00-zac_brown_band-jekyll_and_hyde-2015.nfo
[Info]
Artist : Zac Brown Band
Album : Jekyll + Hyde
Label : Republic Records
Genre : Country
Street Date : 2015-04-28
Quality : 250 kbps / 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo
Encoder : Lame 3.98.4 -V0
Size : 123.51MB
Time : 66:01 min
Url : http://www.zacbrownband.com/
[Tracks]
1. Beautiful Drug 3:12
2. Loving You Easy 2:35
3. Remedy 3:52
4. Homegrown 3:25
5. Mango Tree (feat. Sara Bareilles) 3:41
6. Heavy Is The Head (feat, Chris Cornell) 4:00
7. Bittersweet 5:10
8. Castaway 3:08
9. Tomorrow Never Comes 3:58
10. One Day 3:50
11. Dress Blues 5:30
12. Yound And Wild 3:15
13. Junkyard 7:14
14. I'll Be Your Man (Song For A Daughter) 5:49
15. Wildfire 2:46
16. Tomorrow Never Comes (Acoustic) 4:36
[Notes]
Nearly three years after Uncaged, which won the Grammy for Best Country
Album, the Zac Brown Band unveiled the next chapter in their crossover
country revolution. Uncaged was distinguished at least in part by the
participation of a variety of guests including Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson,
Trombone Shorty, Jason Mraz, and Amos Lee. Jekyll + Hyde doesn't forgo them
altogether, but it does have fewer of them. Instead, ZBB double down on
their commitment to deliver as many different kinds of songs as they
possibly can. Whereas the Jay Joyce-produced first single, "Homegrown," is
characteristic of the band's feel-good, home-and-heart, back-country groove,
it's not nearly representative of everything that's here. Opener "Beautiful
Drug" may feature a meld of acoustic guitars, banjos, and snare drums, but
loops, synths, and a hook straight out of a Katy Perry single govern its
flow. "Mango Tree" features Sara Bareilles in a guest performance as it
attempts to re-create Nelson Riddle-esque big-band pop swing. It's followed
by the rocker "Heavy Is the Head," with Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman
Chris Cornell in duet with Brown. The metallic guitar is appended by a
distorted bassline that comes right from the Geezer Butler playbook. The
guest tunes are solid additions, but they're not the best things here. Those
honors are reserved for the band's self-written tunes: "Remedy" weds
country-gospel to a Celtic reel with multi-part vocal harmonies and finally
to modern praise & worship; it's a clear standout. The Caribbean-tinged
tunes such as "Loving You Easy," with its Buffett-esque groove wed to retro
pop/soul and "One Day," with its sweeping yet earthy fiddle, horns, and
stirring backing choruses, are both winners, too. "Tomorrow Never Comes" is
almost a big-beat dance number with its ticking loops and electronic blips
cutting through a bluegrass stomp. It's bracing in its audacity. Jason
Isbell's poignant "Dress Blues" is more straightforward, wedding folk and
pop-country in a poignant lyric about a fallen marine; the arrangement
juxtaposes a gently whining pedal steel with an elegiac, languid fiddle.
"Junkyard," a song about child abuse, is a slow, angry country-rocker with
fat, muddy basses and guitars, and a Celtic interlude with drum loops that
adds drama and tension before the tempo explodes. "I'll Be Your Man (Song
for a Daughter)" is heartfelt, island-tinged folk-country. Its closing
chorale is straight out of the Southern church. It should have closed the
album, because "Widlfire" feels like filler and an acoustic version of
"Tomorrow Never Comes" was unnecessary because it adds to the set's already
unwieldy, hour-plus length. The only other nick is that the set's production
is overly bright. These are niggling complaints, however. The stylistic
range of Jekyll + Hyde proves that ZBB's reach is almost limitless, and this
set will more than likely delight the group's legions of fans.
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