ZZ TOP
''XXX''
SEPTEMBER 28 1999
49:29
1/Poke Chop Sandwich/4:50
2/Crucifixx-A-Flatt/3:59
3/Fearless Boogie/4:01
4/36-22-36/2:35
5/Made into a Movie/5:13
6/Beatbox/2:48
7/Trippin'/3:55
8/Dreadmonboogaloo/2:36
9/Introduction by Ross Mitchell/0:34
10/Sinpusher/5:18
11/(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
Bernie Lowe / Kal Mann/5:21
12/Hey Mr. Millionaire/4:14
13/Belt Buckle/4:05
Frank Beard/Drums, Drums (Snare), Percussion
Billy Gibbons/Guitar, Guitar (Baritone), Harmonica, Vocals
Dusty Hill/Bass, Vocals
Jeff Beck/Guest Artist, Vocals, Guitar
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Theoretically, aging wouldn't be that difficult of a trick for ZZ Top to pull off, since the little ol' band from Texas is thoroughly grounded in the blues, an ageless music that can sound equally good from the young and old alike. So why does ZZ Top sound stiff on XXX, a record celebrating their 30th anniversary? Part of it could be that the songwriting is decidedly lightweight, but a band as seasoned as ZZ Top should be able to make even third-rate material at least listenable. The real answer may be that he band long ago sacrificed organic rhythms for a steady, synthesized pulse. They suggested this even before 1983's Eliminator, but that record was a bizarre, unpredictable masterstroke; after all, nobody would have predicted that a blend of Texas blues-rock and new wave drum machines would work, let alone flourish. Yet the massive success of Eliminator made ZZ Top reluctant to abandon that sound; on every album since, they retained the steady click track, even as they stripped away the synthesizers. Each album of the '90s suffered because of this, including XXX. It should have been more of a celebratory release, not another post-Eliminator outing.
BIOGRAPHY
by Cub Koda
This sturdy American blues-rock trio from Texas consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass), and Frank Beard (drums). They were formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands the Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and American Blues (Hill and Beard). Their first two albums reflected the strong blues roots and Texas humor of the band. Their third album (Tres Hombres) gained them national attention with the hit "La Grange," a signature riff tune to this day, based on John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." Their success continued unabated throughout the '70s, culminating with the year-and-a-half-long Worldwide Texas Tour.
Exhausted from the overwhelming workload, they took a three-year break, then switched labels and returned to form with Deguello and El Loco, both harbingers of what was to come. By their next album, Eliminator, and its worldwide smash follow-up, Afterburner, they had successfully harnessed the potential of synthesizers to their patented grungy blues groove, giving their material a more contemporary edge while retaining their patented Texas style. Now sporting long beards, golf hats, and boiler suits, they met the emerging video age head-on, reducing their "message" to simple iconography. Becoming even more popular in the long run, they moved with the times while simultaneously bucking every trend that crossed their path. As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom -- both influenced by the originators of the form and British blues-rock guitarists like Peter Green -- while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support.
The only rock & roll group that's out there with its original members still aboard after three decades (an anniversary celebrated on 1999's XXX), ZZ Top play music that is always instantly recognizable, eminently powerful, profoundly soulful, and 100-percent American in derivation. They have continued to support the blues through various means, perhaps most visibly when they were given a piece of wood from Muddy Waters' shack in Clarksdale, MS. The group members had it made into a guitar, dubbed the "Muddywood," then sent it out on tour to raise money for the Delta Blues Museum. ZZ Top's support and link to the blues remains as rock solid as the music they play. A concert CD and DVD, Live from Texas, recorded in Dallas in 2007 and featuring a still vital band, were both released in 2008. The Rick Rubin and Gibbons-produced La Futura, the band's 15th studio album, and the group's first new studio outing since 2003's Mescalero, appeared in 2012.
DoWnLoAd
''XXX''
SEPTEMBER 28 1999
49:29
1/Poke Chop Sandwich/4:50
2/Crucifixx-A-Flatt/3:59
3/Fearless Boogie/4:01
4/36-22-36/2:35
5/Made into a Movie/5:13
6/Beatbox/2:48
7/Trippin'/3:55
8/Dreadmonboogaloo/2:36
9/Introduction by Ross Mitchell/0:34
10/Sinpusher/5:18
11/(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
Bernie Lowe / Kal Mann/5:21
12/Hey Mr. Millionaire/4:14
13/Belt Buckle/4:05
Frank Beard/Drums, Drums (Snare), Percussion
Billy Gibbons/Guitar, Guitar (Baritone), Harmonica, Vocals
Dusty Hill/Bass, Vocals
Jeff Beck/Guest Artist, Vocals, Guitar
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Theoretically, aging wouldn't be that difficult of a trick for ZZ Top to pull off, since the little ol' band from Texas is thoroughly grounded in the blues, an ageless music that can sound equally good from the young and old alike. So why does ZZ Top sound stiff on XXX, a record celebrating their 30th anniversary? Part of it could be that the songwriting is decidedly lightweight, but a band as seasoned as ZZ Top should be able to make even third-rate material at least listenable. The real answer may be that he band long ago sacrificed organic rhythms for a steady, synthesized pulse. They suggested this even before 1983's Eliminator, but that record was a bizarre, unpredictable masterstroke; after all, nobody would have predicted that a blend of Texas blues-rock and new wave drum machines would work, let alone flourish. Yet the massive success of Eliminator made ZZ Top reluctant to abandon that sound; on every album since, they retained the steady click track, even as they stripped away the synthesizers. Each album of the '90s suffered because of this, including XXX. It should have been more of a celebratory release, not another post-Eliminator outing.
BIOGRAPHY
by Cub Koda
This sturdy American blues-rock trio from Texas consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass), and Frank Beard (drums). They were formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands the Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and American Blues (Hill and Beard). Their first two albums reflected the strong blues roots and Texas humor of the band. Their third album (Tres Hombres) gained them national attention with the hit "La Grange," a signature riff tune to this day, based on John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." Their success continued unabated throughout the '70s, culminating with the year-and-a-half-long Worldwide Texas Tour.
Exhausted from the overwhelming workload, they took a three-year break, then switched labels and returned to form with Deguello and El Loco, both harbingers of what was to come. By their next album, Eliminator, and its worldwide smash follow-up, Afterburner, they had successfully harnessed the potential of synthesizers to their patented grungy blues groove, giving their material a more contemporary edge while retaining their patented Texas style. Now sporting long beards, golf hats, and boiler suits, they met the emerging video age head-on, reducing their "message" to simple iconography. Becoming even more popular in the long run, they moved with the times while simultaneously bucking every trend that crossed their path. As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom -- both influenced by the originators of the form and British blues-rock guitarists like Peter Green -- while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support.
The only rock & roll group that's out there with its original members still aboard after three decades (an anniversary celebrated on 1999's XXX), ZZ Top play music that is always instantly recognizable, eminently powerful, profoundly soulful, and 100-percent American in derivation. They have continued to support the blues through various means, perhaps most visibly when they were given a piece of wood from Muddy Waters' shack in Clarksdale, MS. The group members had it made into a guitar, dubbed the "Muddywood," then sent it out on tour to raise money for the Delta Blues Museum. ZZ Top's support and link to the blues remains as rock solid as the music they play. A concert CD and DVD, Live from Texas, recorded in Dallas in 2007 and featuring a still vital band, were both released in 2008. The Rick Rubin and Gibbons-produced La Futura, the band's 15th studio album, and the group's first new studio outing since 2003's Mescalero, appeared in 2012.
DoWnLoAd
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