Billy Gibbons
Hardware
Concord Records
ZZ musician releases AAA solo album
Blues-rock music just wouldn’t be the same without ZZ Top and Billy Gibbons’ guitar and vocals. Five decades is a long time, but this Texan legend is still going strong. Hardware is just what you expect from the bearded-dude-of-cool as his 12 songs feature thick guitar riffs, pounding drums and vocals that growl and soar. Opener, My Lucky Card, grabs from the get-go – drop D-tuned guitars set the scene, the drums swing hard and the vocals roar with fire. Great slide guitar solo, too. With Matt Sorum on drums and Austin Hanks sharing guitar duties, there is a modern spark to some of the songs: More-More-More sounds vibrant with its grunge production, but the steady groove and thick guitars are classic Gibbons.
As all guitar fans know, a great blues-rock album isn’t complete without some swing, so tracks such as Shuffle, Step & Slide and the mysteriously smoky closer, Desert High, prove most appealing. Vagabond Man has quite a Hendrix vibe, from the chord progression to the clean-toned doublestop ornamentation. The twisting riff phrases of the catchy West Coast Junkie should perk up ears, as will the 50s rock ’n’ roll drum beat that taps into our nostalgia. As for I Was A Highway, the guitars on this evoke the ZZ vibe with considerable aplomb. He may think he’s bad, but he’s still rock’s principal sharp-dressed man to us! [JS]
Standout track: I Was A Highway
For fans of: ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers