The Album Review Club - Week #146 - (page 1935) - Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen

[threespires]

It's very interesting reading the comments on here. Plenty of comments about "I didn't like album X but album Y is much better" or the earlier and later stuff is much better than the MTV-era stuff.

Has nobody spotted that, at best, there's only ever a little variation in their sound? Most of their albums (that I've heard) follow the same template, occasionally throwing in a bit of synth or sequencing, but it's primarily Texas boogie, fuzz guitar with drums and bass.

Can't really argue with that analysis but my point was more that I'd dismissed them at the time they became 'famous' and despite developing a love of music adjacent to theirs I'd had no cause or inclination to listen to them since. However, this thread has given me a nudge to do so in the same way it's prompted me to catch up on some 90s music I missed out on.

That said I do think on first listen to some of their earlier stuff that it is more engaging than their big hits though I do accept that might be as much production style/the amount of hardware thrown at it, as opposed to substance.

 

[RobMCFC]

I’m going to say it - I’ve listened to a few more of their albums the last two days on the back of this nomination, and whilst there are decent songs throughout, Eliminator is still their best album.

Rio Grande Mud was a good early album.

Tres Hombres was listed as their best album on Ultimate Classic Rock, but I didn’t think it was quite as good as some others.

To be fair, I can see why BennyBoy might like El Loco - it wasn’t my favourite, but to my ears, it did sound a little different to most of their other stuff.

But “Gimme All Your Lovin’”, “Under Pressure” and “Sharp Dressed Man” are really hard to beat as songs.

 

[journolud]

This was OK to listen to while at the gym this morning and a couple of the tracks are familiar, I presume they were singles. I think we can nearly all agree about Manci Mechanic which is a bit of a stinker but for the rest of it they don't seem to take themselves too seriously, in fact I'd always had them marked as a bit of a novelty band. Way too early to score but can't see me loving it.

 

[Coatigan]

Pretty much JJ Cale with bigher beards, heavier hands, and huskier voices, no?

 

[OB1]

This was OK to listen to while at the gym this morning and a couple of the tracks are familiar, I presume they were singles. I think we can nearly all agree about Manci Mechanic which is a bit of a stinker but for the rest of it they don't seem to take themselves too seriously, in fact I'd always had them marked as a bit of a novelty band. Way too early to score but can't see me loving it.

They have a sense of humour.

As mentioned before, Billy Gibbons is also a sharp minded man.

 

[OB1]

I gotsa laugh. The advert showing alongside this thread on my computer is for Ray-Ban Wayfarers.

 

[GornikDaze]

They have a sense of humour.

As mentioned before, Billy Gibbons is also a sharp minded man.

As well as sharp dressed! ;)

He just happens to be a brilliant guitarist as you referred to in your earlier post. Over the years he’s played with the best. As he’s got older, it’s funny how the best always want to play with him. Maybe he’s actually rather good

 

[RobMCFC]

Degüello – ZZ Top

1986. The year I started listening to music and buying albums. I don’t know if anybody remembers, but that summer, BBC2 had a Saturday night where they devoted a whole evening to pop and rock videos.

Among the treats on offer were ZZ Top’s classic videos for “Gimme All Your Lovin”, “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs”. The cars and the girls and the sound of that guitar were enough to get me to rush out and buy Eliminator soon afterwards. I also bought Afterburner, which meant that ZZ Top had the distinction of being in a very small number of bands who I owned more than one vinyl by, because I converted to CDs later that year.

A few years later, I bought Recycler and later again a very good best of ZZ Top double CD.

Anyway, that’s my ZZ Top history, so I was quite pleased when Degüello came up for review, because I knew that it would be something that I could get into pretty quickly.

Two cover versions here: “I Thank You” (one of the best tracks) and “Dust My Broom”, but they are both good performances.

“I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” is a great song, a good old Texas boogie that has a nice long instrumental outro on it. The best of the rest are: “A Fool for Your Stockings” (some atmospheric slow blues), “Cheap Sunglasses”, and “Esther Be the One”, but they aren’t much different to the others, which perhaps illustrates why ZZ Top are so loved by some and disliked by others.

Apart from “Manic Mechanic” – which is definitely in the novelty category, but I actually quite enjoyed it – the rest of the songs are a mix of good old rock and roll and blues, which makes for a pleasant and easy listen.

One other note: this album has a fantastic cover – definitely their best.

On the back of this nomination, I also listened to: Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres, El Loco, and La Futura. I’d say that Degüello sits near the higher end of the pile in terms of enjoyment, but still nothing beats Eliminator for me.
Having taken all of this in, I think that due to the similarity of a lot of their music, ZZ Top are definitely one of those bands that you only really need best-of album.

This is a 7/10 all day long for me. It’s easy to listen to, the blues riffs are enjoyable, the performances are good, but there’s nothing that really hits me like “Gimme All Your Lovin’” or “Sharp Dressed Man”.

I’ve enjoyed having a ZZ Top week, so thanks to @GornikDaze for the nomination.

 

[GornikDaze]

Degüello – ZZ Top

1986. The year I started listening to music and buying albums. I don’t know if anybody remembers, but that summer, BBC2 had a Saturday night where they devoted a whole evening to pop and rock videos.

Among the treats on offer were ZZ Top’s classic videos for “Gimme All Your Lovin”, “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs”. The cars and the girls and the sound of that guitar were enough to get me to rush out and buy Eliminator soon afterwards. I also bought Afterburner, which meant that ZZ Top had the distinction of being in a very small number of bands who I owned more than one vinyl by, because I converted to CDs later that year.

A few years later, I bought Recycler and later again a very good best of ZZ Top double CD.

Anyway, that’s my ZZ Top history, so I was quite pleased when Degüello came up for review, because I knew that it would be something that I could get into pretty quickly.

Two cover versions here: “I Thank You” (one of the best tracks) and “Dust My Broom”, but they are both good performances.

“I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” is a great song, a good old Texas boogie that has a nice long instrumental outro on it. The best of the rest are: “A Fool for Your Stockings” (some atmospheric slow blues), “Cheap Sunglasses”, and “Esther Be the One”, but they aren’t much different to the others, which perhaps illustrates why ZZ Top are so loved by some and disliked by others.

Apart from “Manic Mechanic” – which is definitely in the novelty category, but I actually quite enjoyed it – the rest of the songs are a mix of good old rock and roll and blues, which makes for a pleasant and easy listen.

One other note: this album has a fantastic cover – definitely their best.

On the back of this nomination, I also listened to: Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres, El Loco, and La Futura. I’d say that Degüello sits near the higher end of the pile in terms of enjoyment, but still nothing beats Eliminator for me.
Having taken all of this in, I think that due to the similarity of a lot of their music, ZZ Top are definitely one of those bands that you only really need best-of album.

This is a 7/10 all day long for me. It’s easy to listen to, the blues riffs are enjoyable, the performances are good, but there’s nothing that really hits me like “Gimme All Your Lovin’” or “Sharp Dressed Man”.

I’ve enjoyed having a ZZ Top week, so thanks to @GornikDaze for the nomination.

Glad you enjoyed it Rob. Going back to the one of the original ideas for this thread, it was to nominate an album and say why it means so much.
This was the album that got me into ZZ Top all those years ago, which was the main reason I picked it. It’s interesting that you go forward from this to Eliminator and and all those associated tunes. I can listen to that, but I always go the other way and the earlier the better for me.
If this has provoked a debate about life before Eliminator and it gets people listening to other stuff they enjoy then that for me is the success of the thread.
I nearly chose a Black Keys album for similar reasons, for those that think Lonely Boy and nothing before that, but maybe that is for another day.

 

[RobMCFC]

Glad you enjoyed it Rob. Going back to the one of the original ideas for this thread, it was to nominate an album and say why it means so much.
This was the album that got me into ZZ Top all those years ago, which was the main reason I picked it. It’s interesting that you go forward from this to Eliminator and and all those associated tunes. I can listen to that, but I always go the other way and the earlier the better for me.
If this has provoked a debate about life before Eliminator and it gets people listening to other stuff they enjoy then that for me is the success of the thread.
I nearly chose a Black Keys album for similar reasons, for those that think Lonely Boy and nothing before that, but maybe that is for another day.

Yes, the reason why you picked it came through from your excellent write-up, and that is indeed the kind of reasoning that works well on this thread, helping others understand your emotional investment in an album.

I think often, it is your first exposure to an artist that hits you the most strongly - and stays with you. Eliminator did that for me. I don't play it much anymore, but in that first year or so, it was an important album for me.

Listening to all those albums now, I definitely prefer the earlier, rawer stuff - Deguello and Rio Grande Mud over albums like Afterburner and Recycler. But when I say "raw", I still stick by my comment that there's not a massive difference pre- and post-Eliminator. They never seems to do any acoustic blues on their albums and it's all very fuzzy, A songs like "Cheap Sunglasses" would sound right at home on Eliminator.