Zac Brown’s Next Single Will Be Controversial EDM Song “Beautiful Drug”
When many country and Southern rock fans got their copy of Zac Brown Band’s latest release Jekyll + Hyde, they feverishly ripped off the cellophane, struggled with the stupid sticker the runs across the top edge and never comes off in one piece, and then put that puppy into the CD player so full of excitement and anticipation, they found themselves nothing short of crestfallen and shockingly confused when the first song coming out of their moderately-priced but still decent-sounding speakers was the completely formulaic EDM saccharine-fest called “Beautiful Drug.”
It wasn’t just the shock that Zac Brown had decided to dip his toes into the whole EDM craze, it’s that he’d chosen to start his album off that way, and that the song—beyond the sonic departure for the band—was so vapid and superfluous. Since then Zac Brown has been out there collaborating with Avicii, so it is all starting to fit in a much wider pattern. There’s also another EDM-style song on Jekyll + Hyde called “Tomorrow Never Comes” that may even be a shade worse than “Beautiful Drug.”
Zac Brown apologists came out of the woodwork to defend “Beautiful Drug” saying, “Oh come on, this is just Zac Brown doing what he wants to do. It’s just the band having fun. They won’t release it to radio or anything.”
Well think again.
According to the country music Antichrist and head of Big Machine Records Scott Borchetta, “Beautiful Drug” will be Zac Brown Band’s next single. Speaking at iHeartMedia’s current Music Summit in Burbank, California, Borchetta confirmed the news, and said they hope the song will cross over from country, seeming to allude that it will start on country radio, even though the song has absolutely no semblance of anything “country” to it aside from a token banjo, which makes the offense even more obvious.
Clearly this is Scott Borchetta’s answer to Sam Hunt, and it’s hard to see how “Beautiful Drug” will be anything less than a mega hit, putting a serious hurting on the sonic foundations of country music, and from a band that used to be one of the respites of substance in the mainstream.
As Saving Country Music said in the review of “Beautiful Drug”:
“Beautiful Drug” is not the Zac Brown Band spreading their creative wings. “Beautiful Drug” is not Zac Brown asserting his freedom as an artist. “Beautiful Drug” is not the boys from Georgia “defying genre,” though these excuses and many more will be levied in their defense, and you, YOU the sainted country music and Zac Brown fan will be charged with a treasonous level of closed-mindedness, misunderstanding, and attempts to stifle the evolution of music if you so dare to raise a peep in opposition to Zac Brown finally breaking loose of his corporate bonds to make the music he’s always wanted which in the case of “Beautiful Drug” is apparently hyper-EDM club pop dance music replete with bass drops and the most horrifically prototypical rhythm and structure employed in American pop music in its history. Sam Hunt, eat your ever-loving, Puma-wearing, flat-brimmed country interloping heart out.
There is one thing to take away from “Beautiful Drug” and one thing only: Zac Brown wants your fucking money America. I would label this a sellout moment, but even that seems to slight just what depravity of character the Zac Brown Band evidences by releasing this song, especially as the first track on an album. He might as well have just cued up a mic and screamed “Fuck You!” to start this thing off. Dig deep in those pockets, put your dollars on the table, and nobody gets hurt except the souls of country music fans. It’s time for the Zac Brown Band to get paid mother truckers, so quit your bellyaching and pony the hell up.
August 5, 2015 @ 6:50 pm
Damn. This is disappointing. I was holding out hope that Zac and the boys wouldn’t completely sell out and do this to us.
August 5, 2015 @ 6:57 pm
Sheesh! -__-
At long last, we FINALLY have something that is NOT more country than Sam Hunt, for a change! =P
August 5, 2015 @ 6:59 pm
To quote Professor Farnsworth: “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”
I’m done, I’m just done. I’m gonna start investing in time travel research so I can get out of here. Anyone with me?
August 6, 2015 @ 5:30 am
I’ve seen a few Flux Capacitor’s on the interwebs. They seem legit…
August 6, 2015 @ 6:46 am
I’ve been with you for years, man.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:19 am
If you ever head back and look for the time machine I lost I am offering a reward
August 5, 2015 @ 7:05 pm
I had thought this was a brilliant metaphorical album. Think about it: Jekyll and Hyde were alternate personalities of good and evil. It’s no coincidence this is the name of the album. I mean seriously, why would they name it that unless it meant something? I thought Zac Brown was trying to show real country was good and EDM country was evil, and it was actually a jab at pop country. Then I read on this article they collaborated with Avicii, and I don’t know anymore.
When FGL released “Dirt,” I honestly hoped they had entered the genre as a Trojan horse. They worked their way to top by singing the absolute dumbest and least country songs they possibly could. Once they were safely perched at the top of the food chain, they would slowly start being more and more country with more and more substance, because they have so many fans who would like actual country if they sang it at that point. I thought they were trying to slowly convert pop country to country. I couldn’t have been more wrong…
August 5, 2015 @ 7:06 pm
Just a couple of comments. For one, I wonder how much they were forced or pressured to release this because of Borchetta. Surely they couldn’t have completely sold out to the point where the band honestly believes this makes them look good. That leads into to my next question/comment. I’m curious to know if there’s any friction between Zac Brown and the rest of the band. Zac seems more willing to go mainstream or at least to the point where he can be marketed. He’s already changed his image rather dramatically. The rest of the band itself is pretty talented. I wonder at the type of music the rest of the band could record if not worried about selling records. I’ve always enjoyed ZBB, but I have not, and will not, buy their latest record. I was actually just watching their cover of “Fox on the Run” the other day and thinking how much they truly used to seem like they didn’t give a damn about image or marketability. Shame to seem what they’re becoming.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:21 pm
I’ve been mentioning, since just before “JEKYLL + HYDE” was released…………….that I think the Zac Brown Band are making the exact same sort of misstep the Dave Matthews Band made with “Everyday”.
What did I mean by that? Much like Dave Matthews and his producer wrote everything on “Everyday” themselves and didn’t include the rest of the band until just before the album was mixed, thus coming across as a Dave Matthews Band album in name only……………….”JEKYLL + HYDE” obviously sounds like Zac Brown’s début solo album featuring band members at moments.
It also is an effort that smacks more of Zac Brown the Businessman than Zac Brown the Musicians for thé first time in his recording career.
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The good news with the Dave Matthews Band parallel is that, when they realized their core fans overwhelmingly said they’d rather hear their leaked “Lilywhite Sessions” instead of “Everyday”…………they listened and returned to form, as well as later released the great “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King”.
Hopefully the Zac Brown Band learn the correct lesson here, as well.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:37 pm
That’s an excellent point. It seems that the band has reached its crossroads. Will it go the way of commercialism and sell out completely? Or will it do as the Dave Matthews Band did and return to their roots as you mention?
August 6, 2015 @ 9:08 am
The most interesting thing about this album to me is that, among all the songs, I actually think their experimentation with rock radio make for the best-written tracks on the album (minus their cover of “Dress Blues”, obviously).
“Heavy Is The Head” and “Junkyard” are both, lyrically, superior to any of Brown’s original songs intended for country radio. All despite Country traditionally being the lyrical-leaning genre. Yet “Junkyard” is their best original story song effort among any of their originals, while “Heavy Is The Head” has the most biting, thought-provoking lines (especially those that close the second verse).
So while it doesn’t negate your overall point, I can’t help but also feel the band successfully unraveled more of their roots via certain aspects of their experimentation. To many of their fans, flirting with rock radio screams as a distancing from their roots. But as long as they’re motivated to make music that’s as strong as “Heavy Is The Head” and “Junkyard” (“Bittersweet” is their only Country original that I consider to stand up to the same level of those tracks), I actually would love to see them experiment more with Rock radio.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:28 pm
If I was in the band, I would be mad because I basically don’t play on the track. Zac Brown Band has a full time fiddle player (and a good one) and he plays on like two songs on this album.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:35 pm
You’re exactly right. Jimmy de Martini is an insanely good fiddle player. Now obviously I don’t expect him to be featured on every album cut because that’s just not who the band is. But as you’ve mentioned since the release of the album, there is just so many different musical styles going on that I’d feel disrespected if I was that talented of a musician forced to take part in this project. What makes it harder to take is how great and frankly badass the first volume of the Grohl Sessions turned out.
August 19, 2015 @ 11:27 am
“What makes it harder to take is how great and frankly badass the first volume of the Grohl Sessions turned out.”
Yes! Amen!! Hallelujah, holy shit, where’s the [Grohl Sessions Vol. 2]?!!!
https://youtu.be/adKorRYDnRk
August 5, 2015 @ 7:13 pm
Why Zac Why. Why are releasing this awful song?
August 5, 2015 @ 7:26 pm
I’m one of the biggest Zac Brown Band fans in the world and one of the people who has been defending them on this website. I’m absolutely shocked and speechless. It just doesn’t make any sense what’s going on with them (or maybe just Zac). I’m very very disappointed. They are beginning to waste their incredible talent.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:31 pm
As evidenced by many of their recent decisions, ZBB doesn’t care about the fans or music as they once did. It is a sad realization I came to in May. I was a fan from day 1. They didn’t sound or look like anything on country radio and it was a good thing. Hits came in bunches, but the CMA and ACM accolades did not. Guess if you can’t beat em, join em.
August 5, 2015 @ 7:46 pm
and scene…
August 5, 2015 @ 7:54 pm
This is just depressing. I’ve never had a band I like “sell out” so hard. I feel like such a hipster.
For what it’s worth though, I really like the acoustic version of “Tomorrow Never Comes.”
August 5, 2015 @ 8:08 pm
The fact that Zac Brown is signed to Big Machine is ironically appropriate. As I predicted before, this is Zac’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” moment. The only question is: will he continue to release pop singles to country radio, or will he abandon country entirely and make his next album his “first official documented pop album”?
Of course, the caveat here is that the country radio environment today is quite different from that in 2012. A song like WANEGBT may have actually made #1 today…
August 5, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
I made it to about two minutes before I stopped it. :p I probably should’ve looked up the lyrics first — without being couched in irritatingly hooky dance-pop-by-numbers, the pileup of “love as drug” cliches probably would’ve been worth a chuckle.
August 5, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
“this new song is the worst song I”™ve ever heard.”
August 5, 2015 @ 8:26 pm
Yup, honestly, that’s some real audacity to call out Luke Bryan like he did and then release a song that’s arguably worse.
August 5, 2015 @ 8:18 pm
I’m not an EDM fan by any means. A buddy of mine eats all that shit up and is constantly trying to push Daft Punk on me. Meh.
That being said, in the past i have found it interesting (not “liked” necessarily )when artists i like that normally don’t do anything close to EDM try it out. Better in doses for me, i guess.
That’s got me thinking: had “Beautiful Drug” been released four or five years ago (or hell, one or two years ago) and without the metro-R&B-electronic craze on country radio, would it be better accepted as a simple thing they gave a shot rather than a sell-out moment?
August 5, 2015 @ 8:28 pm
Yup, it would be. Doing it now is just chasing trends.
August 5, 2015 @ 11:21 pm
That’s a tough question to answer, but what I do feel confident in saying is that five years ago, a band like Zac Brown Band would never have considered releasing a single like “Beautiful Drug.” It would have never occurred to them, whether they wanted to do it or not. It would have been considered career suicide.
Sam Hunt is who made all of this possible, and to an extent, Jerrod Niemann before him. Now it’s not only possible to release an EDM song to country radio and get away with it, you pretty much HAVE TO release an EDM song on a mainstream country album to survive.
August 5, 2015 @ 11:24 pm
They might have done an EDM side project for fun, but they sure would not have even thought of releasing it to country radio. It would have been considered pure pop.
Here’s another question, Trigger. Do you think that We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together could have reached #1 on country radio if it were released today instead of 3 years ago?
August 6, 2015 @ 12:36 am
I wouldn’t have minded if the group (or, more likely, Zac Brown on his own) decided to release an EDM side project.
Hell, honestly, it’s not the fact that “Beautiful Drug” is a EDM-heavy song that really infuriates me about this release. I do listen to a lot of EDM myself, and appreciate it in a whole different way that starkly contrasts from how and why I appreciate country music. I view EDM as a style that is akin to the Root Chakra, and country music as one akin to the Heart Chakra. There are countless times where I want to hear something heartfelt, emotionally thoughtful and touches on everyday experiences that is driven by imagery and a narrative in the form of three chords and the truth……………..and there are other times my body is clamoring for escapism, a different sort of release that is decidedly more kinetic and much less intellectual, and that’s where EDM serves its own worthwhile purpose (Besides, there is plenty of compelling, thought-provoking, intelligent EDM if you know where to look beyond the Calvin Harrises, Diplos and David Guettas who are to the style what Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt are to “country”.)
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No, what makes “Beautiful Drug” insufferable is that EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of this song smacks as contrived and written-by-committee.
It is as though a focus group deliberated what the most cynical and desperate attempt at a hit crossover song would sound like and what it would consist of…………..then formulated a word cloud predicated on the most threadbare trends in all of popular music and in half-assed fashion interpreted the most cited results of that word cloud.
Auto-Tune! Quiet verses/big loud chorus! Standard four-on-the-floor beat! Whoa-oh-ohs as a substitute for actual lyrics! Saying something synonymous to “You make me feel so high!” or “You’re driving me crazy!”. Needless repetition of words to fill space and satisfy the meter!
It’s just completely soulless. It wouldn’t matter none if The Fray wrote and recorded it instead with their usual Dawson’s Creek Rock production team, or if Jeremih and DJ Mustard wrote and recorded it as a so-called “R&B song”, or obviously Sam Hunt wrote and recorded it as a so-called “country song”. It would be just as terrible and soulless either way.
That said, if Zac Brown was serious about experimenting with EDM more on his own in the form of a side project, it could potentially work as long as the passion to learn and explore is intact. I personally thought his Avicii collaboration “Broken Arrows” was completely bland and faceless too, but in finding the right collaborator, a song that is actually worthwhile in the first place and an unmistakable passion invested in the song…………..I can see Zac Brown pull it off at some point.
Just don’t shove it down my throat under the namesake “Zac Brown Band”.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:16 am
I agree about doing it as a side project. You want to run off with Avicii to get the whole EDM thing out of your system? Okay, fine. That’s why I haven’t torched that collaboration, because in the end it’s a virtually harmless side project. But releasing this as a single is a finger in the eye of so many, especially after what he said to Luke Bryan.
August 5, 2015 @ 8:34 pm
this is sad.
August 5, 2015 @ 8:50 pm
I love ZBB, like I’ve seen them live 8 times love, and I HATE this song. Truly hate it. I would rather listen to FGL than this. It irritates me when a band has a sound, you become a fan, and then they go and do crap like this. It sounds like a bad 80s song. If they wanted to try something different and put out a well written song with a different sound, fine. This isn’t it. It feels like a lazy, thrown together mess that was added to the album to hedge their bets so they could appeal to both their old fans, and get the attention of the “new country” fans. I get that the same thing gets stale and they want to shake it up a bit, but put some effort into it, write some decent lyrics, (“She lets her hair down and mine stand up” Wow, groundbreaking) and don’t let your 3 year old play the synthesizer in the background.
August 5, 2015 @ 8:56 pm
Trig…oh man.
I have seen the Zac Brown Band multiple times in multiple states and we saw them on this tour.
The stage had had 2 floors above the main stage…the drums, percussion and the new bass player where here most of the time.
During a large portion of the concert Jimmy de Martini would move to the top of the stage and do nothing at all while at the same time John Driskell Hopkins would stand on stage doing nothing but holding a guitar or banjo. This is in stark contrast to any of the shows we have seen them play before.
Sadly you are correct in that this will probably be a mega-hit and this is the path that the ZBB will continue down while selling out shows and being the so-called non-establishment country act.
There is a lot of talent in this band and it might be better served elsewhere.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:02 pm
Personally I don’t care about ZBB . I never thought they were country ….only that they were closer to it than perhaps , their contemporaries .
The guy I care about is Easton Corbin . THAT guy had the country thing DOWN cold …from writing to vocals to arrangements . I tried to listen to his newest CD again today and man , that young fella has done some serious selling out .” Compromise” is too generous a description of what he’s done with this newest pile of nothingness . Shit lyrics , no melodies , most of the record has the same groove , even . My latest attempt to understand him was just an exercise in frustration followed by another bout of disappointment . Its like all of these young artists are drugged and kidnapped by a label and forced at gunpoint to record this crap . Sorry ….that should read CRAP in CAPITALS . Easton , Easton ..Easton ….c’mon , man !
August 5, 2015 @ 9:26 pm
In fairness, Easton Corbin has been consistently disappointing since releasing his sophomore album.
It’s just, where with his second album his main sin was selling himself painfully short, with his current album he sold out entirely.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:11 pm
If anybody considers this country music you are an idiot.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:22 am
I agree. Who really gives two squirts of goat piss what ZBB does? By his own confession he is not country. He just releases stuff to country radio because there are a bunch of suckers out there who will buy it.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:25 pm
I really don’t get why this isn’t exclusively being released to pop radio. I enjoy the song, and think it’d do well there. I love ZBB, but really, really don’t get why this is being put on country radio.
They didn’t push “Heavy is the Head” on country radio, and it still fared fine on rock radio. Why not do the same for “Beautiful Drug”. Between “Wildfire”, “Dress Blues”, and “Bittersweet”, they have plenty of solid songs for country radio.
I’m almost already looking forward to their next album in 2/3 years, or at least a Grohl Sessions Vol. 2 if it happens.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:30 pm
It should be either “Bittersweet” or “Dress Blues” for thé third single (at country radio).
And whichever one isn’t chosen now should later be assured release as the fifth single (I would release “Castaway” fourth).
August 5, 2015 @ 11:27 pm
It is a very strange move, I agree. You’re creating conflict where there doesn’t need to be any. I ahd moved on from this song after writing my initial review for it. It was the furthest thing from my mind. If Zac was releasing “Dress Blues” instead, we’d all be celebrating instead of jeering. Fine, release “Beautiful Drug” to pop radio, what do I care? Now I feel like I have to do battle with Zac Brown, which is not a position I want to be in. I want to like Zac Brown. I believed he was one of the good guys. Now he seems to be set on world domination, and be damned of what that got him here think.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:55 am
Trig, not sure if you saw this, but EDM producer Avicii brought in ZBB (or really just Zac Brown) for a song on his upcoming album. Avicii was the producer known for mixing folk elements on his last album “True” with worldwide success (especially on the song “Wake Me Up”).
https://soundcloud.com/officalmemesounds/avicii-ft-zac-brown-band-broken-arrows-levels-podcast-37-rip
It seems Zac Brown is committed to having at least a footprint in dance music. With the bands talents, they could make great bluegrass, folk, or straight up rock projects if they want- hopefully one of these is the next to come.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:37 pm
A few words apply here: Borchetta/ZB sell out 🙁
August 5, 2015 @ 9:40 pm
How has Borchetta sold out? He’s ALWAYS cashing in, after all! 😉
August 6, 2015 @ 8:57 am
Sorry, I should have been more clear: Borchetta is not the sell out per say; ZBB is…seems once people hook up with Borchetta not everything turns out good.
August 5, 2015 @ 9:51 pm
There’s been speculation that this may just be a release to pop, and not necessarily their next country single.
August 5, 2015 @ 10:03 pm
I direly hope so.
That said, Borchetta used the wording: “cross over from country”.
That leads me to believe Borchetta’s intention is 1) to release “Beautiful Drug” to country radio, 2) examine its radio callout and digital sales closely and later décidé whether it is lucrative to distribute to Mainstream Top 40 as well (especially considering Sam Hunt’s initial failure to heavily impact Mainstream Top 40 with “Take Your Time”) and 3) if théy do, push it to Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 with a possible addition of a guest mainstream vocal.
August 6, 2015 @ 10:15 am
It’s funny, because in trying to be “cool” with the pop crowd, the beer and trucks crowd have made themselves look like uneducated racist rednecks (I use the term redneck to describe someone in a less than flattering light, and the term hillbilly I use more as a compliment, but the terms are technically interchangeable with no exact meaning) so now the pop crowd looks down on them.
August 5, 2015 @ 10:39 pm
Borchetta probably made him cash in his beanie for that fedora.
August 6, 2015 @ 3:57 am
Just a couple of comments. For one, I wonder how much they were forced or pressured to release this because of Borchetta. Surely they couldn”™t have completely sold out to the point where the band honestly believes this makes them look good. That leads into to my next question/comment. I”™m curious to know if there”™s any friction between Zac Brown and the rest of the band. Zac seems more willing to go mainstream or at least to the point where he can be marketed. He”™s already changed his image rather dramatically. The rest of the band itself is pretty talented. I wonder at the type of music the rest of the band could record if not worried about selling records. I”™ve always enjoyed ZBB, but I have not, and will not, buy their latest record. I was actually just watching their cover of “Fox on the Run” the other day and thinking how much they truly used to seem like they didn”™t give a damn about image or marketability. Shame to seem what they”™re becoming.
August 6, 2015 @ 5:32 am
Aw man, I forgot how bad this song sucks! I listened to it when the album first came out then tried for weeks to erase it from my memory. Listening to it again today brought back those early album listen nightmares.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:14 am
That’s one of the many things that sucks about this. All of this was in the past. We had moved on. And here Zac is ripping open old scabs. Nothing was learned from the feedback on this song from his core fans.
August 6, 2015 @ 5:43 am
I think zb went to burning man and never came back. I knew this music was bad when it came out in the 80’s and look what happened, it’s infiltrating every genre. You can’t get away from it!. DOWN WITH EDM!
August 6, 2015 @ 5:54 am
This is why I mostly listed to the dead guys. They never let me down.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:11 am
We’ve officially hit “Kiss Disco Album” stage.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:12 am
Can’t listen to it on the company network, but by title just sounds like a knock-off of “New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News
August 6, 2015 @ 6:14 am
It’s much, much worse. Think Zac Brown with ’99 Cher “life after love” Autotune.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:20 am
I don’t see how this can be released to country radio, even in today’s climate. This is essentially a Katy Perry song, though she would have made it more enjoyable to listen to.
I can’t stand Luke Bryan, but I actually hope he rips Zac apart for his hypocrisy on this.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:11 am
Two words: Sam Hunt.
Luke Bryan would never rip Zac Brown, but he’s in a position to do so more than any of us.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:41 am
True. I’ve thought so many times that we’ve hit the bottom of the barrell. I said it with “That’s my kind of night”. Then it was “Beachin'”. Then, I thought it couldn’t get any worse than “Ready set, let’s roll”. Then Sam Hunt came along with “Take Your Time”. I honestly think this is worse than all of them, and it’s coming from someone who should and absolutely does know better.
Maybe “rip” was the wrong word. Luke Bryan actually seems like a decent guy as a person, just a sellout musically. But he should at least poke some fun at Zac for calling him out and then releasing something even more embarrassing.
I think I’m done looking for help to come from the mainstream. The scene is just too corrupt.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:26 am
They can release this to country and they will. That Kelly Clarkson tripe “heart song” or whatever it is is not much different from this.
August 6, 2015 @ 11:33 am
After the absolute lynching Luke got after the outlaw comment, he won’t say a negative word, even in jest. In fact, i wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a point to publicly announce how much he likes the song, just to squash any attempts at someone trying to start something.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:38 am
Two straight awful singles by ZBB.
August 6, 2015 @ 6:42 am
I never much cared for Zac Brown, and I don’t think he considers his music to be country. Regardless, I’m sick of all of these dalliances with EDM “music.” I’ve never seen Sturgill Simpson live, but the fact that he apparently likes EDM “music” and uses it in his shows, makes me never want to see him. F them all.
August 6, 2015 @ 7:17 am
I think the beginning of the turn to the dark side for ZBB was when Zac switched from his beanie to his fedora-looking top hats.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:10 am
Every fucking one of us know that beanies and fedora are staples for douche bags. I hate this ZBB album. The only good song was the rock song. Lame writing, lame music, lame album. Luke Bryan should call ZBB to tell him thank you for have the #1 shittest country radio song of all time. Trace Adkins had a string of shitty sell out songs (Swing batter, Slap your Grandma: thanks Jamey Johnson) and all those songs were better than this shit. BTW, if I seen someone slap their grandma I would kick their ass. I feel bad for ZBB band members having to tour and put their name on this shit music.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:30 am
Funny you say that. I heard Honky-tonk Badockawhatever on the radio the other day and, no matter how much I hated that song, it felt like an old friend coming back after all the other schlock they play on country radio now. And I honestly don’t know why Jamey Johnson is popular. I can’t stand the guy. Not many stars out there have built such a large following on so little. And his musical sins are great too.
August 6, 2015 @ 9:07 am
“Jamey Johnson built such a large follow on so little.” Seriously? What a shame you have the concept of him you do…I would see him anytime way before I would see any of the “pop” artists who are out there now who take no time in creating good music. It’s all about rush rush to get the next crappy hit out there…:(
August 6, 2015 @ 10:24 am
Nah, beanies and fedoras are fun. So are bellbottom pants. But those shirts with the long sleeves sewn on under the shortsleeves, those are stupid, as are those sock hats, ripped pants, ankle socks…
August 6, 2015 @ 8:53 am
I can’t imagine anyone being a ZBB fan anyway–there have got to be lots of other (cheaper) excuses to get together and smoke pot. But I DID used to enjoy hearing one of their songs come on the radio. Very good and refreshing compared to the usual shit. Guess that’s all gone bye-bye.
And now we are down to about 5 radio songs a day that are worth a shit.
Sad, sad, sad.
August 6, 2015 @ 9:14 am
As soon as I get my time machine back I’m going to use it to send my Terminator back to stop all of this from happening. I’m working on building him right now. I sent one back before but it never returned. I think Mr Borchetta has been sending some of his own to stop mine…
August 6, 2015 @ 10:03 am
Actyally, I’m more reminded of “Back To The Future II” when Biff succeeds in stealing à publication of sports scores from the future, and managés to exploit them in building à corrupt empire that include owning thé police! We must go back and burn that publication! Probably be best if we frame Biff for tax evasion, in fact! =P
Or thé scène in “101 Dalmatians” after Cruella DeVille’s henchmen rob the house and steal all the pups, and we’re at the stage of the movie in country music where the nanny is sobbing: “Please somebidy help!” inconsolably! We must go back and help them install steel doors and bulletproof windows, as well as a moat filled with bullet ants, to prévent country music from being kidnapped! =P
August 6, 2015 @ 10:12 am
I loved both those movies!!! And honestly I wouldn’t have minded if a strange man in a mask led Taylor Swift down beneath an opera house and never brought her back…
101 songs about beer and trucks, eh? I think there’s more than that. (although Sirmashalot has concluded that it is actually only one song wearing many masks)
August 6, 2015 @ 11:02 am
Perhaps Music Row will next pull à page from “Minority Report” and respond in kind via nanotechnology to anyone who has cognitive patterns resembling à desire to write and record country music with brutal Auto-Tuned force! =P
August 6, 2015 @ 10:18 am
This is worse than when KISS went bubblegum pop on the album “Dynasty”.
August 6, 2015 @ 10:40 am
I’m holding out hope that this somehow doesn’t make it to country radio. ‘Heavy is the Head’ went exclusively to rock and hit #1. I didn’t like ‘Beautiful Drug’ when I first heard the album and just didn’t get it. After seeing it played live, I started to like it.
I had no major problems with the album being a mix of genres assuming they’d continue to push songs to the right format. The album shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to anyone that had seen them in concert. They mix in covers from Metallica, Nirvana, and other bands all of the time. On the behind the songs videos Zac did a good job explaining the tracks and why they did what they did. He mentioned ‘Beautiful Drug’ being their take on a club song, so I never thought they’d push it out to country radio. I’ve heard Junkyard is heading to rock stations, but we will see.
August 6, 2015 @ 10:59 am
And like I said earlier on, the funny thing is that their rock songs on this album are thé LYRICAL highlights among those the band wrote.
Both “Junkyard” and “Heavy Is The Head” are damn well – written songs about réal life and grittier experiences. Traditionally, that’s not supposed to happen. You expect country to be the epicenter of lyrically – centered quality while rock is more groove-dominant. And yet, “Bittersweet” is the album’s only original that stands up close to the rockers in lyrical depth.
August 6, 2015 @ 11:22 am
The version of Junkyard on this release is horrid.
Listen to the live version on Pass The Jar or even better the version on Home Grown…then you will see the utter shit that was released on the new album.
August 6, 2015 @ 12:45 pm
I prefer their older live performances of “Junkyard” myself.
That said, its lyrics are just as viscéral and moody now than they were in thé mid-to-late 00s.
August 6, 2015 @ 12:57 pm
I was one of those defending ZBB, saying that they wouldn’t try to put this song on Country radio. It looks like I’ll have to eat my words.
I still say it’s better than That’s My Kind of Night. No, that isn’t a compliment.
August 6, 2015 @ 2:45 pm
Honestly, I didn’t mind this album. There were of course songs I hated and loved, but overall, while it was a jarring listen, I didn’t mind it. I at least respected them for releasing the appropriate songs where they belonged (like Heavy Is The Head to Rock Radio), but this is just inexcusable. They can’t actually be sending this to Country radio, even with how far its descended right? I mean, come on, even Sam Hunt hasn’t done this bad……yet.
What disappoints me is that of all the acts that could have brought the most shame to Country, I never in 1000 years guessed that it would have been these guys….
I don’t know about this song itself. It’s hard to form an opinion since I don’t listen to Pop or EDM, I don’t know what’s good for that genre, and I don’t care. But if you’re releasing this to Country, then you’ve officially lost it Zac. What’s worse is that this will probably attract all new kinds of “fans” to the “Country” genre.
August 6, 2015 @ 5:43 pm
Good grief, I couldn’t make it through the whole song. I generally don’t hate the ZBB, which is a compliment these days in “country” music. This just genuinely sucks.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:11 pm
If you are disappointed by Zach Brown then get ready for Sturgill Simpson’s next album and be prepared to retype the same comments above. Right below this article is the one about Sturgill being complimented by Merle Haggard and the whole Waylon comparison bit. Sturgis is going to save country music etc… well… guess what, he said it himself in that interview that he does not want to do another country album. “Been there – done that” kind of attitude (at the moment).
I’m not criticizing him and will be going to see him next month. But that may be the one and only time and the extent of my being a fan if he creates new music I don’t want to hear. I can deal with it and his skyrocketing star may fall just as rapidly it rose. That would be a shame.
August 6, 2015 @ 8:46 pm
Big label got him too huh?
August 7, 2015 @ 11:35 am
I don’t really think that’s the reason. He supposedly is in to all kinds of music, including urban/alternative type stuff as well as the drug fueled hard rock era. I guess he wants to express himself and he does not want to be boxed in to one specific genera or restrict his creativity. He had about a 3 hour long interview with Joe Rogan and one thing I got out of it is that he is a really smart guy and can talk about a wide range of subjects at a high level. Maybe he sees music the same way.
August 6, 2015 @ 11:01 pm
It’s sad trig… The album honestly wouldn’t be so bad if you took out the few bad songs that just don’t fit. I don’t know what he is trying to do. He has a niche in country… And this just isn’t it. I agree I wish this would just go straight to PPP radio so he could release remedy or bittersweet or dress blues. The best thing that could happen is this gets a negative reaction and is pulled from radio but I fear this will be a MEGA hit.
Sigh. I’ll just go shuffle “you get what you give” and find my happy place. Sad sad news.
August 7, 2015 @ 11:27 am
I don’t want to hate on Zac Brown Band. This is not a position I enjoy.
August 10, 2015 @ 7:40 pm
On wikipedia it says Junkyard will be their next single!
August 10, 2015 @ 10:34 pm
I hope it’s right, but if I had to go with either Wikipedia, or Scott Borchetta who owns 1/3’rd of the weird Zac Brown Band record partnership, I’d have to go with Borchetta. We’ll see. Maybe Scott meant it will be the next single after “Junkyard.” Or maybe we scared them off from releasing “Beautiful Drug” as a single. One can hope.
August 11, 2015 @ 7:33 pm
Junkyard is still somewhat crappy, but nothing compared to how bad Beautiful Drug is. And yes I would definitely trust Borchetta more. Loving You Easy is about to go #1 maybe.
August 11, 2015 @ 6:21 pm
I have to admit that I just listened to this song for the first time, because you killed it so much I decided just not to listen. I actually don’t think it’s that bad of a song at all if they are wanting a cross over hit. It sounds much better than a lot of pop hits I hear on the radio. In terms of “Saving Country Music” it is a bad song, but I can’t find myself bashing it, except from the standpoint that they are a southern rock/country music band. My biggest disagreement with you is I think it is light years ahead of that Luke Bryan song, just from a musicianship and tightness of the overall product and while the lyrics may not be anything new, they are superior to a song like “That’s my Kind of Night”. Sure it may have some cliches, but I could say that about a ton of songs.
September 1, 2015 @ 10:07 am
It’s official! =P
“Beautiful Drug” is listed as going for adds September 21st, and will all but certainly be picked up by radio beforehand! -__-
*
On a side note, I find it tragically hilarious how many fans of theirs have been saying “Oh, I guess I can live with this, AS LONG as there’s à country remix of it!” =P
You seriously expect me to believe à “country remix” of what is a terrible song, regardless of genre, will make amends and patch differences? No, it actually adds insult to injury in that they’re exploiting the format, in egregious format, to shove this down our throats just so Big Machine can inflate the track’s demographic reach.
Have they not learned à thing from The Band Perry’s weak opening of “Live Forever”? Have they not seen the conséquence of Jake Owen’s “Réal Life”? They are waist deep in hubris mode and they’re completely oblivious of it.