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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Other Artists → zz top live in Texas dvd
What can I say? What a disappointment - or have I been spoiled by Joe. I ordered this along with LIFNIP and was looking forward to a bottle of wine and an evenings entertainment, Southern Style. what I got was a very mediocre performance that bordered on the sloppy. Very disappointed, as I saw them live quite few years ago now, but still expected them to be at least trying to put on a show. Joe's cover of Just got paid is just Soooooo much better!!!!
I'm sorry, but I disagree vehemently. That dvd is amazing.
I don't agree either.
Like it very much, was an item a few weeks ago and most people liked it very much!
It's boogie pure and I like that groove!
Different people, different taste! yes geoff the problem is that when you see Joe as the reference, most artists disappoint you. That's true but you have to give them some credits!!
Andre Wittebroek
I don't agree either.
Like it very much, was an item a few weeks ago and most people liked it very much!
It's boogie pure and I like that groove!Different people, different taste! yes geoff the problem is that when you see Joe as the reference, most artists disappoint you. That's true but you have to give them some credits!!
Andre Wittebroek
I'm not sure that it's the taste that Geoff dislikes, rather the performance that has disappointed with. I'd actually read a review of the dvd several weeks ago which said much the same, and also pointed out how Joe does a betterversion of Just Got Paid.
That's not to say that ZZ Top where not an excellent band in their prime, I love their early albums, but they sold their souls to MTV and then never regained the early magic.
Andre Wittebroek
"Joe does a betterversion of [ enter song here ]".
Joe does this a lot ... remarkable talent that 
ZZ Top has never been what one would describe as "intense." They're laid back in their approach, always has been. They're a good time party band. THis has not changed whatsoever. Quit comparing artists, and enjoy each one for their own merits.
ZZ Top has never been what one would describe as "intense." They're laid back in their approach, always has been. They're a good time party band. THis has not changed whatsoever. Quit comparing artists, and enjoy each one for their own merits.
Sorry Deezer, if you read my post again you'll read that the bulk of my comment suggested that ZZ Top appear on the basis of this DVD may be past their prime. They really should have released a live release a long time. Look at the track listing, how many of the songs they play on the DVD did they record in the last twenty years? I think that proves my point that their current songs are not as good as their earlier classics. Give me Deguello or Tres Hombres anyday, I love that stuff and would have loved to see a live performance from that period. 
Whoa there guys! steady up a bit. I'm not having a go at ZZ top. I accept all your comments but really, Billy's playing is less than perfect, which disappoints hugely as I have the greatest admiration for his work and his blues roots and references. Maybe just a little bit too laid back perhaps. Of course it could have a lot to do with the production and filming of the concert.
Deezer wrote:ZZ Top has never been what one would describe as "intense." They're laid back in their approach, always has been. They're a good time party band. THis has not changed whatsoever. Quit comparing artists, and enjoy each one for their own merits.
Sorry Deezer, if you read my post again you'll read that the bulk of my comment suggested that ZZ Top appear on the basis of this DVD may be past their prime. They really should have released a live release a long time. Look at the track listing, how many of the songs they play on the DVD did they record in the last twenty years? I think that proves my point that their current songs are not as good as their earlier classics. Give me Deguello or Tres Hombres anyday, I love that stuff and would have loved to see a live performance from that period.
What you don't realize is that a lot of that has to do with the fact that RCA screwed them promoting wise, so they've essentially stopped playing songs from those albums in concert. And that this tour that this was filmed from was called their Greatest Hits Tour, which I saw in August last year. As well, when I saw them a few years ago, when Mescalero came out, they played quite a bit of their new album.
And here's the deal: go watch a video from their early days, they're WAY more sloppy than they are now. But they still kick arse. Because they're a party band! They've never claimed to be anything else. They're slimy, grimy, and greasy, and that's just fine with me. Take it for what it's worth. They still kick arse live.
Okay, I gotta roll my two-cents across the floor. I've seen ZZ Top 14 times in my 55 years (yeah, I'm a hardcore fan). Billy's playing live has never been perfect, but that's not the point. They are truly an act. The groove they create is impossible to recreate, flowing from the way those guys have played together from their first jam (according to Gibbons). Beard plays behind the beat, Hill plays in front of it, and Gibbons sits there in that sweet, fat groove in the middle. It all makes you walk funny and feel like singing really loud.
I have seen them a couple of times in the last 10 years when I thought they just didn't care anymore. But after seeing them this summer and now the DVD and with a new project in the works with Rick Rubin behind the glass, I'm conviced they do care and really want to make some new stuff that's as nasty as the old stuff (pre-MTV).
Oh and IMHO Joe's version of Just Got Paid isn't better, just different in a really good way.
Blessings,
Larry
I saw them in 1999 and they mailed it in, thank God Skynyrd was the opening act to make the night worth the effort. Saw them later in 2003 and they tore it up. Whether they're on or off on any given night it's still a party. I've got the DVD and it does have a few sluggish parts, but I'm glad to have it in my library. There are many other songs I'd have liked to hear in there too, like Drivin' While Blind.
More Fandango Days,
J Dawg
I saw them in 1999 and they mailed it in, thank God Skynyrd was the opening act to make the night worth the effort. Saw them later in 2003 and they tore it up. Whether they're on or off on any given night it's still a party. I've got the DVD and it does have a few sluggish parts, but I'm glad to have it in my library. There are many other songs I'd have liked to hear in there too, like Drivin' While Blind.
More Fandango Days,
J Dawg
I agree, they're hit or miss sometimes. And I also agree, I would have much rather heard more of the older tracks performed live than their 80's hits, but what it is-is what it is. Good DVD, but the inclusion of earlier songs would've made it much better. I'm kind of disheartened though to hear that Rick Rubin, who's producing their upcoming album, wants to take them back to their 80's commercial sound. I was hoping for a return to something along the lines of 'Deguello', but that doesn't seem to be the direction they want to go. I'll reserve judgement until I hear it, but it doesn't sound promising.
ohiodawg13 wrote:I saw them in 1999 and they mailed it in, thank God Skynyrd was the opening act to make the night worth the effort. Saw them later in 2003 and they tore it up. Whether they're on or off on any given night it's still a party. I've got the DVD and it does have a few sluggish parts, but I'm glad to have it in my library. There are many other songs I'd have liked to hear in there too, like Drivin' While Blind.
More Fandango Days,
J Dawg
I agree, they're hit or miss sometimes. And I also agree, I would have much rather heard more of the older tracks performed live than their 80's hits, but what it is-is what it is. Good DVD, but the inclusion of earlier songs would've made it much better. I'm kind of disheartened though to hear that Rick Rubin, who's producing their upcoming album, wants to take them back to their 80's commercial sound. I was hoping for a return to something along the lines of 'Deguello', but that doesn't seem to be the direction they want to go. I'll reserve judgement until I hear it, but it doesn't sound promising.
Where did you hear Rubin wants to take them back to the '80's sound? I've only heard he was looking at a Tres Hombres sound (but that appears to be rumour as I can't find anything to back it up). Here's what Billy said about the 15 songs he's demoed:
"We did everything from a black church gospel ballad to updated versions of 'Rollin' and Tumblin',' did some Jimmy Reed take-off things, just keeping that bluesy thread throughout. I think that as long as we maintain that blues tradition, the material takes on an identity that's easily digestible, at least in terms of what our fans have asked for."
The only input I can find that Rubin has given so far is this:
Gibbons says that Rubin has forwarded one idea -- hooking ZZ Top up with the Black Keys for some writing and possibly recording.
That's what I've heard Rev. They're going back to basics. And while I love ZZ Top in all its incarnations, from the stripped down sound of Tres Hombres to the straight up techno sounds on XXX, it is awesome to think of what Rubin wants to do with the band.
Keith wrote:ohiodawg13 wrote:I saw them in 1999 and they mailed it in, thank God Skynyrd was the opening act to make the night worth the effort. Saw them later in 2003 and they tore it up. Whether they're on or off on any given night it's still a party. I've got the DVD and it does have a few sluggish parts, but I'm glad to have it in my library. There are many other songs I'd have liked to hear in there too, like Drivin' While Blind.
More Fandango Days,
J Dawg
I agree, they're hit or miss sometimes. And I also agree, I would have much rather heard more of the older tracks performed live than their 80's hits, but what it is-is what it is. Good DVD, but the inclusion of earlier songs would've made it much better. I'm kind of disheartened though to hear that Rick Rubin, who's producing their upcoming album, wants to take them back to their 80's commercial sound. I was hoping for a return to something along the lines of 'Deguello', but that doesn't seem to be the direction they want to go. I'll reserve judgement until I hear it, but it doesn't sound promising.
Where did you hear Rubin wants to take them back to the '80's sound? I've only heard he was looking at a Tres Hombres sound (but that appears to be rumour as I can't find anything to back it up). Here's what Billy said about the 15 songs he's demoed:
"We did everything from a black church gospel ballad to updated versions of 'Rollin' and Tumblin',' did some Jimmy Reed take-off things, just keeping that bluesy thread throughout. I think that as long as we maintain that blues tradition, the material takes on an identity that's easily digestible, at least in terms of what our fans have asked for."
The only input I can find that Rubin has given so far is this:
Gibbons says that Rubin has forwarded one idea -- hooking ZZ Top up with the Black Keys for some writing and possibly recording.
From what I understand, due to 'Mescalero', their last album, only selling 100,000, and with that being more of a back to basics sound, Rubin is now wanting to bring them back to their commercial sound and restore them to having hits. So, as the 'Eliminator' era was their most successful, that's what he wants to do. Hopefully this idea will get scrapped, as the problem with 'Mescalero' wasn't that there weren't good songs on it, there was just too much filler. Take away the filler tracks and you would've had a great album. I would think that just by the virtue of having Rubin at the helm, and the successes he's had in recent years from Johnny Cash to Neil Diamond to the upcoming Metallica, just the attendant publicity will give the band a hit album as long as the songs are strong.
Everything I've heard though is that he wants to take them back to Tres Hombres. Everything he's produced recently (Cash, Neil Diamond) has been fairly stripped down. This is what he does. And trust me, Mescalero was not that back to basics. Crunchy anyone?
Everything I've heard though is that he wants to take them back to Tres Hombres. Everything he's produced recently (Cash, Neil Diamond) has been fairly stripped down. This is what he does. And trust me, Mescalero was not that back to basics. Crunchy anyone?
All I can tell you Deezer is what my sources have told me. Whether they're ultimately right or not (And I hope they're not) is up to conjecture at this point. I know the early word was that it was going to be stripped back, but that subsequently there was a switch in direction. As I said, I hope not, as the 80's ZZ Top, although it was the only direction they logically could've taken at that time and been successful, is my least favorite era of the band. Although looking back on it, with the success of SRV during that time, one would've thought they could've gone to a stripped down bluesy sound and still had the popularity. But who am I to argue with success? They became one of the icons of the decade so they definitely did something right.
Yes they did.
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