I'm being perfectly serious when I say this:

For a span of about five or six years in the '70's, ZZ Top was the greatest rock band to ever have stalked this planet.

Much of this is due to the fact that Billy had honed his guitar and singing styles for years on the small-venue blues circuit before even forming ZZ Top. His soloing is always fresh and invigorating, and I absolutely adore his voice, which is smooth as good whiskey. Frank Beard was a beast on the drums, playing very tight and intricate parts.

All of the albums up 'til ELIMINATOR are crucial. I also happen to love some of the songs on ELIMINATOR, especially "Got Me Under Pressure". After that things went south.

I am constantly surprised at the number of people who are intelligent, well-versed rock music fans, yet who have no idea how great ZZ Top was.

I swear I heard that the whole Mescalero record was done in Digital Performer.

Theres a funny story a friend of mine told about Billy.... that he hates acoustic guitars in the studio and WILL NOT BE IN THE BUILDING when one is in use.


Funny stuff.

this here video is unintentionally hilarious on several levels. i know it was made when ZZ Top were well past their supposed prime, but it's too silly a period piece to resist poking fun of.

i may as well come clean, though: i've never heard this band's pre-Eliminator records. not sure if it's the sort of music i would even be capable of liking.

NerblyBear wrote:I am constantly surprised at the number of people who are intelligent, well-versed rock music fans, yet who have no idea how great ZZ Top was.

I run across this all too often as well, especially when I'm arguing with people who step up for Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses. Sadly, I think partly it's my inability to articulate my argument in favor of them. I argue so much better in favor of other bands, so why this one? I don't know.

Anyway, not crap, though I don't like anything after "Eliminator" (a really weird record that shouldn't work at all, but it does for me).

No mention of the bass player? Yah, Gibbons is pretty godlike, but god do I love the bass player's sound. I remember Gibbons saying that Dusty Hill was the only guy he knew who had a fuzztone built into his fingers.

NerblyBear wrote:I absolutely adore his voice, which is smooth as good whiskey. Frank Beard was a beast on the drums, playing very tight and intricate parts.

Dusty's a damn fine singer in his own right.

llllllllllllllllllllllll wrote:No mention of the bass player? Yah, Gibbons is pretty godlike, but god do I love the bass player's sound. I remember Gibbons saying that Dusty Hill was the only guy he knew who had a fuzztone built into his fingers.

You do know his nickname for his "playing" finger, right?

The Pleaser.

The fucking PLEASER!!

Apologies for asking again, but just wanted to clarify..

What's out there called Tres Hombres [REMASTERED] and Fandango! [REMASTERED] in CD format are the original non-fucked-with mixes and the original CD pressings are the fucked-up ones? Or are these remasters the ones that folks in this thread are decrying as fucked up?

Furthermore, are the other albums due to remaster treatment due to having fucked up CD mixes? From the sounds of the folks here, sounds like the original CDs of the other albums sound just fine -- for CDs anyway.

Pure L wrote:

llllllllllllllllllllllll wrote:No mention of the bass player? Yah, Gibbons is pretty godlike, but god do I love the bass player's sound. I remember Gibbons saying that Dusty Hill was the only guy he knew who had a fuzztone built into his fingers.

You do know his nickname for his "playing" finger, right?

The Pleaser.

The fucking PLEASER!!

eh. no comment.