ZZ Top Cinco: The First Five LPs (5LP 180 Gram Vinyl) June 9

Well, it is for me anyway. I think most people will at least agree that it is by far the best of the first five albums? The first two sound like quite tentative steps towards that first great achievement with only a couple of stand-out songs on each. I never got into Fandango at all whilst I recall Tejas got slated for their once-only (misstep?) foray into country music.

 

IMO the first 3 are gems but the first 2 are the best thing they ever did. Tres is great but there's something about the first 2.

 

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on Hurricane Damage, Houston-Area Concert

 

So I finally had a chance to go through my set (US) and all I can say is wow, it's fantastic. One difference I notice vs. originals is that on Tejas the vocals aren't quite as up front and my original is cut just slightly hotter but the new one still sounds great. Their First has that nice analog sound and Rio Mud is finally listenable (my original was shredded by someone's bad stylus). Tres Hombres is obviously a killer cut by SH (that bass!) and Fandango is a step up over the original. The live original just doesn't sound good to me (I have two clean originals in fact) and the studio side more than holds its own to the original. Fandango has a small amount of non-fill on the studio side but it doesn't seem to affect sound quality so it's entirely a keeper and highly recommended. No gimmick money grabs here.

 

About the EU version of this. What masterings are they and where was it pressed?

 

There is only one mastering, Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray did Tres Hombres and Fandango!, Chris Bellman did First Album, Rio Grande Mud and Tejas.

 

2014 European version on Discogs was not mastered by SH/KG.

 

I thought we were talking about Cinco...?

 

Sorry. Tres Hombres. But in the box set, I believe that's correct.

 

I thought it had been established earlier in the thread, that the mastering used was the same for both the US, and EU.
Only the pressings differed.

 

Thanks guys. Guess I didn't read the whole thread correctly.

MPO in the runout. Pressed in UK?

 

MPO is in France I think

 

Yes. Thanks.

 

Man I wish they'd out a full early 1970's live album or two. Even just give us a full show from The Warehouse in New Orleans (from the Tres Hombres tour) that was on Fandango. I'd love to also have a full 1976-77 Tejas tour. The clip of them doing Chevrolet from the Capital Centre in November 1976 is soooo good! It's still one of the biggest mysteries to me that a legendary band like ZZ Top who were killer in concert back then basically has 20 minutes of official live audio from back then. And I don't care about the 1980 tour. It's not the same. Billy's tone changed and they weren't doing the old covers in the set like they used to like in 1970-73. Plus you'd get more album tracks that were long since dropped.

 

What is just as much of a mystery is that there were never any bootlegs of any pre-1980 shows, it's hard to come up with another band active during the 70s that does not have at least one bootleg dedicated to them, and some bands, like Zeppelin, have had practically every show they played out there on a bootleg. With "bootlegs" I mean LPs or factory made CDs, produced to be sold, there have been 70s shows traded among collectors on tape/CD-r/downloads, these tape-traded shows are all quite bad audience recordings.

 

What on earth are you talking about? I disagree with everything you have stated. Tejas sounds nothing like country. Fandango is brilliant and the studio side is the best studio side they created. The vinyl sound significantly better than their counterparts. The first two are excellent and not tentative steps.

Argh I hate it when I get suckered in by a thread crap.

If you haven't bought this yet, what are you waiting for?!?!?

 

Well, "She's a Heartbreaker" is definitely a Country sounding song, what with the fiddle and twangy guitar solo and all, and some of the others also have a bit of a Country Rock sound to them, like "It's Only Love" and "Pan Am Highway Blues", but there's nothing wrong with that!

This is agree with though!

 

You spelled 'opinion' wring.

 

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FWIW, I disagree with everything you have stated. I'll let Allmusic settle this one!

 

More thoughts of the europe pressing? Any problems or is it all good?

 

Mine's good now but it took two boxes and a mix & match to achieve but now no issues with any of the pressings

 

Good to know!

 

I know we should support our local stores as much as possible and I do, but for things like this Amazon is the best bet IMO as it makes an expensive set like this more affordable and a no quibble returns policy whereas my local stores, on the occasions I've wanted to return vinyl, carry out a full inquisition and only then begrudgingly exchanged.

 

The first two albums are solid albums, but not what I'd call great albums. Tres Hombres was better than the first two and Fandango was about as good as they got. Tejas was more experimental in the sounds (Billy was using a cleaner Strat tone on a bunch of it) and there is definitely some country on Tejas. She's A Heartbreaker was absolutely ZZ Top attempting a country type tune complete with Billy playing fiddle and country style solo. On two other tracks, there is definitely some country added. Pedal steel-like sounds on It's Only Love (choruses) and on Pan Am Highway Blues, the solo has Billy playing pedal steel type licks (over a very hard rock rhythm) which gave both a little country flavor. That had been done in a similar fashion on the very first album with Somebody Else Been Shakin Your Tree (which was a pedal steel, not sure who played it). With three of the track on Tejas having a country flavor to them, it was a bit odd they'd all be on the same album and could easily be seen as a little departure, not mention Asleep In The Desert (now you have country AND western! which adds to that argument) and more clean guitar (like the solo on Enjoy And Get It On or the rhythm guitar in El Diablo).