Shaun Groves is one of those guys who I have an immense amount of respect for. I've known that he was a compelling, thoughtful songwriter with a likeable personality ever since I caught him opening for Jars of Clay back in 2002. And in more recent years, he's proven to be one of the more active participants in Christian music circles on the internet - I've crossed paths with him on a message board, and read insightful articles that he's written for various online publications as well as his own blog. Plenty of artists interact with their fans online these days, so this isn't so unusual, but what really sets Shaun Groves apart, I think, is his willingness to question that status quo in CCM-land, wondering why we need certain constraints in order to get something played on the radio, why fans have no qualms about bringing burned copies of illegally downloaded albums to him to sign at concerts, why so many popular Christian artists dumb down their lyrics, why your average American Christian lives such a comfortable and sedate lifestyle, etc. All questions worth asking - and he's been willing to provide insightful and even humorous responses on these topics, knowing that it may ruffle the feathers of existing or potential fans, but doing so without a smarmy attitude that would indicate he's just trying to stir up controversy. I can relate to the guy, and I could probably learn a thing or two from his approach (me being a bit of a controversy-stirrer and all). So of course I'm going to be excited to hear how his thoughts translate to music whenever he puts out a new album.

Here's the thing, though. I've never been thoroughly excited about Shaun Groves' music. Not to say that he's a bad composer - far from it - I just feel that this is a guy who isn't quite able to live up to his potential due to the needs of Christian radio and his label (the generally respectable Rocketown Records). Shaun's style is a blend of pop-friendly rock, mingled with more easygoing contemporary fare, and a few piano or acoustic guitar ballads here and there. It's fine enough as a style - not boundary-pushing, but not 100% predictable either. The problem is largely that his albums tend to not flow so well because of the disparity between the rock songs and everything else. His first album, Invitation to Eavesdrop, probably flowed the best, though there was some use of programming and other studio trickery that he decided not to keep when it came time for his sophomore album. Twilight was a very different affair, recorded all in one room with a decidedly more "shoegazing" production technique - an interesting but sometimes sleepy listening experience, where the few rockers stood out like sore thumbs. Finally, his new album, White Flag, has a number of powerful songs centered around the theme of the Beatitudes, but because of the need to keep things in the order they're presented in the original Scripture, the flow of the album suffers a bit, going from very fast to very slow without warning, and having trouble fully taking flight. That's not so much an issue when listening to a single song, but a few of the songs also aren't quite up to par with Groves' usual writing skills, so that creates a few sinkholes in the album that distract from the overall quality here.

I have to compliment Groves on a theme, well addressed, though. Groves has managed to unfold each "Blessed are" statement into one or two full songs, many with very different musical moods and perspectives, and all of them thankfully avoiding plain recitation of the Bible verses that inspired them. It's the principle of showing rather than telling that makes his songwriting something special - he'll act out a character rather than just reciting platitudes in a few cases, and you get the feeling that what's coming out is what he's really in the process of learning. Some of his reflections on these verses are applications that are challenging to him; others are challenges he's been posing to the Christian music industry, or Christians in general, for a while now. Some land solid points, while others simply evoke more of a mood or attitude through their word pictures. And a few are more straightforward, devotional tunes. Nothing wrong with that, though I question the pushing of one such song (which Groves didn't actually write) as the album's lead radio single when a few more poignant tracks would have represented Groves' talent nicely. It's probably in those more straightforward moments that I feel Groves is holding back a bit, but he's still got a good album that serves his theme well. Since the Beatitudes were the theme passage at my wedding recently, I have a bit of a personal connection to what these songs are saying (unusual choice, I know, but I was tired of I Corinthians 13).

What's Wrong with This World
Throw your stones at silver screens, faces on magazines
Burn my rock and roll
Blame my schools, my ADD, my mom, my MTV
Curse my chromosomes...
White Flag gets off to a rip-roaring good start with a speedy drum cadence and an almost punkish backbeat with grinding guitars and a blatant synthesizer line leading the way, just to establish an obnoxious, flippant attitude. It works really well, because Shaun Groves uses his gruff voice to sarcastically lay blame on anything and everything that Christians tend to think is wrong with the world - "Baby booms and presidents, boy bands and communists, everyone but me". (Love the sudden appearance of multiple backing vocals on the words "boy bands"). He gets down to brass tacks in the chorus, setting aside the sarcasm and saying, you know what, I'm the sinful one that I should be blaming for my own problems. As he admits in the slightly calmer bridge, "I don't need your help to be this devilish and dark. I confess I made this mess by using just my heart." This ties in with the passage "Blessed are the poor in spirit", which, loosely translated, means "Blessed are those who realize how depraved and messed up and human they are." Pointing fingers at everyone else makes Christians feels good, but it doesn't really do us any good - I've heard Shaun talk on this subject a few times, and he summed it up quite well within the constraints of a four-minute rock song. It ends by fading into a cacophony of distorted noise and sad piano, which segues quite well into the next song.

Sad Song
September morning on my couch
Trembling hand across my mouth
Watching life go down in flames...
I have no doubt that this track was placed here on purpose, just to defy Christian music's conventions of keeping things upbeat and happy towards the beginning of an album. The sad piano line and some light, clunking percussion provide an empty, mournful feeling for a meditation on the passage "Blessed are those who mourn". Largely inspired by the events of September 11th (and one of the few times I won't groan about such a thing), the song conveys its mood well, allowing Shaun to admit feelings of sorrow and utter defeat when considering the state of the world and the desperate need for God to rescue His people - a theme echoed often throughout the Bible. It's pretty, but much like "Jesus" from Twilight, it gets a bit bogged down by its tempo and melody. It's not supposed to be soaring and majestic, I guess, but it's a bit like whiplash coming so soon after the first track, and as fun as it is to defy conventions, I can actually see why this one might have worked better later in the album. I do like the way that everything but the percussion eventually fades, and even that cuts off suddenly, cutting immediately into the comparatively more upbeat third track.

Amen
My heart is dim, it's always been
I turn from what is right
Passions of youth tear me from truth
I cry to You tonight...
Shaun takes a more conventional pop/rock approach for this anthem, sure to be a CCM radio hit. It's got the guitars turned up a little, which works favorably in terms of giving the song a little musical meat. This one is a fairly straightforward devotional track, though more confessional in nature than your usual Christian radio fare. "Blessed are the meek" is the inspiration here, and rather than spending his time on making all kinds of promises about what he will do for God, Shaun takes the more honest approach of admitting how he's wanted to be devoted, but has constantly turned away. Now he's pleading "Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy", likely taking a cue from a song popularized by his label boss Michael W. Smith. The way he stretches out the "Ah" in "Amen" provides a good amount of the hook value to this song - it's very easy to sing along to without having dumbed-down lyrics, much in the same way as Jars of Clay's "I Need You". The song ends with Shaun softly speaking a prayer as the music slowly peters out.

White Flag
Jesus, now my fist is open
Now my sword is broken, I come in peace
'Cause I can't get well, I can't get through
I can't get by if I can't get You...
Continuing with another midtempo song here is a bit of a misstep, I think, after one slower song and one medium one - it makes the front half of the album lag a bit. Melodically, this one isn't as interesting, and Shaun's anthem of surrender seems a bit leaden, perhaps a bit too similar to "Amen" to really be noticeable, which is a shame since it's supposed to be the album's title track. Obviously, the lyrics focus on the need for man surrender and let God have His way, which is fine, but I think one song on the subject of "Blessed are the meek" would have been sufficient.

Crave
No magistrate can legislate
Peace and love and hope
No song can end or sermon mend
The fatal flaws in our souls
Pen and paper, Whitehouse won
Will never do what we need done...
Getting back into more of a rocking mood, this song comes crashing in with strong drums and more buzzing guitars, creating a sense of urgency and desperation as Shaun sings about mankind's inability to satisfy itself, even with pursuits as noble as world peace. Only those who seek God will find satisfaction, as is implied by the verse "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled". I love the distortion applies to Shaun's voice, making him sound almost broken and hoarse, as he sings/shouts the energetic and catchy chorus. Shaun has a way of coming up with really strong rock songs that don't come across as gimmicky, and I'm especially enamored with the rhythmic trickery that happens as his band drops a measure here and there in the transition from chorus to verse or bridge.

Hummingbird
Feathered, tethered
Feels like all the world's a cage
Worked up, run down
In this race to earn a wage...
As the furious "Crave" ends in a bit of guitar buzz, another rocking song (slightly more tame this time) kicks in immediately, this one describing all of Shaun's busywork and vain attempts at getting somewhere in his life. The inspiration is the same verse as "Crave", and this pairing of songs comes across much stronger than "Amen" and "White Flag" did, with Shaun letting loose and allowing himself to really get excited/frustrated as he sings and snarls about his lack of productivity apart from God. He likens this vain pursuit to hummingbird flapping its wings and getting nowhere fast. The lyrics fly by pretty quickly in this one, and the momentum that carries over from "Crave" gives us a justifiable sense of exhaustion after the song has concluded.

Heaven Hang On
Two houses down, there's a man pulling out
With a pistol pushed under the seat
And he's waving goodbye to his boys and his wife
And ends that are too far to meet
He's got a plan, the insurance man
Sold him the way out they need...
I'll admit that I have a special soft spot for this slow, acoustic song, as I was given a chance to look over the lyrics before it was complete, thanks to an internet conversation that I was fortunate enough to have with Shaun at one point. He had come up with a song about some of the real and shocking situations that face people who might, on the surface appear to be perfectly fine when we see them each week at our churches or on our streets, and he wanted to express how it's our job to show mercy to these people ("Blessed are the merciful"), and we have to take more action than just sitting inside our safe walls and offering up nice thoughts on their behalf. I had suggested at the time that maybe his lyrics were arriving at the point of resolution (the chorus, which states, "Heaven hang on, we can't hang on any more") a bit too quickly, but he had sound reasoning for keeping that line where it was, and now that I'm hearing the final project, I'm glad he didn't take my advice. As the haunting acoustic guitar line flows through the speakers, he tells the tale of a battered wife, and also of a man who considers suicide as the only way out of a hopeless financial situation, offering up this simple prayer for God to hold on to these people, but delivering the true punch line in the bridge: "Lord, surround them with angels, and send out Your saints. Shake us all loose from our pulpit's and pews, to hold and to help up the faint." In other words, we're the angels and saints, and we can't just sit around being sanctimonious. So many other Christian artists will use these sad stories to jerk tears, but they'll stop at just assuring us God is there for those desperate people. Shaun takes it a step further by challenging the church to get off its high horse, and that's what makes this song a classic. (Sorry I tried to mess with it, Shaun.)

Bless the Lord
I tremble at Your presence
Shaken by the truth that You are God
No deed can bring You pleasure
Or word add a measure to who You are...
Since Shaun Groves is an accomplished enough songwriter, I'm not sure why he felt the need to include a song he didn't write In an otherwise personal collection of reflections on the Beatitudes. This might be an older worship song that he knew and wanted to cover; in any event, it's a bit too pedestrian to fit in well with the more reflective and challenging songs that preceded it, and musically, it's another midtempo song that is tough to distinguish from "Amen" and "White Flag". As a meditation on "Blessed are the pure of heart", I could think of much stronger ways to express a desire for purity than just a stock praise & worship tune, and I'm extremely disappointed in the normally intelligent Rocketown Records for deciding to release this one as the album's lead single. Way to show confidence in a songwriter, guys.

Only
Let a kiss from the world seduce me
Warm my skin with a touch, confuse me
I will never turn, I will never turn
No, no, I will never turn from You...
The album's last rocker seems a bit anemic in comparison with tracks 1, 5, and 6 - it's fine as catchy songs go, but a bit too cheerleader-ish for me to take seriously on a deeper level. A calculated, somewhat muted guitar strum and some oddly processed drums provide the driving backbeat for the song, a bit of a throwback to the Christian rock of 10 or 20 years ago in some ways. The promise that "I will never turn from You" amidst all of the horrible events such as war and murder and all that is a nice thought, but it rings a bit hollow in comparison with the more confessional nature of the rest of the album, where Shaun is admitting he can't muster the strength for such strong devotion on his own.

My Enemy
Used to be I rolled the dice
Held the spear and I broke your side
Water, blood and mercy ran
Turning foes to forgiven friends...
A more reflective piano ballad, Inspired by the verse "Blessed are the peacemakers", takes Groves back into more lyrically challenging territory as he sings about a person he used to curse and despise, occasionally slipping into a pleasant falsetto to give the song a slightly more whimsical mood. His prayer is quite genuine, and easy principle to understand when read in the Bible, but a much more difficult one to apply in the age of terrorists and evil regimes and (perish the thought!) liberals - it's a prayer that God would teach Shaun to love his enemy. "I'd be wrong to give any less than this," he proclaims. What do we spend more of our effort on - praying God will give our enemies the smack down, or praying God will "invade the soul that hurts me"? That's a tough one for me to apply; I'll admit it. Shaun does a nice job of developing this one from its simplistic piano sound into more of a full band sound, while retaining a light, contemplative touch.

Peace Has Broken Out
No one's sure what happened next, but on and on it went
From the cubicles and classrooms to the President
Headed west and east, and on to every continent
The whole world woke up to read how things are different...
Following up on the previous song's theme, but taking more of a playful tone, is this slightly Beatle-esque song that plays around with the logical unlikeliness of peace spreading the way that war and chaos would usually be expected to. It's almost ridiculous and naïve in its assertion that one refusal by a person to push another person back who was rude to them would so profoundly influence everyone around them, spreading to affect the entire world, but I think Shaun acknowledges the whimsical nature of it with the crowd sing-along at the end. He's not seriously suggesting that one benevolent action would alter the world so quickly and radically, but it's more of a playful "What if?" asking us what the world would look like if everyone acted this way, and pointing out that the only way it ever will Is if we, the followers of Christ, lead by example. It would probably seem like a just plain silly song to me if not preceded by the more serious "My Enemy", but the two songs work nicely together to establish a unified theme and an important lesson that Shaun is learning.

Narrow
This way is paved with tears
Shed for two thousand years
Wrung from the saints sincere
Martyred and mourned...
Another acoustic song in 3/4 time shows up here to close out the album, replete with a string section that conjures up emotion without being too heavy-handed about it. While the rhythm of this one is paradoxically loose and mechanical all at once, perhaps keeping it from flowing as well as It could, I like that Shaun ended with a challenge instead of empty optimism, just the way that Jesus ended the Beatitudes - "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake". No promises are made here that trying to apply these principles to our lives will be easy, or that they'll never be met with opposition from other people. Few people would sign up to be martyrs, when it really comes down to it, but it's because of this that the promise being made here rings true. "My share of blessing and beauty, and bloodshed... the wonders and woes of the narrow." It's a simple poetic tune, ending on an unresolved note so as not to give us a false perception of an easy future. The blessed way isn't always the more natural one for us to take, and too few CCM artists really acknowledge that in their songwriting.

While I wish that Shaun could've kept the musical and lyrical quality as high on every track of this album as he did for several standout tracks, I can definitely appreciate his attempt at devoting a song or two to each of these rich passages from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and I think White Flag is an album that combines spiritual nourishment with solid entertainment value in a way that a lot of Christian artists struggle to balance. Not all Christian music has the specific purpose of teaching, and I think even Shaun Groves would want you to learn your lessons from the Bible, only having an album like this around to reinforce those truths, but still, it's nice to know that he's not content to fill our heads with feel-good pop theology. It's because of this that I continue to listen to Shaun Groves and find interest in everything he has to say, even if I may anticipate other artists' musical output with more excitement. I'd recommend White Flag if you're looking for more serious Christian music that doesn't have to be dull in its artistic approach in order to give you some solid points to chew on.

ALBUM WORTH:
What's Wrong with This World $2
Sad Song $1
Amen $1.50
White Flag $.50
Crave $1.50
Hummingbird $1
Heaven Hang On $2
Bless the Lord $0
Only $.50
My Enemy $1
Peace Has Broken Out $1
Narrow $1
TOTAL: $13

Website: http://www.shaungroves.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying