Customer Reviews

Chrome Smoke & BBQ: The ZZ Top Box

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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....

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.

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!

This box hits the sweet spot for fans like myself; I wasn't interested in buying every album from their peak years, yet every album had something on it that I wanted. The "greatest hits" compilations out there only had their radio songs on it, and I certainly didn't need to hear those again, so I bought this box. I can say with no uncertainty that it was a good decision. There's alot of good stuff here, and the booklet is first class, as is the sound quality. It certainly wasn't cheap, but I don't feel short changed.

Thank goodness for this box set. It's not just that the song
selection (for the most part) is excellent, not just that the
"Moving Sidewalk" selections are (all three of them) great,
the main reason this box set is a must-have is.........
sound quality! Especially evident in the Tejas selections,
there is a night-and-day difference between the box set and
the Tejas CD...and for that matter ALL those "Six Pack" CDs...
this box set sound quallity is approximately 6 zillion times

better. Plus you get this cool "flip book" as an interesting
gimmick. This box set is worth every single penny. What
ZZ Top possesses is a deeply profound understanding of the true
essence of rock'n roll/boogie/Tex-Mex in an often staggeringly
beautiful manner. Can there be any doubt that Mr. Gibbons
"picked up" something cosmic from Mr. Hendrix when they toured
together?

Finally, good sounding ZZ Top on CD. This has almost everything you need. The only downfall is that they concentrated so much on the latter albums the first record has just a few tracks and really could have used more representation. Also, it probably could have been cut down to 3 CDs as well.

Otherwise, a fine set!

They've finally done it. Gone is the godawful reverb that dominated the ZZ Top Six-Pack. This is a beautiful crystal-clear remaster that replicates the original sound of the vinyl albums of yesteryear, and not the whim of some trendy sound engineer. They even restored the first couple of missing words from "Arrested For Driving While Blind," a pet peeve of mine from the first cd versions.

The remixes are a blowoff and could have easily been replaced by other album tracks, but that's a minor issue. The booklet is an excellent companion piece, covering the history of the band in depth and song-by-song discussions of each track (check out the story behind Blue Jean Blues).

This is essential ZZ Top. Don't miss out.

Billy Gibbon's guitar sounds so nasty and mean on this box set it's downright scary. For pure tone and harmonics Gibbons has no equal; he is arguably on of rocks best and most distinctive guitarists. The remastering job on this box brings out every nuance of his guitar sound in every song; far superior to any other release of these songs, in any other format. The songs themselves need no review. Just know they sound "way" better than the currently available individual cd releases. "Chrome Smoke & Bbq" puts the "ZZ Top Six Pack" release to shame; if you have it (Six Pack) you'll never listen to it again. I only have a few negative comments regarding this release (hence only the 4 stars): only two songs from the first album (no "Backdoor Love Affair" or "Shaking Your Tree"), the inclusion of the worst song ZZ TOP ever did "Heaven, Hell Or Houston" (way too many tracks from the weak "El Loco" album too) and only a handful of rare, unreleased or live tracks. I would have gladly paid an extra $10 for the addition of an entire rarities disc. My wet dream is a ZZ TOP box set containing each individual album, remastered from the original analogs (like this set) and a release of the complete live show from the Warehouse in New Orleans (all we have now is side one of "Fandango"). Until that day.... put your money to good use and add this box set to your cart now. If you are a fan of ZZ TOP, it is impossible for you to be disappointed with this set...it is finger lickin' good!

Even though this package is a bit pricey, each CD is packed with over 75 minutes of music, and the accompanying booklet is well-written, interesting and a good addition to the set.

The song selections are right on the money. For Tres Hombres and Fandango, for instance, the best songs were chosen and the lemons were left off of this compilation. One could quibble about including more from the First Album, but then choices had to be made. In general, every song on this compilation is enjoyable. A 5 or 6 CD set could easily have been released but this is an excellent sampling.

A couple of the other reviewers gave incorrect information which I'd like to correct. The version of Legs is the exact same version, down to the second, as appeared on their album Eliminator--it was not cut-off during a guitar solo as one reviewer erroneously stated. Also, another reviewer said that this compilation uses the "disco mix" releases of the early albums. The reviewer is wrong. This set uses a remastering of the original album releases, not the bogus rerecorded versions.

this boxset rocks!!! these are the original versions remastered, and they sound great!! the remixes (disc 4) are wild and it's great to hear some of that pre-zz top (moving sidewalks) the live version of "cheap sunglasses" is awesome (i wish they would release that whole concert on cd)if you like great boogie blues/rock n' roll, then you must pick this boxset up. if you only know zz top for what you hear on the radio, you've got some catching up to do..........enjoy and get it on