WEA

REVIEW: The Best of ZZ Top (1977 cassette)

ZZ TOP – The Best of ZZ Top (1977 WEA cassette)

While ZZ Top were on a break between Tejas and Degüello, it made sense to issue the band’s first Best Of.  This album was released in 1977 and though it did not chart high, it did eventually go double platinum, selling over 2,000,000 copies in the United States alone.

The cassette and vinyl releases had the sides flipped.  This cassette copy in hand begins with “La Grange”, which is still a pretty solid opening even if the vinyl says otherwise!  “La Grange” is an ode to a house of ill repute somewhere in Texas, and it became the prototype blues/rock shuffle for a generation.  This song still burns up the radio today.

One of ZZ Top’s greatest blues had to be “Blue Jean Blues” from Fandango!  So slow, so fully soaked in whiskey and gasoline that you can smell it from here.  Billy Gibbons is fully in the driver’s seat here, but it is Frank Beard and Dusty Hill’s unobtrusive rhythm section that allows him to emote so well.

From the first album comes the dirty upbeat blues of “Backdoor Love Affair”.  It’s a combination of elements:  Billy’s distorted take on the blues guitar, mixed with Dusty’s melodic bass and Beard’s perfect punctuation.  By the end of the song, it’s a jam around a tasty riff.

The familiar “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” from Tres Hombres is an incendiary duet between between Billy and Dusty.  Pedal to the metal, ZZ are off on one of the best rockers from the entire catalogue.  This is the kind of song that endeared them to the headbangers.  Similarly, “Heard it on the X” hones in on the speedy aspect of ZZ Top’s abilities.  This is another duet with Dusty and Billy, and an ode to the Mexican radio stations that informed much of ZZ Top’s upbringing.

Flipping the tape, we are now hearing what is side one of vinyl.  “Tush” ain’t a bad way to start.  It’s the stuff of legend today.  It boasts one of Billy’s best guitar riffs, yet it’s still little more than a basic blues.  It’s just a winning combination:  the blues progressions played by a rocking band.  Billy’s leads are as much of legend as the song itself, stinging little zips of flavour in a bluesy soup of chords and drums.

“Waitin’ For the Bus” is a steady blues.  The speed has been shed for this heavy sludgy one, with Billy laying down not just a guitar solo but a harmonica solo too, one after the other like one greasy blues rock statement.  Then, just like on the Tres Hombres album, “Jesus Just Left Chicago” follows immediately after.  Still blues, but of a different flavour.  ZZ Top were always talented at showing us different sides of the genre, while mixing it with the sensibilities of rock guitar distortion.

“Francine” is a belter, a perfect pop rock tune, with more rock than pop.  Billy’s little riff is tasty as candy, and the song has the necessary melodic mettle.  Even so, it is overshadowed by the slide-drenched closer “Just Got Paid”.  One of ZZ’s heaviest tracks, it’s made completely digestible by Billy’s incredible guitar work.

If you just got paid today, pick up some ZZ Top.

Notably, this cassette pre-dates any of the ZZ Top remixing shenanigans that happened in the 80s, so purists will get only the original classic tracks.

4.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Brighton Rock – Take a Deep Breath (1988)

BR TADB_0001BRIGHTON ROCK – Take A Deep Breath (1988 WEA)

Legend has it that Brighton Rock hated this album. Singer Gerald McGhee was on record saying that record company pressure forced his band to soften up the songs and his singing style. Yet, Take A Deep Breath is actually an excellent 80’s rock album, with unusual quality. Everything you loved about 80’s rock is here.

Brighton Rock’s sound was different from the crop of hair bands at the time. They always had a classier feel in their commercial rock. Witness, from the first LP, “We Came to Rock”. The synth strings made it different, a little more refined. Johnny Roger’s tasteful keyboard parts have always provided an interesting background texture to their vocal and guitar melodies. Gerald McGhee’s vocals were emotional and he had a powerful range. On this album, he doesn’t scream (that record company pressure), but that’s OK. It works out fine with these songs. His voice is strong enough, he didn’t need to show off how high he could go.

Strong songs:

  • “Can’t Stop The Earth From Shaking” (poppy, catchy and upbeat rocker)
  • “Outlaw” (dark and moody, great keyboards providing background texture)
  • “Rebels With A Cause” (guitars upfront, a good groove)
  • “Power Overload” (another guitar rocker with a great shout-chorus)
  • “Who’s Foolin’ Who” (best song on the album, sounds like we have some fretless bass here, a moody dark rocker)
  • “Love Slips Away” (dark and moody ballad, second best track here)
  • “Unleash The Rage” (the dark, metallic song that sounds more like the rockers on the first album)

Drivel:

  • “One More Try” (the unfortunate first single, a ballad…look at those doe eyes!)
  • “Ride the Rainbow” (the pop song Gerald says he wished he never wrote)

As you can tell, dark moods dominate Take A Deep Breath. You could probably tell that by the cover. Hugh Syme (best known for his work with Rush, although he’s also done Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Queensryche, and dozens more) did the picture of the little boy with the gasmask in the post-nuclear landscape. Because of this dark feel, Take A Deep Breath is unlike most of the pop rock records out at the time. Its darkness allows it to stand up to scrutiny today. When Brighton Rock ditched keyboardist Johnny Rogers so they could “heavy it up” for their next album Love Machine, it didn’t work. They lost that special quality and became just another band trying to sound like it was from LA.

Don’t listen to Gerald McGhee: Take A Deep Breath was an album for him to be proud of, not embarrassed by. It was the high point of this band’s discography.  Heck, Jack Richardson produced it — the same guy who recorded Universal Juveniles and the better Guess Who albums.   There is a level of quality here underneath the keyboards that is audible, even today.

4/5 stars