Jekyll + Hyde

The stylistic range of Jekyll + Hyde proves that ZBB's reach is almost limitless, and this set will more than likely delight the group's legions of fans.

The album is a good-faith effort to match or even outstrip the band's onstage eclecticism, and the musical personality shifts help relieve the group's tendency to blandness, providing cover for Brown's dutifully generic, if personable voice.

At this stage in his career, he is firmly focused on doing whatever he and his band want to do. That kind of artistic freedom should certainly be applauded, one just wishes the results were far more satisfying.

Hopefully they'll focus on [their country roots] next time. [Nov 2015, p.104]

Ironically, these more daring forays emphasise the inoffensive blandness of some of the other tracks, but if the future holds more similarly brave experimentation then ZBB are on a fascinating career trajectory.

On their fourth LP, they bang out styles with such preposterous ease--Seventies Philly soul, old-timey gospel, Celtic folk, metal, reggae, jazz--they could incorporate as a single-band music-placement agency. If only they reached a little further.

For every song that issues a challenge, there are two that play nice.

The album certainly proves that ZBB have range. But at some point, experimentation swerves into self-indulgence, and Brown mnever gets around to solving Jekyll's identity crisis. [1 May 2015, p.59]

The problem with Jekyll + Hyde is that, with a few exceptions, a listener equally unfamiliar with the band and its role in the Nashville music scene can barely hear the difference.

On one hand, some of experiments fall well outside Brown's songwriting wheelhouse, like the hideous seven-minute butt rock "Junkyard," or the vaguely offensive Caribbean-lite "Castaway." On the other hand, the album is a showcase for what's clearly a versatile group of musicians, and its strongest five-song stretch turns on a dime from pseudo-gospel with bagpipes ("Remedy") to pop-country ("Homegrown") to big band ("Mango Tree") to heavy K-Rock fodder featuring Chris Cornell ("Heavy Is the Head") to lilting country-folk ("Bittersweet").

[The cover of Jason Isbell's "Dress Blues"] is nevertheless the best thing on Jekyll + Hyde, which plunges to a wretched nadir on "Heavy Is the Head." [Oct 2015, p.73]