![]() ![]() During their hot streak - which ran all the way from the mid-'70s through the mid-'80s –- there wasn't a fad they didn't exploit, twisting new wave, synthesized dance-rock, and music videos for their own purposes. At their core, the trio of Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill were a down-and-dirty blues band from Houston, cranking out greasy rockers and slyly sleazy boogies about "Tush," a "Pearl Necklace," and "Legs." Despite their deep roots in American rock & roll and blues, ZZ Top were the furthest thing from purists. Nevertheless, the undeniable highlights are the two tracks featuring cameos from Jeff Beck: he contributes lyrical solos to "Rough Boy" and helps with the heavy-footed boogie of "Sixteen Tons," pushing the trio just far enough out of its comfort zone to provide some crackle.ZZ Top call themselves "that little ol' band from Texas," a deceptively clever designation that explains everything about the trio while underselling their deep idiosyncrasies. ![]() Older, the Lil' Ol' Band from Texas sounds thicker and heavier - and Billy Gibbons' growl is so gruff it seems tattered - but that helps distinguish these versions from the spit and polish of the studio versions not better, per se, but certainly the work of a band whose members happily settle into their advanced years, not wishing to change a thing about how they do things. ![]() During the 2000s and 2010s, ZZ Top released an excellent studio album called La Futura, but that's ignored here in favor for all the songs that are classic rock staples. ![]() There is no visual component to Live: Greatest Hits from Around the World, which may be how it skates around the first live album distinction - if there's no video, this is a pure album - but the record mines a similar musical vein, collecting highlights from latter-day ZZ Top tours. Assembled from various shows from various tours from around the world, 2016's Live: Greatest Hits from Around the World is billed as ZZ Top's first "full-length live album" - a matter of dispute considering how Eagle Rock released three CD/DVD/Blu-ray combo sets between 20. ![]()
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