Zach Bryan dropped a new album on August 25, 2023, that had fans of his country music going crazy. The album is called “Zach Bryan” as it is self-titled. Bryan, who is 27 years old, chose to self-title this album because, “I wrote and produced an album that I would want to listen to. I self-titled it because I hear every cell of my being in it” according to www.ndsmcobserver.com. It is obvious his heart and soul was poured out into this album by listening to Bryan’s poetic words. Love his music or hate his music, you can all agree Zach Bryan entices serious emotions with his lyrics and fans definitely agree.
This new Zach Bryan album contains 16 songs and is 54 minutes and 23 seconds long. It features artists such as The Lumineers, Kacey Musgraves, Sierra Ferrell and The War and Treaty. Bryan has 8 albums in all. His first album was released in 2019, called “DeAnn.” The most popular song featured on this album is “God Speed,” with 84 thousand plays. This album is followed by “Elisabeth” released in 2020, with it’s most popular song being “Revival” which is arguably one of the most known and loved Zach Bryan song. “American Heartbreak” was released in 2022, containing one of Bryan’s other most popular songs; “Something in the Orange.”
The first of the 16 songs is “Fear and Fridays (Poem)” which is a poem of the sixth song on the album “Fear and Fridays.” This is basically a spoken poem to some guitar strums. It is well written but not a song. I rated this a 16/16, with 1/16 being my most favorite and 16/16 being my least favorite. The second song is “Overtime” which I did not particularly enjoy so I placed it at 15/16. The third is “Summertime’s Close” which I ranked at 7/16. This song is wholesome and sweet. The next song on Bryan’s album is “East Side of Sorrow.” This is a cheerful song that I personally really liked, so I placed it at 2/16. The fifth song is “Hey Driver” which I placed at 3/16 because it was also one of my favorites. The sixth song is “Fear and Fridays” which is the song version of the first track, “Fear and Fridays (Poem).” I enjoyed this much more than the poem version, so I placed it at 9/16. The seventh song is “Ticking” which I enjoyed and placed at 11/16. The next track on the album is “Holy Roller” featuring Sierra Ferrell. I really liked the beat and music to this song, as well as the sweet lyrics. I did not like the other artist, Sierra Ferrell, as much as some of the other collaborators on the album. I ranked “Holly Roller” a 4/16. The next song is “Jake’s Piano – Long Island” which I did not really like, so I placed it at 13/16. The tenth song is “El Dorado” which I did not like the beat of. I placed “El Dorado” at 12/16. The eleventh song on the album “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves. Sad songs are not typically my favorites, but this song is very moving and well written. I also loved the collaboration with Musgraves. I placed this song at a 1/16. The next song is “Tourniquet” which I liked and placed at 5/16. The next track is “Spotless” featuring The Lumineers. I loved The Lumineers on this song so I placed it at 8/16. The fourteenth song is “Tradesmen” which I didn’t think was anything special, so I put it at 14/16. The fifteenth song is “Smaller Acts,” one of the more popular tracks. This slow sounding song was not in my top five, but with its sweet lyrics and good vibe I had to place it at a 6 out of 16. The sixteenth and final song on the album is “Oklahoman Son,” which I ranked at 10/16. Out of 10 with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, I rate “Zach Bryan” at a 5/10. Some songs I liked, but most of them were not my type and were average.
Addie Iosa (‘26) also listened to the album “Zach Bryan”. “I liked this album a lot. I love country music, especially Zach Bryan. I got tickets to his concert next August so I’m super excited. I guess I would rate the album a 9/10, I really liked it.”