You Gotta Go There to Come Back, regardless of what anyone might say about it, is at least better than its predecessor, Just Enough Education to Perform. Yes, we're in daft long titles era of Stereophonics, and there's nothing we can do about it.For all the criticisms aimed at the band, it's difficult to deny this is an adventurous album. Piano, organ, mellotron, string and brass sections accompany each song, often many at once. The most obvious examples are the orchestral 'Rainbows and Pots of Gold' and the almost trip-hop-ish 'It's Alright', both moody and textural in their approach. Elsewhere, 'Getaway' is a blend of indie-pop and curiously flanged vocals, 'Maybe Tomorrow' is truly soulful, and 'Climbing the Wall' is so daft its incredibly fun.The rest of the album returns to JEEP's mixture of country and blues rock influences, the former once again more successful, harbouring a sense of authenticity and honesty less present in that album. The bluesy numbers are generally a bit corny: it's not so hard to understand why 'Madame Helga' was a hit single, but opener 'Help Me (She's Out of Her Mind)' is pretty difficult going at seven minutes.Despite the admirable expansion of sound, Kelly Jones hasn't approached his songwriting from a different perspective, and this tends to let down any progress the band may have made. His lyrics are often daft to the extent where, despite his obvious earnestness, it's difficult to imagine even he knows what he's singing about ("What makes you and what makes me / what makes people lie through their teeth / What makes ten ton trains rail my under the sea?"); similarly, he seems to have fallen into a comfortable zone of not bothering to expand his melodies beyond a small handful of notes. 'Rainbows and Pots of Gold' is a notable casualty: with its dramatic strings and rolling timpani, it could be a chamber pop classic, were it not for Jones simply singing the same six notes throughout the entire song. After a minute it gets boring: after four it's beyond tedious.You Gotta Go There to Come Back isn't an album without musical ideas. It sees Stereophonics pushing their sound way beyond their humble beginnings. If they had the compositional chops to back these ideas up, the album could be very strong indeed. Instead, they present a jumble of enjoyable tunes and interesting ideas, albeit rarely in the same track. An intriguing listen, but far from satisfying