Zz Top - Rancho Texicano - The Very Best Of (2004)

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Zz Top - Rancho Texicano - The Very Best Of (2004)

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From amazon.com
This mammoth thirty-eight track double CD compilation celebrates the Texan 'Tres Hombres' (Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard) long career which began in 1970. Taking in the best tracks from the southern fried blues rockers' extensive career, this album dips into albums such as 'Fandango','XXX', 'El Loco' and the logically titled 'ZZ Tops' First Album'. All the classics are here 'Gimme All Your Loving', 'Sharp Dressed Man', 'Viva Las Vegas' and the cult number 'Heard It On The X'.

Make no mistake, this is a fantastic collection of the band's years on the Warner Bros label and very good value for money. It would be a certain five star rating for me had it not been for some rather bizarre selections on the second disc. It's the last three tracks that are the root of the problem, all being alternative versions of tracks already included in the collection. The first is a good live version of "Cheap Sunglasses" but it doesn't differ enough from the studio version (on disc one) to warrant inclusion when there are so many gems that have been missed. And then there are two "remixes" - a "dance mix" of "Legs" and a "12' Mix" of "Velcro Fly". While perhaps the inclusion of one such track (just to acknowledge ZZ's attempt to crossover to dancefloor credibility) could POSSIBLY be acceptable, to do it twice is verging on the criminal! Basically rock music and extended remixes were rarely comfortable bed-fellows, if indeed the idea of the extending and distrorting a song beyond it's natural length was ever a good idea for anybody! These duplications waste precious time that could have been given over to "Need You Tonight", "T.V. Dinners" or the always overlooked "I've Got The Message" to name just a few glaring omissions. All songs that represent ZZ far better than this re-cycled dancefloor tosh. What would have been absoultely ideal would have been to include some of the band's post-Warner material, but I guess that might be a compilation for another day. However, what does make this collection so special is it's selection of the pre-"Eliminator" material. While you can always argue about the selections of compilations, for me personally the earlier years of the band are covered extremely well. You have to wait to track 24 (out of 38) before you reach "Eliminator", which gives you some idea of the balance. In fact I would say that the post "Eliminator" era is posibly better served by 2002s "Greatest Hits" album, but those looking for a more substantial review of the Warner catalogue will be in Texan heaven with this set. All in all fantasic stuff and so very close to being a truly definitive statement

From wikipedia.org
Zz Top Biography

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Zz Top - Rancho Texicano - The Very Best Of (2004)

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Zz Top - Rancho Texicano - The Very Best Of (2004)

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Zz Top - Rancho Texicano - The Very Best Of (2004)

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