Double The ZZ!
ZZ Top
Tres Hombres/Fandango!
(Warner Bros.)
Texas boogie kingpins get re-releases for back-to-back platinum albums.
The only thing that could have fucked up Fandango! was more live tracks. This half album was never deleted because it has “Tush” on it; critics wondered at the time why the album was split between live and studio cuts. So what happens with the reissue? More live performances. Jeez!
5
Tres Hombres you could do pretty much anything to, though, and it would still be their masterpiece. The Top made a valiant effort to stay visible once MTV struck in the ’80s, but Eliminator will forever be about that car, the keychain, and the trio waving their arms in a circle and pointing. No such attachments cloud Hombres, drawing everything toward that fat-ass “La Grange” lick. Warner got lazy with the extras here, too (live versions of “La Grange,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” and “Waitin’ For The Bus”), but otherwise there isn’t much room to complain.
— Steve Forstneger
