{"id":129438,"date":"2026-05-14T08:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/album-review-ashley-mcbrydes-wild\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:54:25","slug":"album-review-ashley-mcbrydes-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/album-review-ashley-mcbrydes-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review \u2013 Ashley McBryde\u2019s \u201cWild\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo: Nathan Chapman<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Country Rock (#560), Southern Rock (#562), Country (#500), and Rock (#XXX) on the Country DDS<\/a><\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>

Well now. Nobody\u2019s going to be accusing Ms. McBryde of being too mild on this one. That\u2019s for sure. There\u2019s nothing demure about the approach the approach of this album. There\u2019s no subtle deliveries that paint in nuanced colors. If Ashley isn\u2019t blowing out your speakers with flamethrowing chainsaw guitar, she\u2019s drowning you in a torrential downpour of waterworks with a power ballad. Even the more hushed moments come with a smoldering intensity. If nothing else, Wild<\/em> lives up to its name. <\/p>

Ashley\u2019s always been a little bit more on the rock side of country. But she\u2019s never been more rock than on Wild<\/em>. She\u2019s also favored the more singer\/songwriter side of country, but she\u2019s never leaned into this side of her artistry so intentionally. How does she accomplish both of these things and more, and in what these days is a relatively moderate eleven track record? By taking listeners of a wild roller coaster of influences and emotions. <\/p>

The album starts off with four songs that are much more suited for the hard rock realm than country, perhaps purposely pushing past the limits for the shock factor, and to challenge the country listener. Big swaths of Southern rock fans will be banging their head along in bliss to producer John Osborne\u2019s aggressive rock approach. And though it\u2019s hard to not appreciate the boldness, you suspect some \u201cpush play\u201d country listeners may never make it past this initial gauntlet of songs. <\/p>

Those that do persevere into the middle portions of this album will be richly rewarded with songs that that might not rely on waylay guitar and belting vocals, but still come with the same level of underlying boldness. \u201cBottle Tells Me So\u201d is already one of the best songs of the year, and \u201cBehind Bars\u201d also benefits from smart, double-entendre songwriting that so many of the best country songs employ. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat If We Don\u2019t,\u201d \u201cLines In The Carpet,\u201d \u201cHand Me Downs\u201d and really every song of Wild<\/em> refuses to dilute its emotions, and if anything, dials up the ferocity beyond conventionally acceptable levels, especially for what\u2019s officially a mainstream country release, even if McBryde has never really fit very well in that universe. <\/p>

Each song on Wild<\/em> looks to address the incredibly thin membrane between doing right, and doing wrong, informed by McBryde\u2019s own sobriety journey. Many of these songs illustrate how sin and redemption aren\u2019t opposite sides of a spectrum, but two sides of the same coin that can flip on a dime. <\/p>

Ashley McBryde delivers something for everyone to love on Wild<\/em>. The only real question is if anyone will love everything, which it\u2019s fair to wonder since the album might be too wild and varied to present a cohesive experience. It doesn\u2019t help that five of the tracks were released beforehand, including some of the best, which always makes the album release day that much less special. <\/p>

But makes no mistake about it. Ashley McBryde and producer John Osborne (of Brothers Osborne) chose audacity and fearlesness over everything else for this album, blowing through conventional governors and stop signs to release an album that first screams for your attention, and them makes the most of it once you\u2019re tuned in, even if there is some casualties and collateral damage along the way. <\/p>

8.1\/10 <\/strong><\/p>

Stream\/Purchase Wild<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Song Reviews:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Rattlesnake Preacher<\/strong><\/p>

This is a song Ashley McBryde had been rockin\u2019 in concert for a while before she unleashed it as the album\u2019s lead single, letting folks know that Wild<\/em> would be holding nothing back. Finally past the point of trying to put a single on country radio, Ashley now just wants to release singles that unleash her inner rock star. \u201cRattlesnake Preacher\u201d certainly accomplishes this, even if the wanton, cranked to 11 nature of it will immediately put some country fans at arm\u2019s length. <\/p>\n\n\n\n