Zz Top Analysis

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ZZ Top is a very popular rock band that was particularly popular during the 1980’s. The group is composed of guitarist and lead singer, Billy Gibbons, bassist, Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard. They have undergone numerous style changes during the years, which can be categorized as their early years, their synthesizer period and their modern sound. However, their Texas, blues, and rock roots have remained constantly apparent in all their works.
ZZ Top has not always been the power trio of Gibbons, Hill and Beard. In fact, Gibbons is the only one who has been with the band since the very beginning. The band was originally made up of Billy Gibbons, organist Lanier Greig, and drummer Dan Mitchell. Nevertheless, Greig and Mitchell were only …show more content…

Going with their characters, the album is described as lively, playful, and at times brash, filled with the band’s humorous personal experiences. Though the album is fairly charming and very good for a starting point, yet it is not well polished and has several flaws. Then, in 1972, following ZZ Top’s First Album, was Rio Grande Mud, which isn’t particularly bad, but was very poorly received. It is reported that while touring that album ZZ Top played to nearly empty auditoriums and was booed off stage a few times. Rio Grande Mud received mixed reviews from The Rolling Stone and 3.5/5 stars from AllMusic. It featured one single, “Francine,” their first hit which reached #69 on the Billboard charts. Closing out their early years, in 1973 ZZ Top released Tres Hombres, one of their most popular albums to date. It was their most famous album prior to their synthesizer period. Tres Hombres reflected their blues roots considerably more than their two previous albums, while equally incorporating the other factors that make up their unique style. The album has a very strong, forward sound that is supported beautifully by Hill and Beard, and Gibbons’ “growling” guitar sound. This album is considered partially responsible for ZZ Top’s fame. It was their first top ten …show more content…

This was their first album to feature live tracks, which were “Thunderbird,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Backdoor Medley.” Fandango! featured two singles “Tush” and “Heard it on the X,” though “Tush” was the notable one of the two, which peaked #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Following it was Tejas, which fell really flat of the groups standards and expectations. The album is negligible and received a rating of 2/5 stars from AllMusic. Then after the disappointment that was Tejas, they came in with their biggest grossing album yet, Degüello. This album was their first with Warner Bros. Records. This was their first album to go Platinum, and it made it their in half the time it took Tres Hombres to get to Gold. Degüello featured two hit singles, “Cheap Sunglasses” and “I Thank You.” It also received a rating of 4.5/5 stars from AllMusic. They ended their first decade with El Loco, another successful album, with three singles, “Tube Snake Boogie,” “Pearl Necklace,” and

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