Deguello Arkansas

Deguello

ZZ Top

Warner Brothers Records, 1979

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/17/1998

Doesn't it seem a bit odd to think that in 1979 ZZ Top was in the process of releasing a "comeback" album?

After five moderately well-received albums and a top 20 hit in "Tush," the Texas trio took a hiatus in 1976 following a year-long world tour. Maybe they wanted to submerge themselves in their roots again, maybe they wanted just to kick back after a grueling tour - truth is, I dunno. But when Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard returned to the studio in 1979, they came back with a vengenace with Deguello, their best album to that point.

Their blues roots are very evident here, though ZZ Top always have gloried in the blues. "Dust My Broom" might be more electric than the original version by Robert Johnson, but this version is incredibly close to the bone. The slide guitar of Gibbons clinches it here; his leads are so fluid.

A few of the cuts on Deguello have become standard classic rock radio fare. "Cheap Sunglasses" is probably one of the best-known songs on this disc, and Gibbons's guitar work especially stands out, but it really isn't the best song on the disc. "I Thank You" shows its power in a more minimal arrangement, while "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" is just an average ZZ Top song.