Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene ALBUM REVIEW

Intro woo hey everyone Anthony fantano here the internet's busiest music nerd and it's time for a review of the new Zack Brian album The Great American bar scene this is the newest full length LP from country singer and songwriter Oklahoman Zack Bryan who is showing no signs of letting up on his current Commercial Success streak earning a number one Who is Zach Bryan album with his last full length LP that an hourong self-titled he dropped last year the one that had that huge duet on it with Casey Musgraves which was preceded by the 2hour American heartbreak and now in 2024 he already has a brand new LP to serve up right here if you're unfamiliar with Zach's work his success recently in the country sphere has been both a surprise and a breath of fresh air during a time when mainstream country music couldn't possibly be more watered down and popc Centric his instrumentals sound authentic and organic and rust IC and tasteful not to mention Zach's emotive and forlorn lead vocals his descriptive and personal poetry a knack for storytelling as well even if his last full length record was a little syy at points and I don't personally think he has the versatility to keep two hours of Music interesting he is still very much a total package type artist and I'm glad he's making the Headway that he is in the Country Lane on this new record like I said with the singles Zach is really sticking to a proven formula of success for him as the Great American bar scene has kind of the same runtime as its predecessor a similar mix of feature spots similar instrumental pallets with a few ambitious instrumental switch-ups here and there even the kickoff of this record feels standard at this point for Zach it's a poem and a moving one at that where Zach talks about his hopes and aspirations for the future experiences he hopes to have things he hopes to learn if I'm lucky enough I'll understand losing someone I'll clench my teeth on New Year's Eve and try to talk to ghosts it only takes a few minutes of The Songs listening to him to understand that the guy has a way with words that sets himself apart from uh many of his contemporaries which of course comes in handy as he addresses a myriad of different themes as well as narrative angles throughout these songs be it on mechanical bull where he delivers a lot of poignant words on family Changing Times and memories with a heaping helping of nostalgia due to the way things have changed over the course of generations in his life and of course once again the production is great it's Dynamic it's Rich it's heavy just like on the last LP we have lots of slow swelling syrupy walls of guitar and bass and piano further topics and stories on the record include the title track where Zach details a bar fight that for him does not go all that well there's also pink skies which is a slice of Life moment about a funeral and the general goings on with various family members in attendance which all obviously makes for a pretty moving display there's 28 which is also a a snapshot of a moment in life uh very much a track about uh kind of coming into your own and ending up in life where you should be we have Changing Times being depicted on this track through the lens of various bar scenes too and this song in many others on the record is just sentimental in a genuinely powerful way especially with the pounding piano cords and wailing fiddles that back things up throughout much of the track because the songs on this record aren't just a good read or a good story they sound fantastic too American Knights for example is a jaunty fun country rocker Oak Islands Tempo really moves at a nice clip and with its opening lines about traveling working on the railroad and Brian's brother being on the run the percussion sounding like a train chugging along is absolutely fitting there's also a lovely little duet St ballad featuring noene Hoffman which I might even enjoy more than the Casey Musgraves track now deeper into the record I do think some small issues present themselves much in the way they did on the self-titled once again Zach has given us about an hour of material and uh despite that his vocal approach is still not as versatile as it could be his muted sad country boy demeanor doesn't get stale per se but it does lead to some syy moments that blend into each other in the track list it also doesn't help that later on the lp some of the vocal features uh that appear are not that gripping either regardless of how much admiration Brian may have for fellow singer songwriter John Morland as well as the boss himself Bruce Springsteen their respective performances on this record are kind of sleepy the energy however on this record picks right up on the performance that is delivered on like Ida the lyrics on bassboat being some of the most intense and heart-wrenching on the entire record The Highlights and also the Feelgood Vibes on better days which is a track all about uh things gradually improving but uh also valuing the lows in life as well as the highs there are some pretty tasteful guitar licks throughout the song from John Mayor 2 a few more highlights as we continue toward the end of the record here there is Towers which shakes things up with these gargantuan gospel style Coral harmonies throughout the song There's pink skies that I mentioned earlier and also the closing track bathwater which is very much a to be continued type moment for Brian here it's interesting how much uh the progression of this record as well as his last it kind of makes these two feel like sister albums and he's using these records almost as a means of like journaling and updating us uh on what is going on emotionally and personally uh during a certain portion of his life we're really getting with this track a picture of who Brian is in this very moment uh with him uh really kind of tying the entire album up it's it's narrative dynamic in a way I think is summed up with some of the lines uh on this track Like woke up on the wrong side of a lifelong fight between who I was who I am and which one is right as again a lot of the tracks on This Record Deal very much in uh what is happening right now in the present things that happened in the past that brought us to this point and where we might be headed in the future and how life and Brian himself and also the people around him especially family members how they are changing and evolving in the midst of all of that so there's that and I think uh present day wise uh maybe nothing is more telling creatively than another couple of bars on this track uh these songs used to free me now there's nothing free in this just 808 beats what we used to be in backdoor politics with yeah Brian essentially saying that his success and his Fame and his music and his creator process have essentially become a prison or a job at this point however I will say this for an artist who confesses to being in a way as compromised as he is on this record The Verdict Brian doesn't really seem to be selling his style his Artistry and his capabilities up the river though I guess given how successful his last record was he doesn't necessarily need to however though as much as I enjoyed this album and Brian's ability to stick to his guns in the midst of all of this Fame and in the midst of all this change I could imagine a couple of more records like this um getting quite stale quite fast I mean if there is a glaring issue with the album it's that aesthetically and artistically uh there's not a whole lot of evolution since his last ful length album however uh with it just being about a year later it's not like he's given himself a whole ton of time to do that which again leads me to feel like this record over here is like uh a sister album in a way it's a chapter 2 type moment it's the next episode in an ongoing series and the only thing really kind of keeping it interesting because again the production and the instrumentals have not switched up that much nor the vocals yeah the only thing really kind of keeping things gripping for Brian is that his songwriting and his lyrics and his storytelling continue to be so good not to mention just how generally emotionally compelling it all is which is why I'm feeling a light to decent 8 on this new album transition have you given This Record to listen did you love it did you hate it what would you rate it you're the best you're the best what should I review next hit the like if you like Please Subscribe and please don't cry hit the Bell as well over here next to my head is another video for you to check out hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel Anthony fantano Zack Brian forever