Brian McComas (Lyric Street, 2003)

The wait is over for Brian McComas' debut to finally be released. A hit single - "99.9% Sure (I've Never Been Here Before)" - tends to have that effect. But the extra time put into the disc did not result in an over the top album.

The 11 songs generally are pleasant enough, but few go above and beyond the been there, done that category. The mid-tempo "Come With Me" sounds pleasant enough, but no more. McComas sings okay, although there's too much smoothness and not enough grit in his vocal chords to truly get to the heart of the song ("Never Meant a Thing"). Put it in the hands of say Gary Allan, and he'd nail it. McComas fares better on the more uptempo tunes, especially Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers' "Straight to You" and "You're in My Head," which sounds like something Lonestar ought to do.

Producers Leigh Reynolds and Leon Medica maintain a country sound instrumentally with acoustics, but sometimes the music veers too much towards the pop end. McComas generated music that aims to please and does so to a degree. The only problem is the listener may feel like they, in fact, have been here before.