![Sharp Dressed Men: a Tribute to Zz Top]()
| ZZ Top's twangy, hyper-charged Texas-style blues-rock has always been superficially irresistible--all blazing guitar riffs and driving rhythms. Yet on the tribute album Sharp Dressed Men, country artists such as Lonestar, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr and his son, Hank III, not only manage to match the blistering, guitar-driven abandon of ZZ's original versions, but also imbue them with a measure of bluesy soulfulness. Some listeners will probably be surprised to discover that these familiar songs do actually have lyrics, since the ZZ boys tend to bury them under a ton of metal. While some of these covers are less than memorable, quite a few are outstanding. Along with the aforementioned artists, Brooks & Dunn (on "Rough Boy"), Alan Jackson ("Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell"), and Andy Griggs ("I Need You Tonight") also evoke a tough tenderness that's often obscured when the Topsters slip their sleek hit-making formula into hard-rockin' overdrive. --Bob Allen |
|
