Zac Brown Band’s Welcome Home Is Actually Good
Off The Bench likes Zac Brown Band. Their Fourth Album, Jekyll and Hyde, came out in the summer of 2015, just before Max and I started living together again after college and we tried our best to love it. We really did try, it just didn’t work. The magic and easiness that had previously made Zac Brown the perfect soundtrack-to-anything was missing. So when Max sent me the first release from their new album, Welcome Home, on April 11, I had thoughts. It was then that I decided to write this review.
As each new song came out, I wrote up a little synopsis attempting to figure out how the album would feel. I’m still figuring the album out, and this type of snap reaction to an album is just as unfair as my snap reactions to baseball trades.
A good album gets better with each listen. Like a baseball trade, it can’t truly be evaluated until a few seasons go by. Still, here’s what I’ve got: I like it! (With an exclamation point)
I didn’t always….
April 11: Family Table
In an uninspired song, Zac Brown Band has finally rediscovered their sound in “Family Table.” While the song lacks the lyrical genius of anything from the band’s first album, The Foundation, it makes up for that with a generally joyous sound that shines through when the band finally reopens its wavelengths to the violin. This joy is evident even in Brown’s vocals, where the almost-angry tone of recent releases gives way to a smiling melody. Brown’s side project, Sir Roosevelt, is the creative outlet that allows the artist to be happy and angry in turn, rather than attempting the impossibility of conveying both emotions simultaneously in the studio.
On the whole, Family Table is a great sign for Zac Brown Band fans looking forward to their summer afternoon under a peach tree sipping an Arnold Palmer.
April 21: All the Best
In Zac Brown’s new song All The Best, the artist successfully taps back into the roots of songmaking that he attempted to find in “Family Table.” There are problems with the song, including a few unfortunate instances where Brown yells into the studio microphone, but it feels like one of Brown’s signature songs, the type of simple guitar melody coupled with inspired lyrics that will be his legacy (whether he likes it or not). It’s also the type of song that gets better with each listen. Rather than going full AC/DC on one track and Jimmy Buffet on another, the difference between Family Table and All The Best is the type of musical diversity that Brown should have been flexing his whole musical career. Upon a second listen, a novel could be written about the imagery and emotion that Brown provides in the song. Kids don’t quite understand love, but the song is wise enough to know that adults (and their pickups) don’t quite know either. I’m officially jazzed up about the album.
Max chimed in: I like it. A lot. It’s definitely my favorite of the 4 (?) that have been released so far. It seems like its going to be an interesting album, back to the country roots of the albums before Jekyl and Hyde but not as cheery or joyous as the previous ones that included songs like Uncaged, Chicken fried, Keep Me in Mind, etc.
May 3: Roots
Ugh. It’s so close to being awesome, but every time Zac says “Roots” my ears hate it. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem but the band manages to squeeze 22 of them into the 3:30 of song time. It’s a fun song musically with a good little guitar bit that pokes through the overproduced made-for-radio refrain. I suppose there had to be one or two of these on the album and that it could be way WAY worse, but the band’s most successful radio hits weren’t made for radio. Album drops in full next Friday. I would accept a copy and a bottle of whiskey for listening purposes.
Today
The whiskey didn’t show up, but I procured my own and turned my JBL Bluetooth speaker all the way up to enjoy me some ZBB. This was a holiday, just like Opening Day, and it should be revered as such. Here’s the thing: the album is really good. There’s an Allman brothers feel throughout, which in this case is a good thing. Where the early releases teased at the songwriting and general feel of ZBB’s early days, the album as a whole delivers exactly the type of cross-genre appeal that brought ZBB to prominence. Probably most importantly, I was sad when the album was over.
In keeping with the theme of my month-long review, I will run through each of the remaining songs in turn.
My Old Man
This was another of the tracks selected by the band for pre-release, but I didn’t write it up upon first listen. I suppose that’s more to do with my general inability to connect with the song, having been raised by a single mom. We all have an old (wo)man that we must learn a lot from, but this feels like a song that has been done before. Maybe Garth Brooks did it? It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong. It’s simple and earnest and will be the refrain to a manly tear or two. It’s just not for me.
Start Over
ZBB always puts an island song on their album. Toes and then Knee Deep were truly inspired. This one is fun, but not as free spirited as those others. It’s not supposed to be, though. The song sounds like a city slicker trying to be an islander, without ever going full islander. It works though. It’s goofy in its own way and the general idea of taking time to do nothing in particular is something I can get behind.
2 Places at 1 Time
What Roots set out to do – harken back to ZBB’s Georgia home while on the road – this jingle manages to accomplish. It’s a theme that ZBB has explored before on tracks such as Highway 20 Ride and I Play the Road. That doesn’t make it any less relevant or earnest. Just like Roots, this one has an air of accomplishment that feels a bit unneccesary, but it’s a good and honest song with a lovely musical backdrop.
Your Majesty
This song is peak Zac Brown. It’s why I like about the band; it’s why I like music.
Trying to Drive
Due to its placement on the album, at first I was unsure if this song is just riding the coattails of Your Majesty, but its fantastic as well. For what I believe is the first time in ZBB history, we hear female vocals (in the form of Aslyn) on the studio album. This is recycled from their 2011 live album, but we the two talented vocalists are gifted with the full compliment of the band a piano. Both versions are good, but this studio version is better. The two songs share the same theme and name, but this one feels happier. Rather than two people fighting for control, this version feels like two people laughing at the fact that they’ve been fighting over nothing.
In a lot of ways, the theme of fighting to go the same direction feels like ZBB’s last few years. The different elements of their music all tried to be in control rather than enjoying the fact that they’re invited.
-Sean Morash
Stat of the Day: It’s a mostly baseball blog.
