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zz was one of the all time greats i grew up jaming with
(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
HOWDY!!!!! Seems like it's been forever since I've taken time to write a review. Before I proceed however, I must say something somewhat serious. Disregard all my romantic bull in other reviews. Being a teen male, stuff like that has a tendency to change daily. I may even go back through all my reviews and write out all of that stuff except where I deem it pertinent to keep. OK, seriousness over. Seriousness and a ZZ Top review don't mix well IMHO. Being a Texan, I grew up on ZZ Top. Well, not literally on them, but you know what I mean. And these dudes are pretty much 100% dyed in the wool Texans. Notice the glorious lack of seriousness and sophistication in their music, their love of fun, and all their references to dareevilish stuff, women, food, beer, and....other diversions. Also notice what a good guitar player Billy Gibbons is. He ain't in the top ten, but he's GOOD. One of the best blues-riffers of the 70s, and what a cool guitar tone!
Now, this be their 3rd album, and out of their "early" stuff, I'd call this one my personal favorite, and a Texas rock masterpiece. Other such Texas rock masterpieces include H. Ross Perot Sings Pasty Cline, Dick Cheney and the Pacemakers, and the Duke Of Duvall's infamous Recount '60----When The Dead Vote Early And Often. But at any rate, if yer lookin' fer a good early 70s ZZ Top listen, you've found one. Now, as much as I love ZZ Top, I honestly don't know if I could grant 'em a 10 for anything other than being Texans. Home-state bias. Why? Coz they're not exactly bringing the freshest or tastiest enchiladas to the mesa, amigos y amigas. I've heard more original blues-rock, and I've heard better. Led Zeppelin, for example. However, their enchiladas are pretty autentico y delicioso, which pleases me enough to enjoy the dickens out of Tres Hombres and virtually any and all ZZ Top from the 70s.
Well, what tasty licks do the boys from Corpus bring us with this sit-down? Easily the best and most famous is La Grange, that little ditty about the "best little whorehouse in Texas." It was called the Chicken Ranch, and it's home was...well, La Grange, Texas. It's some 25-30 miles from Giddings, which is some 10-15 miles from where my grandmother's ranch is....funny,she lives near Lan Grange and raises chickens.....even she makes jokes about that. Well, very little of La Grange is sung, as most of it is a jam centered around a cool little blooze riff. You're not an American if you haven't heard it, and you're probably not a real Texan if you don't think this would be a cool national anthem for us when we secede and leave all you dang Yankees behind! Ha! It's an excellent song, by the way.
But one song maketh not an album unless you're a prog band, and since ZZ Top and prog don't really go well together, there are 9 other songs designed to please. I am greatly pleased by the opener, Waiting For The Bus....what a groovy riff to start this all of with. Just a good ole bluesy fun ditty about waiting for the bus all day. Wonder if that's a metaphor.....I also enjoy Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers. Another good riff. This song is probably another contender for Texas State Anthem. Even if you're a rather sedate teetotaller, you can't help but dig the song, especially the solo in the middle. Pretty good one from the Gibbmeister. We also have an odd little ditty in Sheik, a song about being thrown out of the back of a Mack truck in a steel rebar cage called Master Of Sparks, and a gruff lil' rawker called Precious and Grace.
Elsewhere, we have another pretty well known one called Jesus Just Left Chicago. This is VERY bluesy, and I think it's somewhat amusing in all honesty. We've got a slow blues in Hot, Blue, and Righteous....I probably don't want to know what that one is about. There are two more forgettable tracks. I forget what they're like. Obviously. If ye dig da blooze, you needest look no further for some goodies. But if you want originality, tons of emotion, etc., look elsewhere. But if FUN is what yer after, you've struck oil.
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(Nick Karn's review)
This was of course the band's biggest success of their whole career, the album that got them back into the public eye after a four year absence. Here, the ZZ Top sound gets an update for the 80s, integrating synthesizers and drum machines, while at the same time not managing to sound all that dated (which you'd think would be the case), although the actual songwriting isn't quite consistent enough to call their 'comeback' a rousing success, but there are still some real winners here nonetheless. Among them were the two hugest hit singles - the bluesy romp "Sharp Dressed Man" has a lot of groove and attitude to it, and a blistering guitar solo, and the even groovier "Legs" boasts a phenomenal hook and more awesome Billy Gibbons guitar work.
Those two songs aren't Eliminator's only highlights of course - the slower blues "I Need You Tonight" has a really nice melody and soloing that is a little more carefully executed and never drags at all during its' over 6 minute length, while the energetic "Bad Girl" is excellently raw, trashy and infectious hard rock that ends the album on a killer note and treads closer to their old style, "TV Dinners" is the most interesting result of their new approach soundwise, and the more fast paced tracks "I Got The Six", "Got Me Under Pressure" and "Dirty Dog" are all catchy treats. That leaves the weaker cuts - the opener "Gimme All Your Lovin'" is a much less convincing "Sharp Dressed Man"-type song, while "Thug" and "If I Could Only Flag Her Down" are basically unmemorable.
HIGH POINTS: Gimme All Your Lovin’. LOW POINTS: None.
Judging by just the radio hits, the ZZ Top style of blues-rock was never my thing. A lot of this is due in large part to the fact that I really enjoy serious music. I never complain about something being ‘too serious’ or ‘humorless,’ it’s actually quite the opposite for me. I'll dislike something for not being serious enough, or having too much humor. Humor detracts from true feeling and resonance which is what I look for most in music. I don’t want to put in an album to have fun. That’s something anyone can do. But not everyone can come up with a truly moving record, and that’s something ZZ Top don’t even try to do. And there’s only far fun can take you.
But when I first listened to Eliminator I was quite pleasantly surprised by how damn catchy this album is. I mean, sure, it’s definitely not the sort of thing I’m going to call a masterwork, since there’s not much more here other than a bunch of fun and catchy tunes, but I never knew that they could write such good songs. Sure they're all backed by the exact same 4/4 beat, and it’s not like this is the most diverse album I've heard, but for a short while it made me lighten up and tap my toe a little bit, which I suppose is a good thing. I’m not looking for music to put me in a good mood, but it is good for music to entertain me, and if that’s all this album does than I guess I'll have to accept that. Just as long as it does it well, which Eliminator does.
The big flaw here is that this is one of those albums that’s best to put in as background music for whatever you're doing, and individual songs aren't exactly something I really notice. It’s just the backing noise that’s there, the upbeat mood to back whatever I’m doing. The only song that I can really enjoy on its own is “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” with its great blues riff backing a memorable tune. I do like this album though, much more than I thought I would, even though it’s not really what I look for in music. When I’m in a good mood, this is an album I turn to. It is incredibly catchy.
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