XXX (ZZ Top album)

The name of the album, according to Billboard columnist , anyone can evaluate as he pleases: “it can be a reference to the labeling of a certain type of film,beer labeling or the number of years the group spent together ” ^[1] . According to Billy Gibbons, “beer & sex saturate the album title”; also three letters can be considered a certain reference to the composition of a group of three people ^[2]

After the release of the album Rhythmeen , in June 1996, the group went on a world tour, performing for the first time in Africa. The tour ended only in October 1997. Then, during 1998, the group periodically performed in the south of the USA at small concert venues, in clubs, and participated in jam sessions. The result of this work was to be a full-length "live" album. However, during this work, the group accumulated new material, which was already performed during concerts and was periodically recorded at their studio in Houston. ^[3] Thus, the full-length "live" album did not take place again, and the new album, released on September 28, 1999, contained mainly new studio recordings (eight songs) and only four songs were recorded live in clubs in Los Angeles and Port- Arthur .

In general, the group did not move away from the blues trio concept; moreover, there were even accusations of being overly “raw”, without superimposing sound ^[4] (although some songs use, for example, an electric organ or a drum machine). During the world tour, Gibbons became interested in techno music, in particular, on the advice of hip-hopers who periodically recorded in their own studio, listened to the Belgian group Telex and this hobby also influenced the new album to a small extent. ^[5]

Overall reviews of the album were restrained or even negative. The reviewers tried to find advantages in particulars, for example, in the performing skills of the group members: “The lead guitar of Billy Gibbons with a burning and full-bodied sound, but almost minimalistic. This guy knows the price of a note. Bassist Dusty Hill doesn’t lose tact and both can still sing. And Frank Beard’s drums provide a solid boost to the band. ” ^[6] “ The guitars, with a gracious pitch from Billy Gibbons, are elegant and rich everywhere, with lots of wah-wah- effects and (in general) a wonderful sense of where the dirty distortion is appropriate and where it it’s necessary to postpone ... The rhythm section is always interesting, but it gets bogged down in places, trying to follow the leader’s sound, allowing Gibbons to dictate the pattern. Vocals for the most part are quite at the level, and in some places even better than at the level several times. ” ^[7] . But in general, the reviews converged in one thing: something on the album deserves attention, but in general it can hardly be called particularly successful. Within this framework, the album’s ratings ranged from the delicate “Their new release XXX covers hard and in many places, and fails just because it is shy to be really great, mostly because of a few weak tracks that sound like 1990 radio ballast -h " ^[7] to" Skip this hackneyed record, 1999 release XXX, if only because it's frankly disgusting. There is nothing, no songs, no jokes, and even playing the guitar is repetitive and dull. XXX is undeniably the worst ZZ Top album and even Afterburner was n’t around ” ^[8] . Between these positions there were also intermediate ones:

^[four]

Mark Prindle also noted that on this album “interesting ideas are scattered here and there” despite the fact that in general he speaks of the album as “Returning with the most ridiculously over-processed, super-fuzzy guitar, Billy In his crusade, Gibb teamed up with sucking blues rock with the now fuzz (!) Bass player Dusty Bill and the now-infected funk / hip hop drummer Frank Beers. ” ^[9]

Browser Allmusic.com , being disappointed in the anniversary album, concludes that the reason for everything is the success of the albums of the 1980s: Eliminator and Afterburner . “The real problem is that the band sacrificed a natural rhythm in favor of a uniform synthesizer pulse for a long time ... the great success of Eliminator made it hard for the band to refuse such a sound ... Each album of the 90s suffered because of this, but somehow, XXX makes the size of this damage truly obvious, perhaps because the album was supposed to be anniversary, and possibly because it ends with four tracks that were recorded live, but sound as processed as the previous eight studio tracks. There is no brutality, no sense of music, no drive in rhythm, and no joy in the game ” ^[10] . In fairness, some observers note the “live” part of the album, so The Daily Vault Music Reviews columnist, who generally rated the album low, said that “Surprisingly, this is the first time ZZ Top has successfully recorded live; I find the “living” part of Fandango! terrifying ” ^[4] . Mark Prindl does not share this point of view, saying that “the CD on its 30th anniversary has become one of the group’s most nightmare releases (especially the four“ live ”songs at the end that compete with Fandango! For the title“ Let's Finally Already Everything Is Where Let's sign up Live “”) ^[9]

The texts were also criticized. “The album almost sounds like ZZ Top forgot the magic words that turned early songs like these [Poke Chop Sandwich and Crucifixx-A-Flat] into fun hits. And sexual hints, such as those on 36-22-36, were pretty once, but now it sounds like three dirty old men dream of what was once ” ^[4]

The songwriters are Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.

• Poke Chop Sandwich 4:50

Poke Chop Sandwich ( Eng. Pork chop sandwich ). The song, in the name of which the word pork ("pork") is intentionally changed to a similar-sounding word poke , which has several slang meanings, including scabrous ones, is dedicated to Spider Kilpatrick, drummer Lightnin Hopkins , who used to play drums during performances or recordings a pork sandwich (moreover, when the sandwich prevented playing, Spider just laid it on his head). The song describes a typical recording scene of Spider and Lightnin ^[11] . According to the observer of Rolling Stone , the song is “a combo of prickly riffs and a juicy rhythm with a sly wink” ^[12] . Another reviewer said that the song is “clockwork, a little boogie track, with the signature components of ZZ Top: drums, bass, fuzz guitar plus relaxed vocals and unusual riffs” ^[13] . According to Mark Prindl, “an almost anti-dust opener” ^[9]

• Crucifixx-A-Flatt 3:59

Crucifixx-A-Flatt ( English Crucifixion ). As one observer noted, the song “only by name is holy” ^[2] ; the words “crucify”, “flatten” in the song are applied to a certain girl. “Quasi-industrial track ... it seems that it was an attempt by ZZ Top to try rap ” ^[13]

• Fearless Boogie 4:01

Fearless Boogie ( English Fearless Boogie ) “Extremely blues thing” ^[13] with a rock and roll theme. The song was well rated by the Allmusic.com reviewer, who noted that it was in this song that the group sounds natural, and it is strange that ZZ Top did not extend such sound to the entire album. ^[10] , received a rotation on mainstream radio stations. ^[one]

• "36-22-36" - 2:35

36-22-36 ( English 36-22-36 ). The name of the song is the parameters of the ideal (according to the performer) female figure in inches (approximately 91-56-91 in centimeters). “Starting with the blues harmonica, the song immediately turns into the fuzzy and pulsating guitar sound of the band” ^[13] Mark Prindl spoke of the song as: “Undoubtedly crappy, which nevertheless includes a sensible“ harmonic-fixed-to-infinite delay, "cunningly buried under vocals" ^[9]

• "Made into a Movie" - 5:13

Made into a Movie. “Melodious Polyphonic Blues”, one of two songs that deserve attention on the album according to Mark Prindl ^[9] . In the slow blues, the author says that he again met a woman, and such a story "could only happen in the movies." According to one opinion, the song would only have won (along with Trippin ' ) if it had been added another guitar ^[4]

• Beatbox 2:48

Beatbox ( eng. Boombox ). “A dynamic little song, which begins as if Blind’s number of Melon Chitlin , and then goes into the typical chorus of ZZ Top” ^[13] . This is the second (and last) song on the album that deserves attention according to Mark Prindl: “Amazingly catchy cool pop” ^[9] . The text of the song is an ode to the boombox .

• The Trippin ' - 3:55

Trippin '( English plump ). The chorus of the song sounds like a call: "let's go get drunk," or maybe "let's go get a trip ." “ Trippin sounds like it’s taken from Eliminator , but this can be ruled out because the guitar on it is too impudent to match the very commercial (and damn brilliant) Eliminator ” ^[13] . Mark Prindl spoke of the song as: “A terribly rotten piece of non-melodic slops, which for some unknown reason includes a superb hearing, processed with an echo / delay transition to an octave higher at the end of each vile chorus” ^[9]

• Dreadmonboogaloo - 2:36

Dreadmonboogaloo ( English Bugalu-guy-with- dreadlocks ). The album’s most controversial track, which reflected Gibbons’s fascination with techno music to the greatest extent. In general, a positive review of the album contains the following review:

^[7] .

At the same time, Mark Prindl’s devastating review notes that “Dreadmonboogaloo, which combines a restrained organ solo a la heroin chic , an electronic beat of drums, strong fuzzy guitar passages and samples from old television shows, is still not a valid result, but at least least funny and different from the rest! ” ^[9] . The track is almost instrumental, minimal text does not make much sense.

• “Introduction by Ross Mitchell ” - 0:34

Introduction by Ross Mitchell ( Eng. Ross Mitchell Introduction ). The beginning of the “live” part of the album in the form of a performance by Ross Mitchell, a famous American radio host recorded at one of the band’s performances.

• Sinpusher (live) - 5:18

Sinpusher ( Eng. Sin Merchant ). Clone song of Pincusion song from Antenna album. According to Billy Gibbons “it seems that such an option appeared at one of the concerts when I forgot the words [ Pincusion ]” ^[1] . Lyrics on behalf of a petty drug dealer, a sin dealer.

• “ (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear ” (live) ( Bernie Lowe , Cal Mann ) - 5:21

(Let Me Be Yours) Teddy Bear ( eng. (Let me be yours) Teddy Bear ). A cover version of the famous 1957 song performed by Elvis Presley ; here it is performed by Dusty Hill. The performance of ZZ Top “is more sinister than the well-known performance, but certainly arouses interest” ^[4]

• " Hey Mr. Millionaire " (live) - 4:14

Hey Mr. Millionaire ( English Hey Mr. Millionaire! ). The song, which demonstrates, along with the next “energy of the band’s live performances” ^[4] , was recorded with the participation of Jeff Beck as a guest. The general meaning of the song is that with ten cents in your pocket you can feel like a millionaire.

• Belt Buckle (live) - 4:05

Belt Buckle ( Eng. Buckle on the belt ). “The closing extravagant improvised jam” ^[2] . The song is about the “shiny day and night” belt buckle, the girl, and what the girl should do with this buckle.

Japanese Edition Bonus

• Ninja Shack (Gibbons) - 5:00

Ninja Shack

• Billy Gibbons - guitar , vocals
• Dusty Hill - bass , backing vocals
• Frank Beard - drums , percussion

• Jeff Beck - vocals on Hey Mr. Millionare

• Producer: Billy Gibbons
• Sound Engineer: Joe Hardy
• Sound Assistant: Gary Moon
• Mixing: Joe Hardy
• Mastering: Bob Ludwig
• Digital Processing: Brad Blackwood
• Record: Joe Hardy
• Artist: Bill Narum

Album

Singles

• XXX on Discogs
• XXX on the Rate Your Music website