Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar Scene ⭐️⭐️⭐️❌❌
This album was a frustrating listen. On the one hand, it’s a lot like the Willie Nelson album from a month ago. It’s like this warm, Americana blanket that’s just comforting to listen to. And it really does feature some great, clever songwriting. But on the other hand, it is way too long.
Zach Bryan is a very effective songwriter. He’s learned from the Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen (the latter of which features on this album) school of Americana that you can sprinkle in common turn-of-phrases to instantly identify with your crowd, and he deploys this in a genuine, genius way. And his songs do strike an emotional chord. But structure wise, and musically, these 19 gentle songs, which span just over an hour, unfortunately start to all sound alike.
Favorite song: “The Great American Bar Scene”
