Zac Brown Band - "Uncaged" (Read 1,151 times)

[Jhomes87]

Zac Brown Band
"Uncaged"
(Southern Ground Records/Atlantic Records)

Release Date: July 10

Track List:

1. "Jump Right In" (Zac Brown/Wyatt Durrette/Jason Mraz)

2. "Uncaged" (Zac Brown/Coy Bowles/John Driskell Hopkins/Jimmy De Martini/Nic Cowan/Wyatt Durette)

3. "Goodbye In Her Eyes" (Zac Brown/Wyatt Durrette)

4. "The Wind" (Zac Brown/Levi Lowrey/Wyatt Durrette)

5. "Island Song" (Nic Cowan)

6. "Sweet Annie" (Zac Brown/Sonia Leigh/Wyatt Durrette/John Pierce)

7. "Natural Disaster" (Zac Brown/Wyatt Durrette)

8. "Overnight" [featuring Trombone Shorty] (Zac Brown/Nic Cowan)

9. "Lance's Song" (Zac Brown/Nic Cowan)

10. "Day That I Die" [featuring Amos Lee] (Zac Brown/Nic Cowan/Wyatt Durrette)

11. "Last But Not Least" (Zac Brown/Coy Bowles/Jimmy De Martini/Wyatt Durrette/Mac McAnally)

LISTEN TO FULL ALBUM: AOL Listening Party! Ended July 16

Source: iTunes

[Jhomes87]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Describing the new Zac Brown Band album is anything but simple.

"It's your basic country-Southern rock-bluegrass-reggae-jam record," Brown joked.

"Uncaged" is out July 10 and Brown says its 11 tracks further push the boundaries of what fans can expect from the Atlanta-based band.

Brown wanted to keep most of the surprises on the band's follow-up to 2010's "You Get What You Give" under wraps in a Tuesday afternoon phone interview.

He said the group has added Daniel de los Reyes, a percussionist who's worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Sting and Jennifer Lopez among others. His addition to the already existing rhythm section of bassist John Driskell Hopkins and drummer Chris Fryar has allowed the band to expand its sound into new territory.

For instance, Trombone Shorty and the New Orleans star's horn section will make a guest appearance on "Overnight," ZBB's first shot at straight-up R&B.

"They've really got to be smart about how they play so it doesn't get too busy," Brown said of the band's rhythm section, "but it really creates a new kind of pulse within the band."

Finding that pulse was an important part of the new album. Brown said a tour through England with Kings of Leon got the band thinking about arrangements and finding the groove - then sticking with it. Band members also riffed on their mutual love of U2, looking for songs that resonates in arenas and stadiums.

"It's really about making people dance," Brown said. "You just don't let them go. There's a lot of songs on the record that when we play them live we'll extend out long. But it's really about just grabbing people in that pulse and then not letting them go that entire song."

Source: The Boot

[Jhomes87]

Track list and small album cover image posted to 1st post (will update to bigger picture when available).

Also, you can pre-order "Uncaged" on iTunes now and get an immediate download of the 1st single, "The Wind".

[layne]

This is an interesting Album Cover to say the least.

[Jhomes87]

Wow, this is one great album. I think, for me, it's one of the top 3 releases of the year so far, joining the albums from Kip Moore and Alan Jackson.

The best song on here (and maybe one of the best songs these guys have ever done), in my opinion, is "Goodbye In Her Eyes". That HAS to be a single. "Jump Right In" sounds like a smash as well, and I also think "Sweet Annie", "Lance's Song", and maybe the title track could be in the mix for potential single choices.

"Overnight" is actually one of my favorite tracks but I doubt they release it to country radio, lol. I really like the fact that they went with "The Wind" first because I think it's a really good song and something really different for radio, but it doesn't rely on a ton of huge soaring pop melodies (a lot of other songs deemed 'different' for radio seem to have some really interesting production but usually it's either just unusual instruments or catchy 'pop melodies)...but with "The Wind" it's a lot of bluegrass and traditional instrumentation and the song is just really catchy. However, despite its pretty good start, right now it's only moving at a moderate clip, and I must point out that it has a pretty high "Strong Dislike" percentage on the RadioFeedback chart (published in each BCU). Currently that number is 15.4%. It is listed as the #24 song there which isn't too bad but that number is holding it back somewhat. And then the total passion of 25% is more than some of the songs right around it so it looks like "The Wind" may be researching as a rather polarizing single which doesn't surprise me much, since it is quite different.

So despite its strong start, it could hit a wall if it doesn't start researching better across the board. To me, it sounds like a #1 hit, but if it stalls out before then I guess I won't be totally surprised. Either way, though, I expect it to still be plenty big of a hit and I think the album is gonna sell well, also.

Here are my picks for the order of singles:

1) The Wind
2) Goodbye In Her Eyes
3) Jump Right In
4) Sweet Annie
5) Uncaged/Lance's Song/Last But Not Least (if they go 5 deep--they have with their last 2 albums, but this album has fewer tracks, so you never know)

[Jhomes87]

You can now listen to the album for free via AOL. Link is in the first post.

Anyway, just wanted to post first week sales estimates. From HITS:

Atlantic country-rockers Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged will bow in the top spot on next week’s tally, with a total that looks headed for between 210-225k.

That number beats the group’s last studio album, You Get What You Give, which came out in Sept. 2010 with 154k in sales, by more than 45%. This is the band’s third album for Atlantic after two independent releases.

Really, really good numbers! Amazon has the digital album on sale for $3.99 so I'd definitely recommend it especially if any of y'all were just kinda borderline on this one. And for the bigger ZBB fans, it's a no-brainer--this album is a must-have!

[frontporchjunkie]

After one listen, I think this is a solid Record. I don't hear anything outstanding though. It's all good and definitely they will have some top hits from this but nothing is as good as "Colder Weather". My three favorites are Uncaged, Goodbye in her eyes, and Overnight.

[Deleted]

#1 country and #1 top 200 CD with 234,000 sold.