ZZ Top: C/D

I could be on that thread for days.

wow I had never made the Ardent connection before

Are we hearing mostly fender tweed amps on this record?

Some, but some are also from BG's customised Marshall heads, which he renamed "Rio Grande" brand. The controls were all labelled in Spanish, and the logo was palm trees.

There is some cool stuff later on doing the drums for Eliminator. It's pretty much drum machine with some live percussion overdubbed to match on top.

Was just listening to Fandango and got to wondering what happened to the rest of the kickin' live show that made up the original a-side? The remaster has some live bounus tracks, but liner notes say they are from four years later.

Also: Dubya Tee Efff?

1. Sharp Dressed Man - Steven Tyler, Mick Fleetwood, Jonny Lang, and John McVie (The M.O.B)
2. Gimme All Your Lovin' - Filter*
3. Tush - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
4. Legs - Nickelback
5. Cheap Sunglasses - Wolfmother
6. Got Me Under Pressure - Duff McKagan's Loaded
7. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers - Coheed & Cambria
8. Just Got Paid - Mastodon
9. Rough Boy - Wyclef Jean
10. Waitin' for the Bus / Jesus Just Left Chicago - Daughtry
11. La Grange - Jamey Johnson

I'm already hearing the Coheed lead vocal in my mind.

I foresee a "least appitizing performance" poll...

holy shit "Gimme All Your Lovin'" by Filter

I just picked up Afterburner and Recycler on vinyl for a dollar each this weekend. \o/

A couple of years ago I interviewed the singer from Coheed and he was talking about how their then-current album finished the multi-album sci-fi saga he'd been writing, and I asked him if he ever just wanted to sing songs about cars and girls - "you know, like ZZ Top," and he laughed and said no. Liar.

whatever happened to the new record produced by rick rubin?

they were on tour this summer in europe BTW iirc

Rough Boy - Wyclef Jean

NIIIICE

The Mastodon Just Got Paid has been around forever, is this a new version?

Good news, ZZ Top has actually put out a live CD from the good ole' days. It is mastered really hot, but overall the production quality is pretty good.

Live in Germany 1980

It is taken from a Rockpalast show from back before the wall fell. I guess you can get the DVD of the show too.

Now if the boys would just get with it and remaster the rest of their catalog, which I sadly think might not happen anytime soon.

Listening to the new album, La Futura, now. The first four songs were released as the Texicali EP earlier this year - the other six are just as noisy 'n' nasty. Sure, it took almost a decade to get here, but they really do sound energized and raucous. Gibbons' guitar work is disgusting in the best way, and it sounds like Frank Beard is actually playing drums on this album.

it's a fantastic record, isn't it?

my buddy had an extra ticket to see ZZ last night so I went, it was good if not great. short smart focused set, hits and early stuff with the 80s video songs all in a row. highlights included "beer drinking and hell raising" and the new song "25 lighters" which was the best thing all night, gibbons guitar playing on that was absolutely sick and the chorus sounds like vintage top "25 lighters on my dresser yessir I GOTS TO GET PAID"

only quibble is w/the drummer, the rhythms plodded imo but that may be inevitable (age) and the rhythm section was certainly tight & precise

'25 Lighters' original fyi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtFb77Gmtk

what i think is brilliant about zz top's cover is how it works both ways, you hear the cadence of hiphop AND blues in the chorus

yeah i knew it wasn't their song but many of my whiteguy geezer brethren in the audience may not have realized

New video. They look like the revenant versions of their '80s selves.

Can any ZZ heads ID the track at 1:30 in this vid? The bass line sounds like "Is Chicago" by Soul Coughing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCgibhGRw38

Never thought you'd get to see Billy Gibbons' band before ZZ Top? Well guess what...

last ZZ Top album was excellent fwiw

Just got a press release from Rhino: On June 10/11, ZZ Top will be releasing The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990, a 10-CD box containing all original mixes of everything from ZZ Top's First Album through Recycler for $60.

Hallelujah, it's about time they finally got those early ZZ Top albums fixed.

I thought they already dd?

They only remastered a couple and some tracks for a boxset.

Digital versions are all over the fucking place, too. The version of I'm Bad on the iTunes Deguello is a fucking duet with Dwight Yoakam.

this is excellent news.

Are these gonna be mini-lps like the Joni Mitchell box? Hopefully if so, they'll be able to carry over the inner sleeves this time. They had some cool ones. Take Deguello for instance:

http://www.vinylrecords.ch/Z/ZZ_Top/Deguello/zz-top-deguello-72.jpg

Tejas sleeve is dope

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJ_vNPmfPONGekSWTcau7jzIzuw2Ekusqzaiw1P8LaHXO0BfKW5w

Tejas inner sleeve:

http://www.vinylrecords.ch/Z/ZZ_Top/Tejas/IMG_9156.jpg

I miss these:

http://vinylrecords.ch/Z/ZZ_Top/Eliminator/zz-top-eliminator-127080.jpg

They're saying all gatefold art is recreated, so odds are good.

http://abcnewsradioonline.com/storage/music-news-images/M_ZZTopBoxSet630_042913.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1367286615494

want a poster of the Tres Hombres gatefold, preferably wall sized

Oh wow:

http://addictedtovinyl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/zz-top-tush.jpg

Want a t-shirt of this like yesterday.

Key paragraph from the press release:

The set, including the albums initially released on the London label as well as the string of Warner Bros. Hits that followed, includes ZZ Tops’ First Album (1971), Rio Grande Mud (1972), Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975)*, Tejas (1976), Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985) and Recycler (1990). Each album is presented in a wallet sleeve that faithfully reproduces the original artwork, including the gatefold designs used for Tres Hombres and Tejas. The set presents, for the first time on CD, the original mixes for ZZ Tops’ First Album, Rio Grande Mud and Tejas that have long been on the wish lists of the band’s most fervent fans.

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/ultimateclassicrock.com/files/2011/03/I_Thank_You_ZZ_Top.jpg

Here's a story about the closing of Leo's Mexican Restaurant, who provided the star features of the Tres Hombres inner sleeve.

Cool new interview w/Billy talkin' Memphis & such.

La Futura is FAR better than expected. Put another feather in Mr. Rubin's cap.

Gibbons' guitar tech takes you through the guitar/effect/amp line. Biggest surprise: the light gauge strings (.007 and 8? wow!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6DrxfrbbF8

Also: Billy has over 450 guitars for stage use - just at ZZ HQ

Billy's one of a handful of people who has a (verifiable) Strat owned by Hendrix (likely verifiable because Hendrix gave it to him).

(.007 and 8? wow!)

That's completely nuts. As is the fact that he's never broken a string on stage!

ZZ Top interview/performance on Howard Stern Tuesday worth seeking out.

The box set is up for pre-order on Amazon for $42.

Box set in my hands, getting ready to dive in.