ZZ TOP
''MESCALERO''
APRIL 15 2003
61:27
1/Mescalero
Billy Gibbons/3:50
2/Two Ways to Play
Billy Gibbons/4:15
3/Alley-Gator
Billy Gibbons/3:29
4/Buck Nekkid
Billy Gibbons/3:02
5/Goin' So Good
Billy Gibbons/5:34
6/Me So Stupid
Billy Gibbons / Joe Hardy / G.L. Moon/3:33
7/Piece
Billy Gibbons/4:19
8/Punk Ass Boyfriend
Billy Gibbons/3:05
9/Stackin' Paper
Billy Gibbons / Joe Hardy/2:58
10/What Would You Do
Billy Gibbons/3:03
11/What It Is Kid
Frank Beard / Billy Gibbons / Dusty Hill/4:13
12/Que Lastima
Billy Gibbons/4:24
13/Tramp
Lowell Fulson / Jimmy McCracklin/5:12
14/Crunchy
Billy Gibbons/3:13
15/Dusted
Billy Gibbons/3:55
16/Liquor
Billy Gibbons/3:22
Frank Beard/Drums
Billy Gibbons/Guitar, Vocals
Dusty Hill/Bass, Vocals
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ever since ZZ Top signed with RCA, they fitfully tried to break free of the synthesized blues that once was their savior but quickly became a straitjacket. Like any addict, it was hard for them to quit that processed, sequenced sound cold turkey, so they weaned themselves off the robo-boogie, sometimes relapsing and adding too many synths to mix, other times breaking loose with some credible boogie. Apart from the dreadful misstep of 1999's XXX, they showed signs of life on all their RCA albums, and their fourth, 2003's long-delayed Mescalero, is no exception to the rule. Billy Gibbons' fat guitar tone really has some presence here, at least on some of the album, and there are enough rhythm tracks not performed to a didactic click track to provide some real swing. There are even moments that suggest Gibbons' songwriting chops might be returning, such as the closing "Liquor," the rampaging instrumental "Crunchy," and the lithe "What Would You Do." On these cuts, along with a cover of Lowell Fulson's "Tramp," ZZ Top sound like a worthy veteran act, returning to their strengths and building on them. Unfortunately, that's four songs on an overlong 17-track album (including an uncredited closing cover of "As Time Goes By," hidden after "Liquor" -- as most uncredited covers of "As Time Goes By" are, I suppose), and the rest of the record is pretty much devoted to by-the-books latter-day ZZ Top, relying too much on overly polished sound and familiar form, not gutbucket hooks and dirty grooves. What's frustrating is that those aforementioned cuts prove that the boys could still turn out a really cool, modernistic roadhouse blues-rock album, if only they had a good editor or producer. Left to their own devices, they repeat their same mistakes and wind up with a record that's pretty damn near the same as their other RCA platters.
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
''MESCALERO''
APRIL 15 2003
61:27
1/Mescalero
Billy Gibbons/3:50
2/Two Ways to Play
Billy Gibbons/4:15
3/Alley-Gator
Billy Gibbons/3:29
4/Buck Nekkid
Billy Gibbons/3:02
5/Goin' So Good
Billy Gibbons/5:34
6/Me So Stupid
Billy Gibbons / Joe Hardy / G.L. Moon/3:33
7/Piece
Billy Gibbons/4:19
8/Punk Ass Boyfriend
Billy Gibbons/3:05
9/Stackin' Paper
Billy Gibbons / Joe Hardy/2:58
10/What Would You Do
Billy Gibbons/3:03
11/What It Is Kid
Frank Beard / Billy Gibbons / Dusty Hill/4:13
12/Que Lastima
Billy Gibbons/4:24
13/Tramp
Lowell Fulson / Jimmy McCracklin/5:12
14/Crunchy
Billy Gibbons/3:13
15/Dusted
Billy Gibbons/3:55
16/Liquor
Billy Gibbons/3:22
Frank Beard/Drums
Billy Gibbons/Guitar, Vocals
Dusty Hill/Bass, Vocals
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ever since ZZ Top signed with RCA, they fitfully tried to break free of the synthesized blues that once was their savior but quickly became a straitjacket. Like any addict, it was hard for them to quit that processed, sequenced sound cold turkey, so they weaned themselves off the robo-boogie, sometimes relapsing and adding too many synths to mix, other times breaking loose with some credible boogie. Apart from the dreadful misstep of 1999's XXX, they showed signs of life on all their RCA albums, and their fourth, 2003's long-delayed Mescalero, is no exception to the rule. Billy Gibbons' fat guitar tone really has some presence here, at least on some of the album, and there are enough rhythm tracks not performed to a didactic click track to provide some real swing. There are even moments that suggest Gibbons' songwriting chops might be returning, such as the closing "Liquor," the rampaging instrumental "Crunchy," and the lithe "What Would You Do." On these cuts, along with a cover of Lowell Fulson's "Tramp," ZZ Top sound like a worthy veteran act, returning to their strengths and building on them. Unfortunately, that's four songs on an overlong 17-track album (including an uncredited closing cover of "As Time Goes By," hidden after "Liquor" -- as most uncredited covers of "As Time Goes By" are, I suppose), and the rest of the record is pretty much devoted to by-the-books latter-day ZZ Top, relying too much on overly polished sound and familiar form, not gutbucket hooks and dirty grooves. What's frustrating is that those aforementioned cuts prove that the boys could still turn out a really cool, modernistic roadhouse blues-rock album, if only they had a good editor or producer. Left to their own devices, they repeat their same mistakes and wind up with a record that's pretty damn near the same as their other RCA platters.
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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