed reviews. If an artist is doing their job, they will not please everybody. They will surprise and maybe even disappoint some fringe fans who want the artist to re-do what they've always done. But while some may not like that work of art, others will appreciate the same work, whether they be new-comers to the artist, those who like the new direction better than the old, those who are eclectic in their tastes (that's me), fellow artists (I also resemble that remark) or those who are true fans of the heart in the artist as opposed to specific individual works.

I enjoyed several songs, such as "Jeremiah", "Compelled" and "Boxer". I also loved her arrangement of one of my favorite hymns, "Come Thou Fount". I know Christians who want artists to stick to the familiar (e.g. hymns, songs recorded by other artists that are over-played on the radio) instead of the lesser known or original compositions. As a result, some artists counsel others to mix songs by others or maybe a hymn to their original songs. This may be where Groves is coming from in including "Come Thou Fount". Or she may have just included one of her favorite hymns just because she loved that song. Either way, she makes the hymn her own.

Different but still good
As previous reviews have mentioned, The Other Side of Something is not the typical Sara Groves sound, but, because she is so talented, it's still good.

She changed things up on this cd, and I'm a bit torn. She's got a wonderful voice and her lyrics always connect with me, plus I love it when any artist attempts to do something different. This time, though, I am having difficulty getting into the music as I usually do. Don't get me wrong, it is still very good. And even though it is not quite in line with my tastes, I am encouraged that Sara did something outside her "normal" stuff, because that makes me anticipate her future releases all the more. And, as a previous reviewer said, it grows on you. The more I listen, the more the intelligence, talent and grace of the artist shine through.

Two songs worth mentioning specifically, one for good and one not so good, are "Come Thou Fount" and "Boxer." Sara puts her own personal twist on "Come Thou Fount," modernizing it, but maintaining its beauty as an all-time great hymn. "Boxer" on the other hand, I just have to fast forward past; maybe it's me, but it's just too repetitive and (I really hate to say it) annoying. The rest of the cd is all good, but nothing in particular stands out one way or another - just standard, solid Sara Groves music.