BLURT MAGAZINE
04/28/2009
Zach Williams and the Reformation
Electric Revival
(self-released)
www.myspace.com/zwreformation
The album title's instructive: this Jonesboro, Arkansas, outfit serves up a Southern rock-fueled brand of electric R&B, and in the band's intense delivery one whiffs the holy-rollin' fire and brimstone of an old-school tent revival. It's not a matter of small consequence, either;
Zach Williams and the Reformation is so outrageously out of fashion as to be a genuine alternative to whatever passes as "alternative" these days.
So don't look for any traces of blip-hop, hoodie-approved indiecentricity or world-beat mashups here. Instead,
you're gonna get a dose of pure, unfiltered rawk like your bellbottoms-clad mama used to sing to ya as a tyke, from the iconic likes of the Allmans, Derek & the Dominoes and Humble Pie to such latterday practitioners as the Black Crowes, Gov't Mule and the North Mississippi Allstars. Hold that last thought - NMAS guitarist Luther Dickinson sits in on album centerpiece "Angel With A Broken Wing," an epic-in-feel, waltz-time blooze featuring sinewy slide guitar in one speaker and eerie tremolo riffs in the other as Williams, possessed of a soulful, coal-black set of pipes, summons up the ghosts of Muscle Shoals while paying tribute to a fallen darlin' who still wields the power to set him free.
Elsewhere the band channels its inner Skynyrd (the Hammond B3-fueled "Can U Feel Me"), serves up some righteous, Leon Russell-styled gospel ("Take Me Home," which, like "CUFM," features lovely gal backing vox), and puts the pedal to the metal in a glorious explosion of hard-edged psychedelia ("Midnite Ride"). Throughout, there's a vibe of utter commitment on the part of Williams & Co., as if they're intent on adding an additional context to their album title:
sometimes, some places, you just gotta reclaim a vintage form, damn the finger-wagging hipsters, and bring it back up and into the present. That, these guys do, in spades.
Standout Tracks: ""Take Me Home," "Angel With A Broken Wing" FRED MILLS
REVIEW FROM INTUNE MAGAZINE
ZACH WILLIAMS &
THE REFORMATION,
“Electric Revival” (selfreleased)
✰✰✰✰ — If
you read these pages with
any regularity, you know
by now that I have a soft
spot for Southern rock. Of
course, I spent most of my
life in Georgia, so it’s probably
ingrained into my DNA
to be predisposed to the
music of Lynyrd Skynyrd,
the Black Crowes, Shooter
Jennings, the Black Crowes, the Drive-By Truckers and the
like. Well you can add Zach Williams and the Reformation to
that list, thanks to their wonderfully old-school debut “Electric
Revival.”
As soon as you throw the disc into your CD player (though
an 8-track might be more appropriate for these guys), it feels
like you’ve been transported back to the mid-1970s, when lots
of bands were serving up that wonderful blend of rock ’n roll,
blues and soul, delivered with just a touch of Southern drawl.
From the opening notes of “Set You Free” to standout tracks
such as “Angel With a Broken Wing” (featuring the inimitable
Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars fame), “Can U
Feel Me” and set closer “Midnite Ride,”
Williams and his talented
bandmates miss nary a note. And the flat-out awesome
“Take Me Home” is worth the price of the album all by its
remarkable self. (JS)
NEW REVIEW FROM MELODIC.NET
Producer: Jennifer Lee / ZWR
Genre: Southern Rock
Format: Album
Website: www.myspace.com/zw... Reviewed by: Kaj Roth
There are more and more metal bands today that are influenced by southern rock, it's been a revival even though bands like The Black Crowes has been quite successful all along.
If you like today's heavier rock artists like The Answer or Zakk Wylde's Pride & Glory and want to go to the roots, you should definitely check out Black Oak Arkansas, Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Skynyrd to name a few of the classic 70's bands.
Now here's another new great band in the same genre that sounds like their debut album "Electric revival" could've been released in the early 70's.
Zach Williams and The Reformation sure pays tribute to their favorite 70's bands but with their own original songs, this Arkansas based band features Zach Williams - Vocals/Acoustic guitar, Red Dorton - Bass, Josh Copeland - Lead guitar and Robby Rigsbee - Slide guitar and drums by Evan Wilons on the album.
This is the real thing folks!
Electric Revival
Review from Billboard Magazine
April 09
Wayne Robins
Zach Williams & the Reformation plays Southern rock without the cliches—not that we don't love them. From Jonesboro, Ark., not far from Memphis, the band utilizes the two lead-guitar (and Williams on acoustic) attack that allowed the South to rise again in the '70s. But instead of chasing the boogie in dazzling solos, ZWR puts its trust in the uncommonly well-crafted songs and leaves it to the inviting blues-rock voice of Williams to put them across. On "Can U Feel Me" and "Take Me Home," Williams' vocal—like an effortless, Southern Paul Rodgers—is enhanced by the gospel responses of guest Grace Askew. Luther Dickinson joins in on "Angel With a Broken Wing," which sounds like it could be a live cornerstone for the band. Though self-released, the album is widely available online and in some regional brick-and-mortar stores. —Wayne Robins
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews-album/electric-revival-1003961165.story
Review from Planet Weekly
Music Matters By: Jerry Henry
April 2009
Zach Williams and the Reformation: Electric Revival
The propoganda said Zack Williams and the Reformation's Electric Revival (zwrnation.com) was a 70's retro album. This is more than retro, this is like turning the radio on in the very early '70's. This is the real deal, not covers, not classic licks played in a different manner. If these guys had been around in those days, they would have given the Allman Brother's a run for their money. Folks this is not just retro, it's southern rock and damn good southern rock at that. I should have known when I opened the package to see the cover has a peace sign on it. North Mississippi Allstars' Luther Dickeinson helps out on "Angel With A Broken Wing."
http://www.theplanetweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1532&Itemid=48
Review from BC Music Magazine
March 2009
Zach Williams and the Reformation: Electric Revival
In this gig there are sometimes when there is a disk you don’t want to review. Not because it's crap, but because it's so good you want to be able to continue listening to it and not have to move on to the next batch of discs. ZWR fits that category nicely and will come back to my death deck once the summer rays beat down. Think of Black Crowes, if they actually wrote decent tunes of their own. “Stronger” is what the Black Crowes should have sounded like if they spent less time fighting.
This being good-time, southern rock music there is a touch of the blues on the “Angel on a Broken Wing” which features Luther Dickinson. We get some wonderful female vocal touches in other places like “Take Me Home”. Then you have Zach channeling his best Stevie Wonder on “Without You” if he sang southern rock instead of R&B. This is great laid back southern rock blues that seeps from the speakers and just fills your soul with its goodness. Yeah, it's pretty mellow most of the time, but there is still that drive that permeates all that is good from the south whether its Skynrd or the Allman Brothers. More blues than country for sure, but the grittiness still permeates each song.
If you love your southern blues then this is a disc that you need to seek out soonest. Bloody good stuff all around, not one duff track to be had.
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/03/05/165257.php
Pure Grain Audio Review
March 2009
Zach Williams And The Reformation
Electric Revival (04.04.2009)
Rating: 8.7 / 10
Posted: March 05, 2009
Author: Bruce Moore
The moment you pop the Electric Revival into your CD player you will immediately be transported back to the Mid-Seventies and when Southern Rock ruled the airwaves. Not only do Zach Williams And The Reformation pay homage to the masters of the genre, (Lynyrd Skynrd, Molly Hatchet and Joe Cocker), but they add their own brand of musicianship making this a refreshing collection of tunes and not just a rehash from the past.
The 70's vibe is present throughout the disc with lots of slide guitars, pianos and traditional unpretentious lyrics that deal with everyday issues in life. The one aspect of this CD that really caught my attention is singer songwriter Zach Williams vocals. The man is fully immersed and emotionally invested in the lyrics; the result is that each of the stories he is telling drip with passion... you almost cannot help but feel what he is feeling.
Electric Revival has a mature feel to it almost as if these guys have been playing together for three decades making it hard to believe that the band was formed only a year ago in 2008. The musicianship and the songwriting on this disc are out of this world.
I really did not find any song on here that I disliked but the two songs that stood out to me as exceptional are the slow burning “Angel With A Broken Wing” and the piano driven “Take Me Home.” Both of these tunes are good examples of the powerful yet extremely expressive vocals of Zach Williams.
Bottom line, this is a really good disc. Zach Williams And The Reformation have put together an enormously soulful collection of tunes that just plain rock. Check them out you will not be disappointed.
http://www.puregrainaudio.com/reviews/zach-williams-and-the-reformation
LNOP Magazine Review
Feb. 2009
Zach Williams and The Reformation
- Electric Revival (Independently released CD, Rock/pop)
When we were pompous, ugly, confused little retards in high school, we would have hated this band. At that point in time Southern roots rock represented everything that we hated in our closed-minded little prepubescent world. But times change and people do as well. And these days we're neither ashamed nor afraid to admit that we can get a keen little high off the ballsy southern fried rock provided by Zach Williams and the Reformation (although we still stick to our firm belief that the Allman Brothers were always a crap band). Recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, Electric Revival has a nice, thick, big sound...and these recordings really capture Williams' super deep, resonant, slightly raspy voice. After hearing this album, anyone who ever loved the sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd will probably think they have died and gone to heaven. Loud, bluesy rockers include "Set You Free," "Empty Dreams," and "Take Me Home." Good solid rock music for the masses. (Rating: 4+++++)
Review from Guest List Magazine!!!!
Feb. 2009
ZACH WILLIAMS AND THE REFORMATION
Electric Revival
Self-Released
The resurging southern rock style of music has made its way into the modern country music format through bands like Crossin' Dixon, River County, etc… However, it is very rare these days that you find a true to the bone southern rock band that doesn't fuse in a bit too much country influence from here or there, until now. Zach Williams and the Reformation prove with their debut album, "Electric Revival" that true to the bone southern rock does still exist. Williams and crew are not on a mission to reinvent the wheel that paved the road before them but rather they stand proudly along side those artists and are essentially one of them, 30+ years or so later than the original movement that set the tone for this genre in the 70's. Right from the start of the album with "Set You Free," you are blessed with harmonies and a rowdy guitar riff that begs to be compared to the likes of the bluesy/rock riffs of the likes of The Allman Brothers. This is a trend that continues to pour out of your speakers as you dive further into the album on tracks like "Can U Feel Me," and "Without You." However, they do bring those solid, slow songs to the forefront as well that lean heavily on the harmonies and lead vocals to hammer home the song as is best displayed on cuts like "Fools Gold" and "Angel With A Broken Wing." If you, like myself are a fan of Skynyrd, Allman, Molly, etc… than you will want to listen to Zach Williams and you are going to feel like you stepped back in time from the first note all the way through to the last.
http://www.guestlistmagazine.net/reviewsw
