ZZ Top Album: “Mescalero [Bonus Track]”

Almost 34 years after their Halloween 1969 debut, one might thing the boys from Texas were running low on inspiration. That is not the case. Mescalero is one of the best discs in the entire ZZ canon. From start to finish,each song is loaded with invention; this is the strongest start to finish on a ZZ Top disc since Eliminator, superior even to 1997's Rhythmeen. Billy Gibbons' guitar work is superb, but Dusty Hill's bass is active and thunderous, and Frank Beard's drumming is heavy yet nimble.

In terms of the individual tunes, "Tramp" is a hoot, with Billy's guitar tuned to a B, "Alley-Gator" is not really about an alligator,and "Buck Nekkid" is self-explanatory. Additionally, patient listeners get a wonderful treat at the end of "Liquor". Billy and his cohorts deliver a heartfelt, moving performance on the bonus tune.

Underneath the beards and funny suits, these three men are superb musicians with a firm handle on synthesizing exciting new music combining their R&B roots with all manner of new music and music technology.

This is the best ZZ Top CD for over a decade. The humour is there, the dirty fuzz sounds are there, the techno beats are not.

Worthy of more stars except the CD quality sucks. I at first thought it was just "volume maximised", ie. the recorded level is set way to high. But no, gross distortion has been introduced by deliberate digital hard limiting, the amount varying from track to track, presumably depending on how "gritty" they wanted each track to sound. The result is just bad sound. This is the worst mastered CD I have come across.

If they wanted a gritty sound, the correct way to do it is before/during mixing. Apply hard limiting to the guitar, not the whole damn thing. Yuk.

Avoid European copies - they have the added benefit of "copy protection" deliberately introduced data errors.

I became a ZZ TOP fan in 1984 with "Eliminator". Then I checked out their stuff in the 70's and I was even more interested. Billy Gibbons'guitar playing is very very cool and unic. Their music is good for hard rockers as well as Blues rockers. This is album is really good and it's nice to see that they are still alive. However I was expecting more 70's sound, since many groups are going back to their roots nowadays. I highly recommand this CD to all ZZ TOP fans and other rockers.

Back in the days when ZZ Top released "Eliminator", it sure was a ground breaking album. After that I believe ZZ Top lost something. "Afterburner" seemed to be a pale copy of the mentioned "Eliminator" and even `tho albums like "Recycler" and "Antenna" had some good moments they didn't reach the sky. I kinda lost my interest in ZZ Top so when I put "Mascalero" on, my expectations were rather low. I must say that I was pleasant surprised as the title track kicked off - boy , what a groove! The sound (distorted guitar) of the album is quite modern so you might as well think you've blown your speakers. Some may think this modern sound is a step forward while others think it's crap - it's up to you to decide. Apart from the sound, I think ZZ Top have written a bunch of good songs, for example "Mascalero", "Alley-Gator", "Buck nekkid", "Going so good", "Punk ass boyfriend", "What it is kid", and "Dusted". Sometimes I wish ZZ Top would have gone for a more stripped down sound - the pre Eliminator approach, and from time to time I tend to believe that Gibbons & Co are as much interested in technology as in music. All in all, "Mascalero" is a good album but no masterpiece and certainly not as good as the old days when ZZ Top delivered songs like "Jesus just left Chicago", "Waiting for the bus", "Tush", "Blue jean blues", "Ten dollar man", "A fool for your stockings" etc.

I bought this with some apprehension, but I am pleased to say that it was not money wasted! ZZ Top has put an even harder edge on their signature sound. Dusty Hill's bass really drives this CD.