By Diego Mantelli & Lili Metanovic
On August 24, 2023 at 9 p.m. PST, Zach Bryan’s new album was released. The self-titled album was produced entirely by the up and coming country artist himself. As seen in a recent Instagram post, Zach Bryan declares, “some of them are heavy, some of them are hopeful, but more than anything what’s most important to me is that they’re all mine.” As two self-declared Zach Bryan connoisseurs, we are going to give y’all an honest review of the new album, with both of us rating each song on a 1-10 scale and explaining why we gave each rating.
Fear & Fridays (Poem)-
DM-9.5-Despite being a poem, which I usually despise, conveys a powerful message while presenting a powerful and deep introduction to the album.
LM- 7-Poems aren’t really my vibe but the words in this song are put together so beautifully.
Overtime-
DM-8.9- Conveys a powerful message about working hard and “extra” to achieve what you want, combined with the amazingness of Zach Bryan, creating a song that is amazing in evey sense of the word.
LM-8.8-The intro to this song is so ungodly that it makes me feel patriotic. The rest of this song is also amazing, the more I listen to it the more I like it. #freedom
Summertime’s Close-
DM- 9.8- This song is one of my favorites in the album, with an amazing message that plays out through the song, while being wrapped in catchy lyrics.
LM-7- This song lacks originality but is still good.
East-Side Of Sorrow-
DM-11- Easily the best song on the album, has a catchy chorus, talks about hope, and has some fire trumpet that makes it, without a doubt, the best song on the album.
LM-9- This song was my initial favorite from the album but the more I started to listen to other songs, I started to like this one less. It is definitely in my top 3 still because of how it makes me feel.
Hey Driver (Ft. War and Treaty)-
DM-8.3-Strong message, but could definitely be better, War and Treaty made this song louder, not sure if better.
LM-10- SO AMAZING AND CATCHY. This song is almost perfect and the beginning and War and Treaty made this song absoluetly perfect.
Fear and Fridays-
DM-7.2-Have hearing the poem, I was expecting something closer to “Something in the Orange”, not “Heavy Eyes”, and quite frankly I’m disappointed that it was. Only saving grace was the banjo.
LM-8.7- The banjo in the beginning made me so excited for the song, and his tone of voice encapsulates the poem well.
Ticking-
DM-2.3- I can’t really explain why, but this song is just not it. The lyrics and actual music, you must need to be in a certain mood or something.
LM-7- When I’m in my feels I’d listen to this song way more, but there’s not much special about it.
Holy Roller (Ft. Sierra Ferell)-
DM-4.7- The two of them singing at the same time does not mesh together well, easily one of the worst songs on the album, only saving grace is the lyrics.
LM-5- Nothing against Sierra Ferell, but Zach Bryan’s voice with hers, does not sound good. They don’t have much harmony because her voice is too high pitched at times.
Jake’s Piano/Long Island-
DM-9.1 – Piano is an amazing addition to the song, the lyrics and music make it even better, definitely the most underrated song in the album
LM-9.2- THIS SONG IS SO UNDERRATED. The emotion in both of the different parts of the songs is heartbreaking to listen to. Plus the piano: a new instrument in the band has been unlocked!
El Dorado-
DM-5.3-He pronounces it El Doraido, and just distracts from the good parts of the song.
LM-7.2- The pronunciation of how he said El Dorado kind of threw me off but it’s still a good song nonetheless. It’s relatable to when you’re missing someone or something.
I Remember Everything (Ft. Kacey Musgraves)-
DM-9- When I first listened to it, I kinda hated on it for being a carbon copy of “Dawns”, however Kacy Musgraves brings a different twist than Maggie Rogers, and honestly that makes it as good as “Dawns” with it’s call and response, as well as some amazing lyrics, my personal favorite being “Blame it on the beach grown men don’t cry”, which is one of the best in the album.
LM-8.5- This song is becoming the most popular off the album and I understand why. A lot of people can relate to it and Kacey Musgraves was the perfect person to feature in this song.
Tourniquet-
DM-5.8-Only good part is some quotable lyrics, the rest is just meh.
LM-7.7- “If you need a tourniquet or if you wanna turn and quit”. Come on now, you can not tell me Zach Bryan isn’t a lyrical genius.
Spotless (Ft. The Lumineers)-
DM-6.5- Mid. The rating is so high because of The Lumineers.
LM-9- The fact that Zach Bryan reached out to The Lumineers when he first started making music asking them to listen to some of his music, to now having a song with them, must be so full circle for him. This song makes me happy, sad, and every emotion; my two worlds collided to make this work of art.
Tradesman-
DM-6.8- Sounds similar to Traveling Man, but kinda worse, as Lili say ”… mid”
LM-8- Not the best song on the album because I believe it sounds a lot like his other songs. To be fair, there is not a bad Zach Bryan song that exists so all is fine.
Smaller Acts-
DM-5.6- I was hoping for a medley of different songs, and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Once again, meh
LM- 8.2- This song is about the little things in life and that’s what I love about it. Zach sounds either so in love, or so heartbroken during this song and that’s what makes it even more special.
Oklahoman Son-
DM-7- Lili put it best, had a high bar, and missed by a lot. I was hoping it would be the best song on the album, but it wasn’t even close.
LM-7- The bar was set high for this song since it had the word “Oklahoma” in it and usually all of Zach Bryan’s songs that have “Oklahoma” in it are amazing. But this song just didn’t really reach my expectations and was honestly… mid.
In conclusion, “Zach Bryan- The Album” had a high bar, and for the most part met that bar, with some songs falling short. While very likely none of the songs on the album will reach the same popularity as “Something in the Orange”, “Heading South”, or “Dawns”, there are certainly some gems, and when compared to some of his other albums, “Zach Bryan-The Album” consistently had better songs and was more well rounded.