Zach Bryan - With Heaven On Top (January 9, 2026) Album • Page 12

Three times through this and absolutely loving it. Might be the most immediate a ZB album has been for me.

 

yeah i didn't love this first listen this morning but it was more passive listening. really enjoying it now with headphones

definitely feels like a bounce back of sorts

 

definitely my aoty of 2026 so far

 

Stiff competition

 

Man ZB has a magical ability to write songs that work together but aren't too samey which is a problem I think for artists that are in the same genre. I was expecting more of the same as Great American Bar Scene but this feels so different weirdly.

 

Haven’t listened to this yet but popping in to say my favorites by ZB are the Quiet Heavy and Summertime Blues EP’s and American Heartbreak

Bar Scene and Self Titled are fine but not as good IMO

i find (strangely) a lot of my favorite ZB songs are the ones nobody talks about. For instance, Corinthians and Crooked Teeth and Birmingham are great great tunes IMO

 

"Ive been to oklahoma but i aint ever been to spain"

is this lyric relatable @JoshIsMediocre

 

Relatable to whom

 

i'm just asking questions to an oklahoman

 

I love that EP quite a bit. Very country outlaw sounding version of him.

I love the Boys of Faith ep too. Feel like I never hear anyone talk about it other than Nine Ball.

 

The cadence of verse 2 of Say Why sounds like Neon Bible era Arcade Fire.

 

Knew this guy from the local OKC music scene 10ish years ago. Super talented guy, had a rock project he did called Old Misery that he wrote/recorded basically all of (I think) when he was barely in college. He’s since scrubbed its existence (which bums me out) and just produces now. He’s worked with Ken Pomeroy, JR Carroll and obviously Zach. He’s got a small credit on Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour too.

Really really cool to see

 

How has nobody mentioned that Slicked Back sounds *exactly* like Tom Perry’s Learning to Fly?

 

The rhythm strumming is identical, but even the lead guitar fills sound like Mike Campbell's tone. Like, it has me thinking this track is like a tribute to Learning To Fly. Tom Petty should definitely get a writing credit on this one.

Regardless, I like the track.

 

If Wheels by the Foo Fighters didn't give Petty a credit for inspiration from that track then I can't see how this would. Can hear it in the verse guitar but little else.

 

these days the question isn't "how similar is this to x" it's "how litigious is x's family"

 

Grumpy is a sick band, saw them open for Great Grandpa two years ago and they immediately won me over. Bonus points to Zach for recognizing talent and welcoming them in.

 

It really bothers me that one of the immediate best songs on the album gets Philly geography wrong. He couldn’t sing “12th and Pine” or wherever the heck he was drunk?

 

New to ZB. This album slaps. Best next record to tackle?

 

Go to self titled next, then dive into American Heartbreak

 

ZB is the only artist I would ever do this for, but I would highly recommend you listen to his live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster. Brings all his older songs so much more to life.

 

Yeah, honestly he’s not an album artist yet. If you want to be a fan, the live album is where it’s at.

 

Everything he does is “samey”

 

I would submit that if you're six albums in and still "not an album artist" perhaps some quality control is in order.