Mescalero

Performer: ZZ Top
Engineer: Joe Hardy
Producer: Lone Wolf; Billy Gibbons
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: ZZ Top: Bill F. Gibbons (vocals, guitar); Dusty Hill (vocals, bass); Frank Beard (drums). Recorded at Foam Box Recordings, H-Town, Texas. Personnel: Billy Gibbons (vocals, guitar); Dusty Hill (vocals); Frank Beard (drums). Audio Mixer: Joe Hardy. Recording information: Foam Box Recordings, H-Town, TX. Photographer: Mike Waring. Still chugging along three decades after members of Houston garage bands the Moving Sidewalks and the American Blues united in 1970, this little ol' band from Texas makes its mark on 2003 with MESCALERO, the trio's first album in four years. As one of the first blues-rock power trios to fuse synthesizers with their straightforward brand of boogie, ZZ Top continues down this same path throughout these 16 songs. The difference is the Tex-Mex border brushed-on flavor, be it the bilingual title cut, the techno-mariachi that is the Spanish-sung "Que Lastima," or the Dia de Los Muertos-inspired cover art. Also present and accounted for is the group's salacious sense of humor, which is readily apparent in the straightforward shuffle "Buck Nekkid" and equally rocked-out "Piece." Longtime fans of Memphis soul best known for their cover of Sam & Dave's "I Thank You," ZZ Top returns to the Stax/Volt canon for a crack at Lowell Fulsom's "Tramp," which is given a quirky reading thanks to the use of a filter on the vocals. Also tacked onto the last track is an uncredited cover of "As Time Goes By," sung by a gravelly sounding Billy Gibbons over slack-key-inspired guitar accompaniment.

Blues-rock has rarely gotten more down and dirty than with Texas's famous long-bearded trio ZZ Top. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill are responsible for some of the greatest party anthems of all time. They produced a number of 1970s rock classics, and in the '80s they managed to adapt successfully to changing times, scoring hits with a souped-up, synth-flavored sound. Eventually, though, they got back to their gritty, bluesy roots, and in 2004 ZZ top's contribution to rock & roll was officially recognized via their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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