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Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top

ZZ Top - Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top Audio CD

A fair review of the ZZ Top "Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all ZZ Top reviews here, or go back to the ZZ Top tabs.

Band: ZZ Top
Title: Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-06-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Brown Sugar 2: Goin' Down to Mexico 3: Just Got Back from Baby's 4: Francene 5: Just Got Paid 6: Bar-B-Q 7: Grange 8: Waitin' for the Bus 9: Jesus Just Left Chicago 10: Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers 11: Mexican Blackbird 12: Tush 13: Thunderbird 14: Blue Jean Blues 15: Heard It on the X 16: It's Only Love 17: Arrested for Driving While Blind 18: I Thank You 19: Cheap Sunglasses 20: I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 21: Fool for Your Stockings 22: Tube Snake Boogie 23: Pearl Necklace 24: Gimme All Your Lovin' 25: Sharp Dressed Man 26: Legs 27: Got Me Under Pressure 28: Sleeping Bag 29: Stages 30: Rough Boy 31: Velcro Fly 32: Woke Up With Wood 33: Doubleback 34: My Head's in Mississippi 35: Viva Las Vegas 36: Cheap Sunglasses [Live] 37: Legs [Dance Mix] 38: Velcro Fly [12" Remix]

ZZ TOPP IS PURE ROCK! AND THIS IS PURE ZZ TOPP
This is the exception to the rule. I normally don't buy "best of" albums. ZZ topp is not my favorite band but I am a fan!! I had 3 ZZ topp albums but I totally forgot about some of their earlier stuff!!

This album had just about every hit you ever heard of!!! I was re-united with the earlier stuff like "Francene" and "Thunderbird" and one of the greatest songs of all time, "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers"!!! The songs rock and as the band evolves you see they are still true to their original form. Yes some of their 80's material got a little too "computer -sounding", but they are still that "Little Ole Band From Texas" that will ROCK THE EYEBALLS RIGHT OUT OF YOUR SOCKETS!!!

One bit of warning the 70's material will get you to crave Mexican food,beer and whorehouses !!!

BUY THIS ALBUM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

CD Received
will order from Amazon in the future. received product in a short time after ordering, in great shape.

Masterful Texan Selections
For the casual fan, 1992's one disc "Greatest Hits" package will probably fit your needs better since it's much more "hits" oriented than this two disc set. If you're looking for a career-spanning intro to ZZ Top, this is a good place to start.

As for the perennial "new" ZZ Top vs. "old" ZZ Top. . . I don't really think the divide is that wide. I do prefer the older stuff; it was much less "commercial" (as subjective as that term is), much blusier and, frankly, Billy Gibbon's voice simply can't compare to Dusty Hill's (which is not to dis Gibbon's pipes so much as to pay tribute to Hill's).

The writing of the New Stuff is also often simpler, sometimes much simpler: Hill's bass often thrumming one note for bar after bar after bar, only to change to another note (just take a look at the tablature (sp) for some of the Newer Stuff), light years behind the rollicking bass-lines of old.

The trio's playing is always tight, but there's a certain sense of complacency, often giving me the feeling that the recordings were being phoned in. But songs like "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man" capture much of the older magic of majestic Texas Boogie classics such as "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" (not infrequently heard as bumper music on Rush Limbaugh's show), "La Grange" and "A Fool for Your Stalkings" & "Arrested for Driving While Blind. "

Finally, ZZ Top is that rarest of music phenomena, a band that creates its own genre and then does it so well that no one else even tries to move in. I suppose the argument could be made that they are part of the larger "southern rock" genre, but it's not one I agree with. This trio is unique and if age and success have dulled their edge (and what band in their fourth decade doesn't have to fight those creeping tendencies?), nothing can take away the achievements of these masterful Texans.

Best retrospective of ZZ Top...but why stop at 1992?
ZZ Top made some of the best music of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Ah, yes. Whether they were performing blues rock songs or winning over audiences on MTV, these Texans proved that they knew how to make great rock and roll and survive for numerous generations, and amazingly, they still continue to perform and tour today with the original members.

2004's 'Rancho Texicano - The Very Best of ZZ Top,' gives ZZ Top the two disc retrospective it's long needed. If you are a casual fan that wants more than what 1992's 'Greatest Hits' or 1977's 'The Best of ZZ Top' offers, than look no further.

Unfortunately, this disc stops at 1992, which is a shame, because their RCA material from 1994-2003 is really great too. Oh well.

Well, here is the album by album, track by track review.

Tracks from ZZ Top's First Album (1971)
'Brown Sugar,' 'Goin' Back To Mexico,' 'Just Got Back From Baby's'
Review: Their 1971 debut is by far their most blues oriented. One question though, where is 'Backdoor Love Affair'? That's probably my favorite song from this album. That's a disappointing omission.

Tracks from Rio Grande Mud (1972)
'Francine,' 'Just Got Paid,' 'Bar-B-Q'
Review: The three best songs from their sophomore effort. Blues rock at it's finest. Rhino Records selected the very best from this album.

Tracks from Tres Hombres (1973)
'La Grange,' 'Waitin' For The Bus,' 'Jesus Just Left Chicago,' 'Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers'
Review: Arguably ZZ Top's best album gets great coverage here. The four great ones and standouts from this album appear on 'Rancho Texicano. ' The whole album is great, so you may want to buy that album as well.

Tracks from Fandango! (1975)
'Mexican Blackbird,' 'Tush,' 'Blue Jean Blues,' 'Heard It On The X,' 'Thunderbird'
Review: Half studio album, half live album, 'Fandango!' remains my all time favorite ZZ Top album. Their last album for London Records, they definitely went out with a bang. The five essentials from this album are here. No complaints.

Tracks from Tejas (1976)
'It's Only Love,' 'Arrested For Driving While Blind'
Review: I have always thought of 'Tejas' to be the forgotten ZZ Top album. I have no complaints about what's featured, but where the heck is 'Snappy Kakkie'? That's arguably one of their best, and it's omission is irritating.

Tracks from Deguello (1979)
'I Thank You,' 'I'm Bad I'm Nationwide,' 'Cheap Sunglasses,' 'A Fool For Your Stockings'
Review: After 'Tejas,' ZZ Top took a three year break, and returned in 1979 with 'Deguello. ' This album contains two of my all time favorites from ZZ Top, 'I'm Bad I'm Nationwide' and 'Cheap Sunglasses. ' This was their last album before Billy Gibbons discovered the synthesizer. Rhino selected the four great tracks from this album. ZZ Top closed the 1970s with a bang here.

Tracks from El Loco (1981)
'Tube Snake Boogie,' 'Pearl Necklace'
Review: It's amazing how much ZZ Top changed in two years. Still, change isn't always a bad thing, and in this case, it isn't. This is a pretty good album, and these are the two really good songs from 'El Loco. ' Enough said!

Tracks from Eliminator (1983)
'Gimme All Your Lovin,' 'Sharp Dressed Man,' 'Legs,' 'Got Me Under Pressure'
Review: Enter the MTV years of ZZ Top. One of their most successful albums to date, 'Eliminator' spawned four major MTV hits and radio hits alike for ZZ Top. This album is a classic, and while fans of the 1970s ZZ Top were very turned off by this, it's considered a 1980s classic. These are the four great ones from this album. Wouldn't mind seeing 'Thug' here, but that's nothing to cry about.

Tracks from Afterburner (1985)
'Sleeping Bag,' 'Stages,' 'Rough Boy,' 'Velcro Fly,' 'Woke Up With Wood'
Review: Their most synth-driven album, 'Afterburner' is an interesting album. Personally, this is probably my least favorite ZZ Top album, but it's still pretty good. I guess Rhino picked the bright spots from this album. I have no say here, really.

Tracks from Recycler (1990)
'Doubleback,' 'My Head's In Mississippi'
Review: ZZ Top's last official studio album for Warner Bros. Records. 'Recycler' was not a bright spot for the band, but they were as popular on MTV as ever, though. The return to blues rock in 'My Head's In Mississippi' was a pleasant surprise for '70s ZZ Top, and 'Doubleback' showed flashes of 'Deguello'-era ZZ Top, but still, they were very much powered by synthesizers here.

Tracks from Greatest Hits (1992)
'Viva Las Vegas'
Review: Bassist Dusty Hill takes the lead vocals job here, and he does a pretty good job covering Elvis (this is his second Elvis cover; he covered Elvis in 1975 for the live version of 'Jailhouse Rock' that appears on 'Fandango!'). This is actually one of my favorite ZZ Top recordings from the 1983-1992 period. They did a pretty good job here.

Assorted tracks
'Cheap Sunglasses (live),' 'Velcro Fly (12" remix),' 'Legs (Dance Remix)'
Review: The live version of 'Cheap Sunglasses' is pretty good, although the remixes I think don't need to be included here.

Overall, this is the best available overview of ZZ Top. I strongly recommend this for casual fans, new fans and die hard fans alike.

Highly recommended for any ZZ Top fan. Two CDs of pure goodness. The most comprehensive ZZ Top collection on the market, with the exception of the box sets, of course.

ENJOY!!!.

The way ZZ Top is supposed to sound
Why bother?" That was pretty much what I thought, until I heard this album. It would be easy to roll your eyes at this CD and say, "God, not another ZZ Top Best-Of collection.

Hearing Disc 1 is like hearing ZZ Top anew. This was the first time I had ever heard the ORIGINAL mixes of their pre-Eliminator material, and what a difference it makes. The soulless 80's drum machines and re-recorded guitar and vocal parts that they released in the 80's are gone, leaving the original gritty blues-rock sensibilities that are at the core of this band's best music. These songs leave you feeling dirty and smelling of motor oil, cattle and cigarette smoke. (Conversely, the Six-Pack remixes felt more like someone's slick penthouse cocaine party. ) It's the way the songs were meant to sound, and it's a pleasure to rediscover classic tracks that I had only previously heard in their inferior 6-Pack remixed form.

I have less to say about Disc 2. It covers their career from Eliminator onwards, and the post-Eliminator material (about half the disc) doesn't stand up too well to what came before it. The real reason to pick up this album is for the original mixes on Disc 1, and those are well worth the purchase price.

You can see a complete list of all ZZ Top discography, or go back to the ZZ Top tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.