Blessed with their first full-fledged hit album, ZZ Top followed it up with Fandango!, a record split between a side of live tracks and a side of new studio cuts.
In a way, this might have made sense, since they were a kick-ass live band, and they do sound good here, but it's hard not to see this as a bit of a wasted opportunity in retrospect.
Why? Because the studio side is a worthy successor to the all-fine Tres Hombres, driven by "Tush" and "Heard It on the X," two of their greatest songs that build on that album by consolidating their sound and amplifying their humor.
If they had sustained this energy and quality throughout a full studio album, it would have been their greatest, but instead the mood is broken by the live cuts.
Now, these are really good live cuts -- and "Backdoor Medley" and "Jailhouse Rock" were fine interpretations, making familiar songs sound utterly comfortable in their signature sound -- and Fandango! remains one of their better albums, but it's hard not to think that it could have been even better.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ThunderbirdFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | Jailhouse RockJerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | ZZ Top | Play | 01:56 | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| 3 | Nasty Dogs and Funky KingsFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 02:44 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 4 | Blue Jean BluesFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 22 MB |
| 5 | BalineseFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 02:36 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 6 | Mexican BlackbirdFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | TushFrank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 02:17 | 5 MB | 14 MB |
| 8 | Backdoor Medley_ Backdoor Love Affair _ Mellow Down Easy _ Backdoor Love Affa... | ZZ Top | Play | 09:51 | 22 MB | 66 MB |
| 9 | Heard In On The X | ZZ Top | Play | 02:25 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 10 | Heart It On The X (Live) (Bonus track) | ZZ Top | Play | 02:36 | 5 MB | 18 MB |
| 11 | Jailhouse Rock (Live) (Bonus track) | ZZ Top | Play | 01:52 | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| 12 | Tush (Live) (Bonus track) | ZZ Top | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 272 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Beard | Composer, Drums |
| 2 | Robin Brian | Engineer |
| 3 | John Dekalb | Photography |
| 4 | Willie Dixon | Composer |
| 5 | Billy Gibbons | Composer, Guitar, Harmonica, Slide Guitar, Vocals |
| 6 | Bill Ham | Album Concept, Composer, Producer |
| 7 | Dusty Hill | Bass, Composer, Vocals |
| 8 | Terry Kane | Engineer |
| 9 | Jerry Leiber | Composer |
| 10 | Bob Ludwig | Engineer |
| 11 | Terry Manning | Engineer |
| 12 | Bill Narum | Design |
| 13 | Jim Reeves | Engineer |
| 14 | Mike Stoller | Composer |
| 15 | ZZ Top | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |