CD REVIEW: ZAC BROWN BAND – Welcome Home

CD REVIEW: ZAC BROWN BAND – Welcome Home
Elektra
May 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
6/10

Zac Brown’s notoriety has spread far and wide since many of us first heard of his heartfelt country rock with a pop edge (think Bon Jovi if they gave a shit about anything other than making money… and with a fiddle player) since we saw him in Dave Grohl’s Sonic Highways – and rightly so: Americans have been lapping his music up on a grand scale for 15 years.

Welcome Home was conceived as a collection of rootsy tracks about home – being happy there, missing it, the warmth of family and your own place in the world. What it ended up being is overly bland, overly sentimental, which is a real disappointment, as Brown’s band are ace players. Whether this is the fault of the songs, or producer Dave Cobb, who can say.

There’s also a feeling that Brown is protesting his ‘regular Joe’ status too much. Fame and fortune seems to have made him desperate to return to his roots, but once you’ve come over that hill, you can’t just go back to the other side so easily.

Welcome Home, consequently, isn’t a BAD album – there are no BAD songs here. It’s all just a bit pedestrian, more motel room than home – lacking in heart and passion.

Category: CD Reviews