ZZ Top: C/D

Tejas is really good! interesting, Billy really changes up his guitar tone, real clean Fender sounding tone

all the songs are great, weird there's this basically no-hits great album in their prime period

I saw the Moving Sidewalks at Austin Psych Fest and it's great just how singular Billy's guitar sound is no matter what style he's playing. (thanks to thread for encouraging me to listen to Tejas)

still working through the discography...Tejas will be the next used record I buy for sure....

I can kind of see why they went full on new wave/synth on Eliminator...I feel like you can kind of hear the air go out of the tires between Deguello (which on the whole is still really good) and El Loco (which i'm not feeling as much though it does have its jams)

don't know if I'll have the guts for the post-Afterburner, pre-La Futura era

Recycler is much better than Afterburner, but it's tough. Antenna and Rhythmeen are good. Haven't heard the late 90s/early 00s records.

English People! Please confirm something I have always wondered: Do you refer to this band as Zed Zed Top?

Afterburner has to be one of the most 80s sounding records ever. I actually listened to it at work and at the start of every tune I hear Don LaFontaine in my mind do some movie promo speak "He's got a fast car, a bag full of money and the hottest girl you have ever seen in the passinger seat...he's only got one problem...his mother."

ZZ Tops later records are pretty spotty, but there are a few good tunes on each one. Mescalero has some of the nastiest sounding guitars, some of that record is really good. There is some good stuff on the new one too, especially 51 Lighters. That tune and the background on it is really dope.

25 lighters

back to the future 3 was on today

25 Deloreans parked on my dresser/yessir/I gots to get back in time...

No, we Brits call them Zee Zee Top. While drinking a nice cup of tea. Thanks for asking.

When I was in Australia in 1990 a local radio DJ in Wollongong did refer to "Zed Zed Top."

They also say "Acca Dacca" for AC/DC

When I was in Australia in 1990 a local radio DJ in Wollongong did refer to "Zed Zed Top."
--Elvis Telecom

Sounds like Wollongong all right.

Listening to lots of The Top today, thanks to this thread. The second side of El Loco reminds me in more that a few places of The B-52s circa Whammy!, setting the stage for their synth-rock renaissance.

the instrumental on Tejas basically invents Calexico

dying @ "Acca Dacca"

We had a rebellious VJ on MuchMusic in Canada who said Zed Zed Top. Needless to say it didn't stick.

Mescalero is just now kicking my ass. Guitar tone for DAYS. The cover of "Tramp" is so ridiculously over the top in all the best ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3APxAfzxSw

http://24.media.tumblr.com/690a1b9788d2a9c5b9b388a0e0c6f46c/tumblr_n19m031Pv41qbo6leo1_1280.jpg

More early pictures here

oh my god awesome :D

Music video for "Legs" is pretty amazing. All their 80s music videos rule.

every girl crazy for a sharp dressed man

http://theselvedgeyard.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/zz-top-nudie-suits.jpg?w=1050&h=1350

My parents saw them opening for Smith (of "Baby, It's You" fame) not long after that prom photo was taken.

proto-Pharrell giant hat action.

That "Zee Zee Top" pic is blowing my mind.

"Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later."

those giant hats are my favorite thing

amazing

Didn't know Robert Fripp was in early ZZ Top

those giant hats are my favorite thing

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:04 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just think, those hats could've been their wacky schtick instead of their beards.

But then, their drummer would have to change his name to Frank Hat.

Awesome pictures

Someone in Skynyrd wore one of those giant hats too, they're officially dope

ZZ Top's playing a bikerfest in my area in April. I'll probably go to their show, even if the website says their set will be immediately followed by a wet t-shirt contest on the same stage.

http://www.azbikeweek.com/events.asp?day=5

♫La Grange♫
♫Sharped Dressed Man♫
♫Gimme All Your Lovin‘♫
♫Cheap Sunglasses♫
Got Me Under Pressure♫
♫Legs♫ ♫Tush♫

What do you mean, "even if"?

Been spinning a CDR of Tres Hombres & Fandango! in the car changer this week. The live stuff on the latter owns so hard. Really wish the rest of that show had been issued.

Saw them this week, they're total pros, with a polished "the big hits, plus 3 new songs" setlist and the goofy stage moves you'd expect. They project the videos for Sharp-Dressed Man and Legs when those songs are played, and they bring out the fuzzy guitars for Legs. Kind of wish they played a couple more of their 70s jams, but overall this was a really entertaining show.

nice to hear, I'm probably gonna go see them in August.

did they do I Gotsta to Get Paid

Yeah. That plus Chartreuse and Flyin' High were the ones they did off La Futura.

Gonna borrow that Billy Gibbons pic for pics of dudes without beards who normally have beards

I'll bring it back over here when I'm done.

http://blog.chron.com/thetexican/2015/06/zz-top-to-literally-play-la-grange-in-la-grange/#22138101=0

http://www.zztop.com/2015/billy-f-gibbons-launches-solo-project-the-bfgs-album-perfectamundo-due-out-this-october/

I'm actually really excited to hear that. I won't even make the obvious joke about Eliminator being Gibbons' first solo album...oh, damn.

Yeah, I've heard bands mixing "1950s Latin" with ZZ, Zep---can imagine Gibbons' crew doing it better, or at least as well. Looking fwd to this, thanks.

so what's worth hearing that came out between Eliminator and La Futura

never listened to El Loco before, what an odd record - kinda spacey and laid back, almost gentle

Rhythmeen from '96 is worth looking into.

still rockin that clean+chorused guitar sound, tons of processed vocals, there's just a lot of space in the mix, odd rhythms

xp

Afterburner - This one isn't as fat and dry sounding production wise as Eliminator. It's kinda like Genesis when you get to Invisible Touch, synth technology is heading out of the warm old analog into colder sounding samples and way too much digital reverb. The songs are not quite as good either.

Recycler- The album title is pretty honest. The songs are a bit more bluesy. "My Head's in Mississippi" is a good tune. It's sill way too shiny production wise.

Antenna- Sounds weak, there may be a song I missed, but I didn't like it enough after a couple of listens to even bother it again.

Rhythmeen- CD length kinda kills most of their records. I'd think it would work pretty good as a 35 minute album. They get back to basics but there is still scifi in the production.

XXX- Kinda weak. Better production than Antenna

Mescalero- This one is the one I would say to check if you dug La Futura. This thing is dirty and nasty, probably one of their rawest albums. There are some good tunes on this one and again would have been better at LP length.

I feel like a single or even a double disc compilation of their RCA years (Antenna through Mescalero) could be pretty good. But I've never been able to get all the way through the albums to really know what would go on it.