On Garth Brooks' self-titled debut, his fusion of rock & roll
and traditional country genres like honky tonk and Western swing is
already fully formed as is his gift for extended metaphors. One listen
to his signature song and breakthrough hit, "The Dance,"
proves that, which is why he broke away from the hat acts that he was
initially grouped with. Nevertheless, Garth Brooks is the most
straightforward of all of his albums; Brooks sticks with
neo-traditional country on about half of the tracks. He sings
traditional country quite well — "Not Counting You" is a
particularly effective honky tonk number, demonstrating a debt to both
George
Jones and George
Strait — but what makes the album an exciting debut are songs
like the genre-bending ballads "The Dance" and "If
Tomorrow Never Comes"; and that is the style that would bring him
mass success with his next album, No
Fences.