Tell Me What You Know About Sara Groves...
Posted January 08, 2008
By singersmartguy17,
I have personally never really got into Sara Groves. I am 15 years old, and her style of music just has never been my type. She leans toward more of an adult contemporary, more acoustic music. I normally like music you can dance to or rocks hard or has amazing lyrics. I've heard her radio singles but never really went any further until this album.
I bought this CD as a Family Christian exclusive the week or the week after it came out. It comes with 2 bonus tracks and a DVD.
So I listened the day I bought it, and even though I was really hoping I would love it, I was quite disappointed. The only songs that really stood out were the light pop "Song For My Sons," the interesting, yet kinda bizarre, "In The Girl There's A Room," and the powerful "When The Saints." As disappointed as I was, I put it back on my shelf. But then I started reading online reviews of it and most of them were giving it 5/5 or 10/10 ratings. I was shocked at this, since I didn't at all care for it. After I kept reading these continually positive reviews, I gave the album a second chance. After a few listens, I can definitely appreciate this album.
My personal favorites are: the 3 listed above, the catchy, lite-pop "Love Is Still A Worthy Cause" and "Abstraction", the compelling "I Saw What I Saw," and the catchy, yet deep lyrically "It Might Be Hope."
"Honesty," "Long Defeat," and "Say A Prayer" are probably the album's weakest points. While they all have wonderful lyrics, their melodies are bland, they lack a good hook, and they get boring after a few listens. "You Are Wonderful," while not a highlight, is still a fun, catchy, little ditty. "In The Girl There's A Room" is a little odd lyrically and is a new musical direction for Sara. It reminds me a lot of her song "Jeremiah" from "The Other Side Of Something." Although "Abstraction" is a personal favorite musically, lyrically it is kinda confusing. Can someone please leave a comment or message explaining what the chorus means? "Who can know the pain, the joy, the regret, the satisfaction/Who can know the love of one life, one heart, one soul/At two you're at abstraction." I have no clue what that's supposed to mean!
As I mentioned earlier, I got the FCS "James Fund Edition" of this CD. Its bonus tracks, "Did You Ever Need A Song" and "Freedom" are bland and boring. I can definitely see why they were omitted from the album. Although, "Freedom" does have some really nice vocals from Sara. The DVD is a real highlight. It includes over an hour of extras. My favorite part of it are the "Just Showed Up For My Own Life" vignettes. These serve as little "video journals" from Sara as she went to help with Hurricane Katrina relief, and also her trip to Africa. I cried about 3 different times watching this! There is also Sara's set from a 2006 concert, where she sings about 7 or 8 songs, most of them being from "Add To the Beauty." The music video for "I Saw What I Saw" is also included. It is very emotional, but doesn't really act as a music video, more as a video montage of her trip to Africa. It never shows Sara actually singing the song.
Wow! I just realized how long my review was. In a nutshell, about half of the album is fun and catchy, while the remainder is more serious (and sometimes even boring). Sara's songwriting is the true highlight of the album, because she is so poignant and deep. Her songs sound like she took a poem and added instruments and a melody. If you plan on getting the album, I would suggest the James Fund edition, because of its amazing DVD. Despite having 2 extra tracks and an hour-long DVD, I got the CD for only $13.99 at Family Christian, which is about what you would pay for a regular version. View All Music And Book Reviews By singersmartguy17 | View singersmartguy17's Profile
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