Troy Horne – Christopher Thelen

Troy Horne might seem like he’s ready to take on Montell Jordan
and Luther Vandross, from the pose he shows on the cover of his
self-titled debut CD. But make no mistake: this young man follows
the path of alternative rock. And while
Troy Horne shows he still has a journey ahead of him, there
are some absolutely fabulous moments on this disc.

Oh, there’s no doubt that Horne has a set of pipes that could
shake the rafters. But
Troy Horne is more than just an alternative album; it’s a
declaration of independence from what you might expect from an
artist so young (Horne is only in his mid-20s). And maybe that’s
where I was a little disappointed in this disc; maybe I set the bar
too high in my mind – so high that any artist might have difficulty
clearing it.

This isn’t to say that Horne can’t soar like the eagles at
times. A three-song masterpiece kicks off with “Conversation,” and
leads into easily the album’s best song, “Sweater,” which shows
Horne’s talents (both vocal and songwriting) in the brightest light
possible. This song is nothing short of brilliant, and to follow it
up with a moving track like “Rain” was a swift move.

And this all isn’t to say that the remainder of
Troy Horne doesn’t have anything noteworthy. Tracks like
“This Man’s Pride” also stand out among the best, and others such
as “Man’s Eyes” and “Inner Sea” also have their moments.

But
Troy Horne has two hurdles the album has difficulty
clearing. The first is a slow, unsteady start with tracks like
“Kissing Ground,” “Change” and “Rainbow”. These songs just don’t
have the kind of creative fire that would propel other aspects of
this disc, and it takes the listener a long time to be able to get
into what Horne is doing musically.

The second aspect is one which will only be corrected over time
– and that’s musical uncertainty. Often, it doesn’t quite seem like
Horne knows what he wants to be accomplishing in his music, or it
seems like he’s not sure which musical style he wants to be
following with a particular song. But Horne is still a young man,
and such wisdom comes only with time logged in the studio and on
the stage. I’m sure he will soon be able to overcome this small
speed bump.

Troy Horne is a portrait of the artist as a young man, and
it shows that Horne has many good qualities regarding his music. He
just hasn’t developed into a full-blown artist yet… though
something tells me this is a facet which will change in the
not-too-distant future.