Welcome Home
Studio album by
Zac Brown Band
ReleasedMay 12, 2017 (2017-05-12)
RecordedJanuary 3–9, 2017
GenreCountry[1]
Length38:42
LabelElektra, Southern Ground
Producer
[2]
Zac Brown Band chronology
Jekyll + Hyde
(2015) 		Welcome Home
(2017) 		The Owl
(2019)
Singles from Welcome Home
  1. "My Old Man"
    Released: February 3, 2017
  2. "Roots"
    Released: August 7, 2017

Welcome Home is the fifth studio album by American country music band Zac Brown Band. It was released on May 12, 2017, via Elektra Records. The album features the singles "My Old Man" and "Roots" which charted on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay. Dave Cobb is the album's producer.

Content

Before the album, Zac Brown worked with producer Dave Cobb on a track for the multi-artist album Southern Family in 2016. Cobb also serves as producer on Welcome Home.[3]

Taste of Country describes the album as "a more mature album, aimed at the group's older fans" and notes that "One mostly finds Brown showing appreciation for loved ones". The track "Trying to Drive" is a re-recording of a song that first appeared on the band's 2010 live album Pass the Jar: Zac Brown Band and Friends Live from the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta, featuring co-writer Aslyn on guest vocals.[4]

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, saying that "While the constant parade of country homilies gets a bit weary, the sound of Welcome Home is a warm, comfortable bath. Brown still has a way with a honeyed melody and his band is just as supple, meaning this album is the very definition of music as comfort food."[1] Jonathan Bernstein of Rolling Stone gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars, praising the sound of "Roots" and "Her Majesty" but adding that "it's hard not to hear Welcome Home as an anxious defense of fame and fortune, a reactionary right-turn in response to the mixed reviews the band received for their most recent global pop-grab... A decade after 'Chicken Fried', Zac Brown is laboring strenuously to ensure everyone that he still drinks cold beer on a Friday night, apologizing for a musical adventurousness that he'd be better off simply embracing."[3] Rating it "C+", Chuck Yarborough of The Plain Dealer felt that "My Old Man", "Trying to Drive", and "Family Table" were the album's strongest songs, but criticized "Start Over" as derivative of "Toes". He also felt that the album overall lacked songs as strong as the singles from Jekyll + Hyde.[5] Slant Magazine reviewer Jeremy Winograd also rated it 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying in his review that "Zac Brown's constant reassurances throughout Welcome Home that he's still just a regular dude, set to 40 minutes of aggressively bland Americana, give off the stench of overcompensation" for the "crossover pop" sounds of the previous album. He overall panned many of the songs' lyrics and sounds, saying that "Far worse is the cynical nature of the album's roosty overtures. If Brown's lyrics weren't so painfully on the nose, it might not be so obvious that he's deliberately attempting to parlay Cobb's style and reputation into perceived authenticity", while citing "Trying to Drive" as the strongest track.[6]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top Country Albums chart with 146,000 equivalent album units, of which 139,000 are traditional album sales.[7] In the following week, it sold 23,100 copies.[8] The album has sold 308,600 copies in the US as of September 2018.[9] Welcome Home was the band's first album not to top the Billboard 200.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Zac Brown, Niko Moon, and Ben Simonetti except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Roots"Coy Bowles, Brown, Moon, Simonetti3:51
2."Real Thing" 3:50
3."Long Haul" 3:32
4."2 Places at 1 Time" 3:40
5."Family Table" 3:31
6."My Old Man" 3:47
7."Start Over"Brown, Moon, Simonetti, Pharrell Williams4:13
8."Your Majesty"Brown, Moon, Simonetti, Kenny Habul3:42
9."Trying to Drive" (featuring Aslyn)Brown, Moon, Simonetti, Aslyn4:26
10."All the Best" (featuring Kacey Musgraves)John Prine4:11

Personnel

Adapted from Welcome Home liner notes.[10]

Zac Brown Band

Additional Musicians

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b "Welcome Home". AllMusic. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "Zac Brown Band Earns Ninth GRAMMY Nomination". 29 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b Bernstein, Jonathan (May 12, 2017). "Review: Zac Brown Band Anxiously Return to Their Roots on 'Welcome Home'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  4. ^ Dukes, Billy (May 12, 2017). "Album Spotlight: Zac Brown Band, 'Welcome Home'". Taste of Country. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Yarborough, Chuck (May 17, 2017). "Zac Brown Band is a few streets off in 'Welcome Home' (CD review)". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Winograd, Jeremy (May 17, 2017). "Zac Brown Band: Welcome Home". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (May 21, 2017). "Harry Styles Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  8. ^ Bjorke, Matt (May 20, 2017). "Top 10 Country Albums Chart: May 30, 2017". Roughstock.
  9. ^ Bjorke, Matt (September 4, 2018). "Top 10 Country Albums Sales Chart: September 4, 2018". Roughstock. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Welcome Home (CD booklet). Zac Brown Band. Southern Ground/Elektra Records. 2017. 559611-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Zac Brown Band – Welcome Home" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  13. ^ "On The Charts: May 22, 2017". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  16. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Zac Brown Band – Welcome Home". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  18. ^ "Billboard Country Update" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  19. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  20. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
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