Album Review by EDF
The boogie boys are back in town and what sounds they bring with them. That’s about it. It’s business as usual and unfortunately there seems to be a law of diminishing return when it comes to their material. The 70’s saw them release 6 albums of unashamed boogie-woogie blues. The 80’s saw their metamorphisms into eye candy for an MTV generation accompanied by their melodic album releases. The 90’s saw them in limbo with them releasing half hearted affairs.
Okay, they have been together for 30 years so I’ll take it easy on the little ole band from Texas. While tracks like CRUCIFIXX-A-FLATT and MADE INTO A MOVIE sound like ZZ Top are asleep in the desert, FEARLESS BOOGIE and BEATBOX shows that the boys still have some ideas and life in them. ZZ have been struggling with their sound for a while now and finally finds them coming up with DREADMONBOOGALOO which hopefully, going by this track, they might explore having other musicians contributing to their sound.
The real treat here is the four live tracks on the end of the album. Here the real ZZ Top shines through as live is the only way to appreciate the ZZ sound. Elvis Presley fanatic Dusty Hill turns in a vocal performance on the slowed down version of TEDDY BEAR while Jeff Beck makes a guest appearance as a vocalist on HEY MY MILLIONAIRE.
By the time the album is finished, you would almost wish they had recorded most of the other tracks in a live concert setting. One for the fans.
