ZZ Top
(Warner Bros.)
Even the liner notes reference the infamous "paradigm shift" that led so many rockists of the '80s to dismiss this Texas trio's multi-platinum breakthrough as a sell-out, when in retrospect, it pretty much just sounds like ZZ Top. If Frank Beard's beat on "Gimme All Your Lovin" feels like something someone could have sampled from a Donna Summer record, so does "Train In Vain." And either way, there's no mistaking Billy Gibbons' raunchy blues guitar work for a desperate bid at MTV exposure, even if the rhythm does hit more like Power Station's cover of T. Rex's "Bang a Gong" than their earlier singles.
What made the album a hit were the hooks, which are tasty and tight, and the video babes, who had to leave a large percentage of a certain generation dreaming of those very adjectives. The other giant MTV hits - "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" - have held up just as well, despite the bubbling disco grooves and subtle New Wave synths that ALWAYS take a backseat to Gibbons' guitar. And "Got Me Under Pressure" would have been a massive single too if they'd have made another Playboy-friendly video for that one.
It's the tracks that play it closer to the vest that leave you wanting more, from the slow-burning blues of "I Need You Tonight" to the truly regrettable, AC/DC-esque "I Got The Six," in which Gibbons is left to his own devices when a date won't give him all her lovin', shrugging it off with a goof-rock shout of "Guess I'll have to spank my monkey." Really. Hopefully, he had the bonus DVD, which features all three softcore videos as well as the far less seductive promotional clip to "TV Dinners." Don't remember that song? You would if they'd brought in the video vixens.
Standout Tracks: "Gimme All You Lovin" (the video version), "Got Me Under Pressure" A. WATT
