Then Came The Night

by

Tommy Shane Steiner

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Tommy Shane Steiner comes out of the starting gate with "Then Came The Night," an album filled with country songs briefly influenced by pop. His voice--and the way he uses it--is superb, however, and goes above and beyond many other artists on their debuts.

There are, naturally, a few brief highlights on this album. First, though, I must say that Steiner flounders on a remake of Paul Davis's "I Go Crazy." If you want a good cover of that song, check out Jolie & The Wanted's self-titled debut.

Enough with the phony advertising. I'm here to talk about Steiner's album. He covers a great deal of songs, surely, but let's talk about a few: the good ones. Diane Warren's "Tell Me Where It Hurts" takes the listener to the emotional extreme; "What If She's an Angel"--a top-10 radio hit--gets us thinking of angels, and of hope, and of love.

Steiner proves his country roots with "I Don't Need Another Reason," a conversational duet (meaning they sing a conversation, not talk it) with Randy Travis. And Steiner himself takes up the pen for "And Yet," a song of regret and remorse.

The album hits its highest peak of talent, however, on the moving "The Mind of John. J. Blanchard." Though upbeat and hopeful, it makes you shed a tear when you see what this coma patient dreamed he did. It's a truly aweing song.

Richie McDonald (Lonestar), Jimmy Olander (Diamond Rio), Vince Gill, and Randy Travis all provide their talents for this album, whether it be singing or writing a song. But the real star is of course Tommy Shane Steiner. This is a debut you will not likely forget. But don't be alarmed; no one who listens to this will forget. It's amazing.

"And Then Came the Night" is a promising debut from hunky Country newcomer Tommy Shane Steiner. The lead-off single "What If She's an Angel" is a powerful ballad, and many people have already fallen in love with it, propelling it to No. 2 (as of this writing) on CMTV. The soulful and smooth voice combined with tear-jerking lyrics equals a big hit.Beyond that, the pickings become pretty slim, however. The first track "That Just Wouldn't Be Me" tries too hard at getting a country "hook", while the bloated "Tell Me Where It Hurts" is scraping the bottom of the romantic country song barrel.The CD has a good middle track in "John J. Blanchard", and ends extremely well with quality tracks "And Yet" and "Then Came the Night". While only four tracks that really stand out from the eleven offerings, it shows that Tommy has a bright future ahead of him if given room to grow.