ZZ Top

Fandango!

***1/2. Good. Not great

Review Score:

(6/10)
"Fandango" is a bit of a missed opportunity in more ways than one.
When it was first released, two years after ZZ Top's big breakthrough album, "Tres Hombres", the band must either not have had enough quality material for a full LP, or they couldn't decide between a live album and a regular studio release.

Thus, "Fandango" is split between three live songs (well, seven, actually, since one is a medley) and six studio cuts. The live portion is so-so, with somewhat mediocre sound, a good "Thunderbird", a pretty good "Jailhouse Rock", and a bland medley of four songs. Too bad, since ZZ Top already had enough excellent material in their catalogue to warrant a full live album.

The studio material is generally good. Vintage ZZ Top, with huge blooze-n-boogie riffs from the great Billy Gibbons, and a truly superb rhythm section.
"Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings" is good without being excactly memorable, "Blue Jean Baby" is an excellent slow blues, and "Balinese" is a sturdy mid-tempo rock number.
The groovy blues shuffle of "Mexican Blackbird", sung by bassist Dusty Hill, is highlighted by some smouldering slide guitar from Gibbons, and it is followed by the hardest rocker on the album, "Heard It On The X". This song is often metioned as one of ZZ Top's greatest. It's not one of my favorites, though...too fast and without feeling or groove, and with a hectic guitar riff and drum figure that becomes annoying after a very short while.

The album does end on a high note, though, with the classic "Tush" which has all the deep-dug groove you could wish for. Classic 70s blues-rock.

All in all, "Fandango" is a good album which could have been great, but the live cuts are a wasted opportunity, and there are only a couple of truly great songs among the studio material (although nothing is actually bad).
It doesn't live up to its predecessor, though.

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