Sara Evans struggles on 'Stronger'

Sara Evans, “Stronger” (RCA/Sony Nashville)In the liner notes for Sara Evans' new CD, she thanks #8220;everyone for waiting so patiently on me to make this record.#8221; Indeed, it's been six years since the Missouri-born singer's last album. As celebrity-gossip followers know, she dealt with drastic life changes over those years. In 2007, she divorced her first husband, politician Craig Schelske, amid allegations of cheating on both sides; she quit the TV series #8220;Dancing with the Stars#8221; mid-season to deal with the revelations. She then married a former star college quarterback, Jay Barker, uniting their seven kids under one roof.So, predictably, Evans' new song trumpets renewal and strength. However, the anthemic songs fall flat: On the fist-pumping #8220;A Little Bit Stronger#8221; and the spiritually inclined #8220;Desperately,#8221; Evans sounds oddly detached and the arrangements sound overly dramatic.But once she gets past the front-loaded survivor songs, she settles into layered tunes that better reveal her strengths. The multi-dimensional #8220;My Heart Can't Tell You No,#8221; about a woman who doesn't fully break from the man who hurt her, and the breezy #8220;Anywhere#8221; bring out a verve in Evans' husky voice absent from the big showcase tunes.Check this out: On #8220;Alone,#8221; the album's most powerful ballad, Evans conveys the knotty emotions of telling a lover she loves his attentiveness and devotion #8212; but she needs him to understand that she needs time to herself, too.