Customer Reviews

Tres Hombres

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

After years of only being able to get the bogus remixed and re-recorded versions of the first 6 ZZ records, Rhino has finally begun issuing the Top back catalog (Tres Hombres and Fandango so far) faithfully restoring the original mixes of these classic records. The fact that these fine records were altered to begin with is a complete travesty. I had to resort to burning the original vinyl as CDs because of the previous butchery and doctoring of these vintage 70's recordings. But now the original mixes are finally available and they sound incredible. Tres Hombres has one of the best mixes of a hard rock album from the early 70's anyway, and to hear it in remastered digital form is an almost religious experience. Fandango sounds just as good, with a little more top end to the recording. I hope Rhino doesn't delay releasing the other 4 albums along with Deguello in original mix, remastered form. I can't wait to hear them. So if you are considering buying any of the first 7 ZZ Top CD's, only buy the 2006 remastered, original mix version of Tres Hombres and Fandango, and wait until the others get released in the same format. You'll be glad you waited and saved your money, I can't emphasize enough how terrible the previous releases of these CD's sounded.

ZZ Top's Tres Hombres is a classic rock album, perhaps one of the all-time best. I consider it ZZ Top's best album, being the finest representation of their sound and containing their highest-quality material as far as both performances and songwriting are concerned. Their second album, Rio Grande Mud is almost as good, however Tres Hombres gets an edge because the songs are more instantly memorable and are all high quality. There is not a single weak moment on Tres Hombres. Every cut is top notch. There's quite a bit of variety too, from the mid-tempo blues of Jesus Just Left Chicago to the hard rock of Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers to the Memphis soul of Hot, Blue and Righteous to the John Lee Hooker boogie of La Grange. Even lesser known album cuts like Precious and Grace, Shiek and Master of Sparks are excellent. Forget the compilations, if you're looking for the absolute best of the Little Old Band from Texas, look no further. Tres Hombres is it. It is an essential album than any fan of blues-oriented rock and roll needs to have.

Finally after many years, the original sound mix is available on CD. This new remastered edition eliminates the horrible 1980s remix which piled on echo and fake drums, completely ruining the raw, bluesy feel of the original album. Finally, that mistake has been corrected to the delight and relief of ZZ Top fans everywhere. It's just too bad that it took over a decade for it to happen. The new CD sounds great and includes very informative liner notes giving background information on the recording of the album, as well as three live bonus tracks.

Now, as for the bonus tracks. They're great and I'm very glad they were included, but as was the case with Fandango they simply left me wanting more. Any live ZZ Top material is much appreciated as this is one thing sadly lacking from the Top catalog. Until now, the live side of Fandango was the only live representation that the band had (except for a couple of live cuts on the XXX album from 1999). The live tracks on Tres Hombres are very good. They are obviously not from the era in which the album was recorded. They sound like they were recorded in the '90s or even 2000s perhaps. That's okay, though. It's still ZZ Top live. Waitin' on the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago and La Grange are solid staples of the band's live repertoire and it's great to hear them in concert setting. The only disappointing thing is that there are only three of them. I want much, much more. A whole album of ZZ Top live tracks would be awesome, particularly if it consisted of tracks recorded in the '70s. They're such a great live band, they truly deserve a live album. Hopefully, someday soon Warner will open up the archives and pull out some of those live recordings that are just sitting there gathering dust.

In summary, if you could own only one ZZ Top album, Tres Hombres should be the one. I would also recommend Rio Grande Mud, Fandango, Deguello and Rythmeen. If you're going to buy Tres Hombres make sure that you get the new remastered CD with the original mix restored. Avoid the old one at all costs. Or else just get it on vinyl.

...charges should be laid against those responsible for talking a fantastic album of this calibre and "neutering" it to the point of making it into a "new and improved"??? better sounding album for the musically deprived!

I owned this on 8-track tape 25 years ago, and trust me, this is not the same album! I just purchased this cd and the first thing I noticed was the hollow, "tecno-pop" type sound of the drums on the entire album. I have proof that new tracks were laid down for the song "La Grange" because on ZZ Top's 2nd Greatest Hits compilation, it includes the new "remastered" version, and its different than the version from the 1st Greatest Hits album.

Well it appears to me that someone in their infinite wisdom said "hey, lets clean up the whole album"? Also, throughout the entire cd, you can hear blatant changes to the songs right down to the vocals which again were re-done in most instances. A perfect example of this comes from the opening of "Jesus Just Left Chicago". In the original version, Gibbons does not over-emphasize "Chicaaaaagggooo" in the 1st verse as he does here.

Add to this the softening of many of the original guitar licks and chords. In the "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers" tune, it's bad enough that we have to contend with "tin pan- electro synth" type drum sounds, but the edge has been taken off of Gibbons
wailing guitar. Proof of this exists if you own the 1st Greatest Hits album and listen to the version included here compared with the new cd version.

I dare you to put the two of them on and play each song that is included here with the new and improved "La Grange"cd. It doesn't take a genious to hear the difference, and the drastic changes made to this once classic and superb sounding album is a crying shame.

Ohhhh if only I had kept my 8-track tapes.
As a previous reviewer states, find this one on vinyl if you can.

Let me start of saying I think this one of ZZ's real breakthrough albums. Its a great listen from stem to stern. Billy Gibbon's guitar seems to hit the right note at always the right time. The band just has this swagger. You can tell they are at thier zenith enjoying what they are doing.

I have the original vinyl LP's of the 1st 3 albums. The sound on these releases is great. Its what made them recognizible worldwide before Eliminator.

I don't know why in the 1990's it was decided by the band to try to "update" the sound of these early albums. They really made a bad call on this. Tampering with the sound electronically, has made them sound like they are playing in some cheap bar with a bad sound system. Its a shame for newer fans to hear what was once a beautifully raw, 3 piece blues/rock recording now to a overly echoy electroniclly altered sound. This just simply isn't what ZZ top was in the 1970's.

If you love ZZ's early stuff as I do. Let the band know at ZZtop.com that you want at the original masters made avaible again in some form to us. At the moment the only place I know of to get the original mixes on CD of some of the songs is the first greatist hits package that was all their 1970's material.

Until they reissue the original mastering, I'll just have to listen to my Vinyl LP's I had professional converted to CD so I can listen to ZZ before they unwisely altered these recordings.

There ain't nothin quite like sitting down after a long workday, pouring myself a long, tall cold one and sitting down to my Tex-Mex audio feast of ZZ Top's classic Tres Hombres album. From the beautifully dark wah-drenched solo in Waiting For the Bus to the trippy, bongo-backed rhythm that is Shiek, the result is truly one of the finest crafted rock albums of all time. Sadly enough, PLEASE choose carefully when making your purchase, for when this album was remastered for compact disc, the rhythmic tightness was all but lost in a sea of electronics, with the drums sounding more like a track from a Bananarama ballad than an actual 1970s Texas blues-based-playing-to-packed-beer-soaked-taverns-7-nights-a-week band. Chalk it up under "It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time" on behalf of the label, but times have changed, and I know I speak for the majority of ZZ fans who agree that the 1970s era albums (or is it 1980s? I'm still not sure!) deserve to be preserved in their original integrity and re-released with the original, bare-bones, untarnished tracks. I'm hoping it's only a matter of time before Bill, Dusty and Frank come to their senses and make this possible, for their 1970s masterpieces deserve to be heard as they intended, as unpretentious as the music itself.

I LOATHE the remixed sound of this album. Here in Dallas, we have two stations that play this song. One plays the original version and when this new station came on, I heard what sounded like a studio modeled piece of crap from the 80's. Not until tonight when I read these reviews did I realize they did exactly that. Remixed it in the 80's... for heaven knows what reason.

Get the original version in a secondhand store, for this one truly sucks.... It stinks that you can't get their arguably best album in it's original form. I'm really bummed out now.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY UNTIL ZZ TOP REALIZE WHAT A MISTAKE THEY MADE BY DOING THIS AND FIX THE PROBLEM!!!

The only way to have this release until now was on vinyl. The CD release before this had been tampered with to give it more of a modern/dance tone - and was not the real thing at all. This release finally remasters from the original tapes and it sounds great. Good bonus live tracks too.

The remixing of this great album is atrocious. I bought Tres Hombres on cassette hoping that the remix was limited to the CD only. Much to my dismay, I was wrong. The same fake drums are to be found on the cassette tape as well. Please Warner, remaster this and the rest of ZZ Top's 70's albums and restore the original sound mixes!!! The echo and synthesized drums may have been cute in 1987 but are all but irrelevant and detract from the quality of the music today.

So many classic albums are getting the treatment they deserve with remastering for better sound quality and extras such as bonus tracks, liner notes and photos. Warner should really get with the program and reissue these great albums with proper remastering and restoration of the ORIGINAL sound mix.

As for the album itself, it's great. ZZ Top truly perfects their mix of rock and Texas blues. As good as Rio Grande Mud was, Tres Hombres is even better. It's a truly classic blues- rock album. Unfortunately other than the vinyl record, you won't be able to find the original mix. Soon, hopefully, Warner will FINALLY remaster Tres Hombres and all of Top's early albums.

Beware!!! When This Album Was Released On CD In The Early 90's They Used The Remixed Version That Appears On The ZZ Top Six Pack Compilation. In Todays Music World It's A Horrid Representation Of A Great Classic Rock Album (It, And The First Album, Rio Grande Mud, Fandango, Tejas & El Loco All Sound Like "Eliminator" & "Afterburner" Clones. Go To Your Nearest 2nd Hand Store And Find Them On Vinyl or Cassette. Until Then We Can Only Hope ZZ Top & Warner Bros. Get Their Act Together, Hmmmm...Calling Rhino Records?

Short version: Great music, but go buy "Chrome, Smoke and BBQ" instead--it has most of these tracks, and it's a much better mix.

Long Version: ZZ Top, the band I have loved since their peak over twenty years ago, are a tough band to love. Don't get me wrong; I was robot-dancing to Eliminator, trying to pretend that "TV Dinners" was some sort of post-modern culture reduction, but these boys have really scraped the bottom in terms of sound and vision, so I don't fault anyone who scoffs at the mention of their name.

But "Tres Hombres" is a wonder, a glory to behold. A treasure, right along side Exile on Main Street, Exodus, or Swordfishtrombones. This album contains the best treatment of the ubiquitous :La Grange" guitar lick probably ever in a studio, and several quiet wonders, such as "Hot, Blue and Righteous," "Master Of Sparks" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago." This is one of those albums that just plays well all the way through, so if you want to spend a great hour, reassemble the "Tres Hombre" tracks.

There was a rush during the late 80s to get everything under the sun onto disk, and a lot of cut-rate, dodgy productions were released, often with great fanfare. This CD was one of those dodgy rush jobs. And to make matters much, MUCH worse, ZZ Topp's drummer, Frank Beard, got head-over-heels involved in synthetic drum sound production--which as you may recall with a shudder enjoyed popularity in many music genres in the 80s--and it tweaked his brain, as it tweaked many a brain.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to remaster "Tres Hombres" and replace the wonderful existing natural drum track with a computerized drum track. As in Kraftwerk drums, as in Boing Boom Chock. The result is a mess I can't even listen to.

The new release of "Chrome, Smoke and BBQ" has the original drum track replaced, and it all sounds so great. I've even learned a new few lovelies.