Like its predecessor,
B.J. Thomas' second album
Tomorrow Never Comes is characterized by its soulful dabbling.
Thomas doesn’t have one style, he has many, rooted in country and soul, sometimes touching on the blues, often wrapping this all up in a punch pop confection. This rootless roots music is diverse, but it doesn’t necessarily play as versatility, perhaps because
Thomas is almost too adept in adapting to his surroundings, not pushing through his personality, but rather going with the flow. This isn’t necessarily a problem, particularly on
Tomorrow Never Comes, which has an easy touch
Thomas would later leave behind, but it does leave him at the mercy of his songs, many written and/or arranged by his
Triumphs bandmate
Mark Charron, which alternate between the solid and saccharine here.
Thomas may have a flair for the kitsch, but not even he can save
Charron's rewrite of his cornball "Mama" as "Daddy" -- nor does he seem truly invested in the weird tale of the suicidal "Plain Jane" -- so the album winds up being on much firmer ground on the stomping "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia," the shimmering of "Baby Cried," the mini-melodrama of "Walkin’ Back," and the lively "Mystery of Tomorrow." Perhaps these aren’t forgotten gems, or cuts that should have been hits, but they’re solid ‘60s AM pop songs that remain enjoyable, even if they're not quite distinctive.