ZZ Top: Tejas : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

With Tejas, ZZ Top moves ahead slightly from their madcap boogies to a more sophisticated sound. "El Diablo" opens with a simple blues riff that could have come from an old Lightnin' Hopkins or Robert Johnson record. After two quick vocal choruses, Billy Gibbons' terse guitar break sounds inspired more by John McLaughlin than Hopkins. Frank Beard's Cobham-inspired double-bass drumming moves beneath Dusty Hill's laconic bass notes. This is new stuff for ZZ, and not predicted by the group's first four albums.

What's going on here? Certainly not an outright break with the traditions they draw from—ZZ's roots are still John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Albert Collins, along with rock interpreters like Johnny Winter and early Steve Miller. But they're experimenting more and the playing is growing.

Expanding the form without disturbing their energy may be tricky, though. When they cut "La Grange" on their third album in 1973, the forceful playing, especially by Gibbons, covered the fact that the tune was a three-chord simpleton dating back 30 years or more. Now that they're exploring unfamiliar ground, some of the songs lose steam.

"Asleep in the Desert" sounds like a Clint Eastwood sound-track, and the country tune, "She's a Heartbreaker," has woefully thin lyrics. But, renewing older styles as they incorporate innovations, ZZ Top uses their roots not as something to leave behind but as a solid block to build upon. Tunes like "El Diablo" and "Arrested for Driving While Blind" bode well for spreading and elevating the tradition.