1973 was a banner year for Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank
\nBeard – better known to the world as ZZ Top. After two mildly
\nsuccessful albums and brief flirtations with the charts, they
\nproved the old saying “the third time’s the charm” with
\nTres Hombres<\/i>. To this day, you’ll hear tracks from this one
\nplayed on the radio, and for good reason: the album, for the most
\npart, was their most solid effort to that point.<\/p>\n
One note, before I continue: Back in 1987, this album – along
\nwith most of the ZZ Top discography – was remastered for CD… and
\nI think their original sound was terribly butchered. Every time I
\nhear those familiar opening chords for “La Grange” on the radio, I
\nsincerely hope that the next sound I hear isn’t a drum with echo on
\nit. If that’s the case, I know I’m in for a long, painful ride. I
\nsincerely hope that Bill Ham fixes this, if he hasn’t done so
\nalready, ’cause the original mix smokes the ’87 versions.<\/p>\n
Now then.
\nTres Hombres<\/i> is best known for “La Grange,” a down-and-dirty
\nblues riff that hooks you from moment one and refuses to let go.
\nGibbons’s guitar work on this one is simply incredible, and his
\nriffs on this song are ones which are permanently etched in my
\nbrain.<\/p>\n
If you’re lucky, you’ll hear a few other tracks from
\nTres Hombres<\/i> on the airwaves. The tandeming of “Waitin’ For
\nThe Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago” (and didn’t take the White
\nSox with him… no, no, forget I said anything) is enough to make
\nanyone who doesn’t particularly like the blues want to run down to
\nBest Buy and get a quick schooling. Hill’s bass work is the anchor
\nthat holds this together, and deserves to be singled out.<\/p>\n
But one shining moment on this disc is one that doesn’t nearly
\nget as much attention as it should: “Move Me On Down The Line”. If
\nthere ever was a track that screamed for attention in ZZ Top’s
\nhistory, this is the one. A killer riff and harmony vocals from
\nGibbons and Hill make everything on this track scream “winner”.<\/p>\n
\nTres Hombres<\/i> is made up of many tracks such as these. “Beer
\nDrinkers & Hell Raisers,” another track that occasionally
\nsneaks its way onto the air, is a decent enough number, but I’ll
\nadmit it pales in comparison to the others mentioned here. “Master
\nOf Sparks” is one that challenges the listener with a different
\nrhythm pattern from Beard, as well as an A-minor structure. It’s
\nnot one that easily fits with ZZ Top’s previous work – but it
\nstands out on its own.<\/p>\n
There are some minor flaws on this one. “Hot, Blue And
\nRighteous” is a little too slow for my tastes, while “Precious And
\nGrace” seems to go back too much to the mistakes of their past. I
\nlisten to this track, and I can’t help but compare it to “Neighbor,
\nNeighbor” off of
\nZZ Top’s First Album<\/i>. Hearing this almost makes me question
\nhow much the group had grown musically since their debut.<\/p>\n
Of course, the magnitude of strong tracks on
\nTres Hombres<\/i> quickly cancels out the few minor slips, and ZZ
\nTop proves without a doubt that they had the power and talent to
\nmake it into the superstar level. Of course, hitting that plateau
\nwas still a decade off – and a strange career move was just ahead
\nof them… but that’s another story for another review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5723],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-39377","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-zz-top","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39377"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}