Chrome Smoke & BBQ: The ZZ Top Box [Box set, Original recording remastered]

ZZ Top | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00006OYL5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,730 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: ZZ TOP
Title: CHROME SMOKE & BBQ: ZZ TOP BOX SET
Street Release Date: 10/14/2003
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Limited Edition" box set vs. standard box set....., January 10, 2004

By 

Big Chill "Big Chill" (Backwater, Woods) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chrome Smoke & Bbq: The Zz Top Box (Audio CD)

There are two box sets available for this Texas Top collection. I ordered the "limited edition" set which is an additional $18 after I looked on another site and read that the limited edition came with ZZ Top action figures which I thought might be fairly cool. After receiving my set I found out that the "action figures" are actually color paper cut outs of the band and a few things like BBQ Ribs and a picnic table, etc. So...the music is great with a few omissions that are detailed in other reviews. I just wanted people to know that the only difference between the limited edition and the standard set is color paper cut outs. If that is worth the additional pesos to you fine....after seeing them I really wish I hard ordered the other set. Great Jams though....

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BOXED TOP WELL WORTH THE PESO'S...., November 5, 2003

By 

D. TARVIN "critique" (Langley, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chrome Smoke & Bbq: The Zz Top Box (Audio CD)

Having been a ZZ Top fan since the beginning I can assure all those who worry about spreading the leather to shell out for this collection that all is good between these covers and well worth the investment. If you are a ZZ Top afficionato, then you will probably remember all too well the release of the "SIX PACK" a few years back, and the disappointment of finding that the much anticipated CD versions of their classic material had been re-mixed with a pile of reverb and a badly enhanced drum track. Well good news!! This collection includes all the original mixes that have been so long awaited by those who prefer their ZZ unmolested and pure. This in itself is probably reason enough to add this box to the collection, but the selection of tunes here are well chosen and reflect the Texas trio's best work over the decades.
The addition of Billy Gibbons pre-ZZ efforts add a historical flavor to this compilation, but the real meat and potatoes stuff is simply the ressurection of the original mixes on such eternal classics as 'LA GRANGE' and 'ARRESTED FOR DRIVIN' WHILE BLIND'.
'Ol Pearly Gates never sounded so good.
In a nutshell, this is essential listening for all those who want to take a 30 year Hot Rod road trip with a band who not only has one foot in the blues, but the other firmly in the door of the rock and roll hall of fame.
Kudos to the Reverend Willy G, Dusty and Rube for layin it down so tasty for all these years, and for puttin' back the tracks as they should be, and should always be.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Little Ole Band From Texas!, October 14, 2003

By 

J. E FELL "boogaloojef" (Carterville, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chrome Smoke & BBQ: The ZZ Top Box (Audio CD)

I would actually rate this new 4 cd box set 41/2 stars. This is arguably the best place for the uninitiated to began experiencing the joys of ZZ Top. The newly remastered 4 cd set is full of enough Texas blues/rock and boogie to get everyone's toes tapping. One of the best aspects of the set is that original mixes were used for the remastering of the earlier period material. Whether you remember ZZ Top from their seveties era hits (pre long beards)like the catchy John Lee Hooker rewrite "La Grange" or "Tush" or you are a fan of their MTV era hits like "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs" or "Sharp Dressed Man" you will find much to enjoy with this comprehensive retrospective. Early tracks like my own favorite "Jesus Just Left Chicago", "Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell" and "Blue Jean Blues" show that Billy Gibbons and his guitar Pearly never lost track of his blues influences. While uptempo rockers like "Bar-B-Q", "Thunderbird" and "Heard It On The X" never fail to excite. Gibbon's playing is always tasteful and his Texas influences permeate his songs. Diverse covers like "Viva Las Vegas", "I Thank You" and "Reverberation (Doubt)" prove that Billy and the boys were at home in covering number of genres. The mushmouth grungy vocals of Gibbons and Hill fit the songs like jalapeno peppers on nachos. Mid period tracks like "Cheap Sunglasses", "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" and "Tube Snake Boogie" hint at the massive success the band would experience with their Eliminator and Afterburner albums.

The rarities are a mixed bag, on the plus side are few cuts from Billy Gibbons pre-ZZ Top psychedelic band the Moving Sidewalks, the band's first non-lp single and a live version of "Cheap Sunglasses". The remixes and dance mixes are a waste of space in my opinion. Great tracks like "Back Door Love Affair", "Certified Blues", "Apologies To Pearly", "Low Down In The Street" or a cover of Elmore James "Dust My Broom" could have been added instead of the remixes. Even better would have been a disk of live outtakes from the "Fandango" album and more cuts from the concert from which "Cheap Sunglasses" was taken. It is also interesting that while a few tracks from the Moving Sidewalks Billy Gibbons pre-ZZ Top band were included no tracks were included from the band American Blues which contained both bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard along with Hill's brother Rocky before they joined ZZ Top. These quibbles aside anyone with more than just a passing interest in the Texas boogie of ZZ Top should snap this up pronto!