Then Came The Night
This Texan's voice is expressive, and it's refreshing that he makes no  pretense of writing his own songs. The question: does Steiner represent  country's future or its recent, bland past? The self-conscious moralizing of  "What If She's an Angel" and "Tell Me Where It Hurts," a pretentious Diane  Warren power ballad that puts Steiner in bombast overload, makes the answer  abundantly clear. The gimmicky, irritating dramatization "What We're Gonna Do  About It" (a great Starbucks plug) drives the point home even more. Even the  obligatory duet, "I Don't Need Another Reason" with traditionalist iconRandy Travis, is as  forced and lifeless as his remake ofPaul Davis's 1977 pop hit  "I Go Crazy." Only the moving story-song "The Mind of John J. Blanchard"  transcends the empty fluff surrounding it. The publicity cites Steiner's varied  musical influences, but his producers did him no favor by wrapping him in songs  and arrangements reminiscent of dozens of other Nashville recordings of the past  five years.--Rich Kienzle