FANDANGO, ZZ Top's fourth album, came out after five years of constant touring. With a studio/live format, it contained their first top-40 single ("Tush").

Also available with TRES HOMBRES on 1 cassette and as part of the ZZ Top 6 Pack.

This is ZZ Top's fourth album.

ZZ Top: Dusty Hill (bass guitar); Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons.

Personnel: Billy Gibbons (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, harmonica); Dusty Hill (vocals); Frank Beard (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Bob Ludwig.

Liner Note Author: Tom Vickers.

Photographer: Fin Costello.

While ZZ Top's early '70s studio albums were indeed great examples of the blues rock genre, the band's live shows were where the band really shined. On 1975's FANDANGO!, the trio issued an album that contained an 'in-concert' first side and a 'studio' second.

This was the album that catapulted ZZ Top to the summit of the '70s rock mountain, mainly due to the rowdy monster hit "Tush," which remains in rotation on rock radio to this day. Other highlights include the entire live turbo-charged first half ("Thunderbird," a cover of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock," and the near 10-minute long "Backdoor Medley"), as well as the studio rockers "Balinese" and "Heard It on the X."

Blessed with their first full-fledged hit album, ZZ Top followed it up with Fandango!, a record split between a side of live tracks and a side of new studio cuts. In a way, this might have made sense, since they were a kick-ass live band, and they do sound good here, but it's hard not to see this as a bit of a wasted opportunity in retrospect. Why? Because the studio side is a worthy successor to the all-fine Tres Hombres, driven by "Tush" and "Heard It on the X," two of their greatest songs that build on that album by consolidating their sound and amplifying their humor. If they had sustained this energy and quality throughout a full studio album, it would have been their greatest, but instead the mood is broken by the live cuts. Now, these are really good live cuts -- and "Backdoor Medley" and "Jailhouse Rock" were fine interpretations, making familiar songs sound utterly comfortable in their signature sound -- and Fandango! remains one of their better albums, but it's hard not to think that it could have been even better. [The 2006 reissue of the album adds three live tracks: "Jailhouse Rock," "Tush," and "Heard It on the X."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine