You Gotta Go There to Come Back is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Stereophonics. Produced by Kelly Jones and released on V2 in 2003, this LP became their third consecutive album to top the UK chart, selling 101,946 copies in its first week alone. It is the final Stereophonics album to feature long-time original drummer Stuart Cable before he was fired in September 2003. The album’s title comes from the eighth track "I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There to Come Back)".

Kelly Jones produced the album himself, working fast in hoping to capture the "vibe" of the band's concerts; "I wanted to create a record that was very raw, very spontaneous but had loads of detail and textures and layers," Jones noted, "We pushed ourselves in many places we've never been before."^[7] He later recalled that recording the album was, for many years, the best recording experience the band ever had, saying: "All the crew were in the room, all the girlfriends were in the room, all the band were there, it was the best recording session ever. It just felt like a fucking really good time."^[8]

You Gotta Go There to Come Back features a blues rock styled sound in the mold of early 1970s rock bands,^[2] and also displays influences of garage rock and soul.^[8] Kelly Jones described the album, with its "very 70s, Stevie Wonder, rock overdub feel", as the fulfillment of his desire to make an album like his favourite soul music: "I was really into soul music - it's not something I'm ashamed about. I was brought up on Stevie Wonder and I love Talking Book and all the overdubs on it, and all that freestyling Marvin Gaye thing. I'd always wanted to make a record like that, and this was the first one I produced so that's probably why I went 'Fuck it I'm just going to do it'."^[8] The NME felt that the album's "retro-garage" style made it "accidentally hip," comparing it to acclaimed contemporary garage rock revival "headbanger blues" bands like the White Stripes,^[2] a sentiment also shared by music critic Neil McCormick.^[7]

Throughout the album there are "different moods and changes." Jones stated: "Every few bars, when your brain's saying, 'Have you heard that now', I wanted to put something new in there." He felt this set the album apart from most other contemporary albums, which he felt "sound like one song from beginning to end."^[7] Jack Smith of the BBC detected influences from AC/DC, Stevie Wonder, the Isley Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival.^[9] The album also sporadically features "ornate strings reminiscent of Chris Farlowe's British soul in the 1960s."^[7] Jones' emotional lyrics for the albums draw on his break-up with his girlfriend of 12 years, and one critic noted how Jones' "life unfolds through words" on the album.^[1] Jones said of the lyrics:

"The songwriting has changed because as a person you change. It's been an emotional rollercoaster these last two years, whether it be divorce, sex, drink, drugs, arguments, whatever it might be, I can only write about what I'm experiencing. Life is about making mistakes and learning from them, learning about yourself and becoming a better person. That's what the title of the album basically means."^[7]

The opening song, "Help Me (She's Out of Her Mind)", has been described as "easy funk", and comparisons were drawn between Jones' vocals on the song and John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" vocals.^[9] Jason MacNeil of PopMatters compared the "moody, murky blues rock" song to Southern soul, while describing "Maybe Tomorrow" as "English soul."^[10] Lead single "Madame Helga" has been described as gospel^[1] and glam metal,^[2][7] with "dirty guitars duplicating a funky brass section."^[7] The acoustic, country-styled "Climbing the Wall" features horn and string sections and a Southern rock guitar solo,^[10][1] while the "pseudo-experimentalism" of "I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back)" features looped drums and a piano.^[11] The quieter "Rainbows and Pots of Gold" has soul influences and concerns "a friend who stole [Jones'] girl."^[7]