Get your pitchforks ready.
It’s hard to imagine a more fascinating artist in today’s country music landscape than Zach Bryan. In a six-year span, the “Something in the Orange” singer has gone from recording his debut album, DeAnn, in a Florida Airbnb and scoring viral hits online to selling his publishing catalog for a staggering $350 million and, most notably, setting the record for highest-attended concert in U.S. history when he performed to a crowd of 112,408 at Michigan Stadium.
Though there’s no doubt that artists such as Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson and Cody Jinks were the forefathers of the current independent and alternative country renaissance we’ve currently been experiencing over the better half of a decade, there’s no denying that Bryan was the one who blew the door off the hinges, so to speak.
While Childers and Simpson, and in a way, Chris Stapleton, paved the way for the death of some of the worst country music had to offer in the genre in late 2010s, the Oklahoma native quite clearly paved the path for a more folk-inspired, songwriting-centric style of country that had been severely lacking over the past decade or so. Raw (sometimes even bad) production, introspective and emotional lyricism, Zach’s stripped-down style cuts straight to the hearts of his fans, connecting deep down on a level that you’ll rarely ever find on country radio.
With the release of With Heaven On Top back in January and the anticipation building towards his upcoming EP, Young Manhood And Other Donatable Organs, I thought now was the perfect time to take a deep dive into all of his projects throughout the past seven years. Of course, this will include all officially-released albums and EPs, which total up to 9, believe it or not. It will not, however, include live albums and smaller, side releases such as 2021’s Studio A Recordings and 2025’s “Streets of London.”
Without further ado, here’s every Zach Bryan project ranked worst to best.
9. Boys of Faith
Bryan’s 2023 release, Boys of Faith, is an extremely solid albeit unfocused EP. He’s playing with a lot of different sounds, whether it’s the heartland rock-inspired, “Nine Ball,” the indie/alternative, “Boys of Faith” with Bon Iver, or the bluegrassy “Pain, Sweet, Pain.”
This ultimately leads to the EP feeling a bit all over the place. Given the quick release after his self-titled album, it seems like he wanted to get this project out as quickly as possible. That rush can be felt a bit here. Though there are a lot of welcome additions, such as the soaring Deep Satin and the hit collaboration with Noah Kahan, “Sarah’s Place,” Boys of Faith lacks the cohesion that other EPs Summertime Blues and Quiet, Heavy Dreams possess.
The project is far from a bad outing for Bryan. It feels wrong to place this project so low, but that’s the problem when you release so many compelling projects: one has to be placed last.
Standout Track: “Deep Satin”
8. Elisabeth
I should preface this placement by saying that I don’t think Bryan has made a bad album. That being said, however, I think that Elisabeth still remains his weakest to date. The 2020 project serves as the second and final entry of Bryan in his independent, low-fi era. It sounds extremely similar to DeAnn, mostly due to the DIY-style production and simplicity, without the cohesion.
Elisabeth is a lengthy, 18-song and an hour and four minutes. One of the common criticisms of Bryan’s music is that it all sounds the same. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, this album is easily the closest for that complaint to be valid.
While there are standouts such as the longing “Loom,” the delicate “Washington Lilacs,” the brutally honest “Leaving” and the rowdy “Revival, which still closes each and every concert via a 15+ minute version each night, I think that this album lacks the cohesion of DeAnn and the spark of American Heartbreak. While DeAnn feels like it perfectly captures the grief of losing his mother and the nostalgia of his youth, Elisabeth simply feels a bit less focused. All that being said, the record still contains some slept-on gems.
Standout Track: “Loom”
7. The Great American Bar Scene
Upon my first few listens to The Great American Bar Scene back in 2024, I found the 4th of July release and even the name of the album a bit of a head-scratcher. And while I still find the 4th of July date a bit misguided, the name began to click with me. On the surface, the record doesn’t contain a lot of tracks that you’d typically hear blasting through the speakers at a bar, but I don’t believe that was Bryan’s intention here.
The more you listen to this album, the more you realize that this record is not about the titular great, American bar scene but instead is about all of the stories swapped, memories made and people met there. As I alluded to, The Great American Bar Scene, at its core, is a contemplative record. While, of course, there are high-energy crowd-pleasers like “Oak Island” and “American Nights,” which was the runaway hit off of the record, it’s clear that Bryan was much more focused on crafting narratives that would be brought up in quiet conversations at a bar.
With that being said, however, it’s still a slightly lackluster effort from the Oklahoma native due to the similarity of songs and production throughout the record. While it’s not all bad, with tracks such as “Towers,” “The Way Back” and “28” being some incredibly slept-on songs, it’s easily the most boring album from Bryan from a production standpoint.
Standout Track: “The Way Back”
6. With Heaven On Top
Bryan’s latest release, With Heaven On Top, firmly places itself in the middle of his discography. It’s an album that you’re automatically going to love if you’ve enjoyed him expanding his sound over the past few years. In particular, if you’ve been a fan of his venture into a more Springsteen-inspired, horn-instrument-heavy sonic style as of late, there’s a lot to love here. Tracks such as “Appetite,” “Santa Fe,” “Anyways” and the highly-anticipated “Dry Desserts” sound lovely and inject the project with a tangible amount of energy throughout, thanks to the production choices.
He also delivers some absolute gut-punches on songs such as “Cannonball,” “DeAnn’s Denim,” “South and Pine” and the album’s standout, “Skin,” which is one of his best tracks to date and one of the most visceral breakup songs I’ve heard in quite a while.
With that being said, despite there being a lot to love, quite a few tracks feel a bit half-baked, so to speak. Simply put, some songs have a great first verse and chorus but fail to fully realize themselves by the time they end, oftentimes just repeating multiple times instead of building additional layers of prose to expand the concept.
Ultimately, With Heaven On Top is yet another rock-solid effort from Bryan; however, it would have benefited from being chopped down considerably from its 25-track runtime.
Standout Track: “Skin”
5. Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan feels like a unique blend of the low-fi nature of his independently released records, DeAnn and Elisabeth, and the professionally produced heartland sound of his most recent releases. Tracks such as “Smaller Acts” and “Summertime’s Close” feel as if they’re ripped straight from DeAnn while “El Dorado” and “Fear and Friday’s” could easily be placed on pretty much any project post-American Heartbreak.
It became apparent here, more than ever before at this point in his career, that Bryan isn’t afraid to do his own thing. This record was easily his least “country” album to date, and it results in one of the most distinct bodies of work. You get some of the most unique songs in his discography from a composition standpoint on tracks like “Jake’s Piano – Long Island,” “Hey Driver,” “Overtime” and “Tourniquet,” which remains one of the most interesting songs sonically he’s ever released.
At the end of the day, this record seems to be the turning point for Bryan as an artist, as he continued to experiment with some more alternative stylings production-wise. While it may have turned off traditional country fans, I think it’s aged like fine wine over the past three years — especially if you accept the fact that the Oklahoma native is going to continue to not adhere to any one specific genre or sound.
Standout Track: “Jake’s Piano – Long Island”
4. Summertime Blues
Coming off the 34-track behemoth of an album that was American Heartbreak back in May of 2022, the last thing that many expected was yet another batch of songs from Bryan. However, in true Zach Bryan fashion, he did the unthinkable and dropped another nine-song collection, an EP titled Summertime Blues.
Summertime Blues feels like a natural continuation of the lyrical and sonic style present on American Heartbreak. Here, Bryan is once again playing with a heartland rock and country fusion on tracks like “Motorcycle Drive By” and “All The Time” while simultaneously delivering heartfelt, introspective lyrics on the title track and “Twenty So.”
The EP captures the titular feeling of having “summertime blues” extremely well. It’s a project that continues to explore the many layers of Bryan as a person. Whether it’s reflecting on being out on the road and debating on whether he should just live a simple life instead on “Motorcycle Drive By” or waiting for the work day to be over on romping “Quittin’ Time,” Summertime Blues does an incredible job of capturing Bryan in a specific moment in time. After the release of American Heartbreak and touring behind it, it simply feels like Bryan needed a break from it all. This album captures that feeling in a way only Bryan could.
Standout Track: “Jamie” (feat. Charles Wesley Godwin)
3. American Heartbreak
The album that catapulted Bryan to stardom is an incredibly long, brilliant one.
American Heartbreak comes in at a whopping 34 tracks and a two-hour runtime. It feels like a coming-of-age film rather than a music album due to its sprawling nature and key mood shifts throughout the record. It’s an album that simply should not work on paper due to its length, but Bryan makes it work with quality writing, production and delivery throughout. It’s hard not to love at least some portion of this album, given how long and how much variety is present throughout the record.
Ultimately, the ups and downs of American Heartbreak are what evidently connected with so many people. Like many great country albums before it, American Heartbreak is relatable. Many younger listeners connected to Bryan’s self-critical, raw approach to storytelling and songwriting. He doesn’t hold back here at all, laying into himself, his upbringing and his past loves while simultaneously keeping a glimmer of hope in the darkest of times.
American Heartbreak does exactly what the title suggests: it captures the experience of youth (and heartbreak) in America. All of the angst, impulsivity, emotion and pain are captured beautifully here.
Standout Track: “’68 Fastback”
2. DeAnn
The album that started it all for Bryan still remains his best in my opinion. While, of course, his production, voice, and overall identity have been bettered and further explored through the years, there’s something powerful about DeAnn.
Coming in at 12 songs and 39 minutes, the album feels like an extremely cohesive, introspective reflection of what Bryan was going through when it was released in 2019. It’s safe to say that the album that started Bryan’s rise to fame will go down as one of the all-time classics in the independent country scene.
From the heartbreaking “Letting Someone Go” and “Sweet DeAnn” to the romping “Flying or Crying,” DeAnn feels like a once-in-a-lifetime album. The raw story-telling, the simplicity of the chord progressions and the sloppiness of the production all combine to make the record feel authentic. It’s a true peek behind the curtain of what makes Bryan unique and ultimately a tribute to his late mother, DeAnn Bryan, who passed away in 2016. While American Heartbreak has the better streaming numbers, charting and overall popularity, it’s hard not to point to the album that started it all for the Oklahoma singer/songwriter that we all know and love as the best so far.
Standout Track: “Letting Someone Go”
1. Quiet, Heavy Dreams
Not only is Quiet, Heavy Dreams Bryan’s best EP, but it might be his best project period. This EP feels incredibly focused and self-contained. Coming off the heels of his first two, independently produced albums, the EP was his first project that dabbled with more production and instrumentation — to say it worked wonders would be an understatement.
Quiet, Heavy Dreams feels exactly what the title implies: it’s Bryan dreaming about a variety of different things. Whether it’s the dark, violent ponderings of “Crooked Teeth” and “Birmingham” or quiet, reflective dreaming on the title track and “Traveling Man,” Bryan is taking a break from writing first-person narratives here. It feels like a welcome break from the deep, real-life lyrics from both DeAnn and Elisabeth that simultaneously diversify his discography and writing as a whole.
Quiet, Heavy Dreams ultimately feels like a bit of a concept EP in nature. The quiet and heavy dreams are equally balanced in this six-song project; the equal blend of light and darkness present here is executed brilliantly.
Standout Track: “Quiet, Heavy Dreams”
