Ever since
ZZ Top signed with
RCA, they fitfully tried to break free of the synthesized
blues that once was their savior but quickly became a straitjacket. Like any addict, it was hard for them to quit that processed, sequenced sound cold turkey, so they weaned themselves off the robo-
boogie, sometimes relapsing and adding too many synths to mix, other times breaking loose with some credible
boogie. Apart from the misstep of 1999's
XXX, they showed signs of life on all their
RCA albums, and their fourth, 2003's long-delayed
Mescalero, is no exception to the rule.
Billy Gibbons' fat guitar tone really has some presence here, at least on some of the album, and there are enough rhythm tracks not performed to a didactic click track to provide some real swing. There are even moments that suggest
Gibbons' songwriting chops might be returning, such as the closing
"Liquor," the rampaging instrumental
"Crunchy," and the lithe
"What Would You Do." On these cuts, along with a cover of
Lowell Fulson's
"Tramp," ZZ Top sound like a worthy veteran act, returning to their strengths and building on them, although the rest of the record is pretty much devoted to by-the-books latter-day
ZZ Top. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
