Tres Hombres

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Fandango! is the early Top classic. It's all killer, no filler, even if half of it is live. Any record with "Tush" and "Heard It on the X" deserves its classic rock status. Tres Hombres doesn't quite match its rep: "Jesus Just Left Chicago" is back porch blues made for the arena, "La Grange" kicks open the door of the whorehouse, and "Waitin' for the Bus" is the best James Gang impression by a band actually from Texas. But the rest doesn't have Fandango!'s nerve or El Loco's sophomoric wit, which is what every band needs when the gimmick starts to run dry. --Robert Wilonsky

Tracks:

Waitin' For The Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
Master Of Sparks
Hot, Blue And Righteous
Move Me On Down The Line
Precious And Grace
La Grange
Shiek
Have You Heard?
Waitin' For The Bus (Live)
Jesus Just Left Chicago (Live)
La Grange (Live)

Album Description

One of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll bands ever to strut the 50 States, these sharp-dressed Texas titans-Billy F. Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill-are a righteously hell rain' power trio boasting a 30-plus year hit-making legacy, both in the studio and at concert arenas. With their revved up blues 'n' boogie, they always make the most of their Texas birthright with with a distinctive sound that shakes up rock, blues, soul, garage-funk, Americana, and more. Nowhere is their force of nature musicianship better displayed than on these two album classics, revved up wtih red-hot bonus rarities. "You know what I'm talkin' about...an how how how how."

Customer Reviews:

Everything's alright..........2007-06-09

Along with Fandango!, Tres Hombres is essential ZZ Top. There is one fantastic song after another on this recording, and while the FM staples might be what lures many in, it is the lesser known songs that sink the hook firmly in place. Precious and Grace, Hot, Blue, and Righteous, and Master of Sparks are all excellent songs that many have not heard before. The stinging, tasteful, and concise guitar work of Billy Gibbons can never be undervalued and perhaps one of the finer qualities of this master is how he never overplays. The band is always tight and razor sharp and this is an album that I never tire of. This is not only an essential Top album, it is a vital part of any rock fan's collection. ZZ Top is one of America's best bands and this brilliant cd demonstrates why.

Top's 1st Breakthrough (second being Eliminator).......2007-04-24

This is where Top buckled down, got their sound straightened out, and focused on delivering one killer blues-rocker after another. Yeah, they had done so before with Rio Grande Mud (another good one), but this was a tighter, better album. Which is why it produced the group's breakthrough hit, the dirty-voiceover-meets-Hip Shake-riff-meets-stellar-guitar-solo La Grange. It didn't break the Top 40, but it came close enough and is today justly a classic rock radio staple. Speaking of which, I assume you've also heard cuts like Waiting for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago and Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers. Both songs are essential ZZ. Scorching, brilliantly simple blues-rock. Actually, that's what the whole album's like, so if you like those you shouldn't forget about Master of Sparks, Move Me on Down the Line or Precious and Grace. Those seven are good enough to make this ZZ's best album ever. But it's second to Deguello because some of it isn't very impressive - Hot Blue and Righteous could be my least favorite classic-era ZZ Top song, I don't know. But I'm not a fan of it. Ballads never were Top's strong suit in the first place. I'm not exactly blown away by Shiek or Have You Heard Either. But this should belong to anyone who appreciates the little ol' blues band from Texas.

zz top tres hombres.......2007-03-28

great to hear it again. always wanted to buy it again. brings back memories.the first 3 albums were the best.jojo

Captures the ZZ Top spirit.......2007-03-26

If you want one ZZ Top album to capture their spirit, it's not Eliminator, it's Tres Hombres. La Grange captures their classic Texas shuffle in a song that's become a movie soundtrack staple. Waitin' for the Bus and Jesus Just Left Chicago are outstanding songs in their own right - the slide from one to the other is one of the smoothese medley transitions in rock. 2 great old school blues tunes fused together. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers captures the rowdy side of the band, while Hot, Blue and Righteous shows their love of the classic auto. Truly a definitive work of ZZ Top.

FINALLY! The original mix for this classic album has been restored!.......2007-03-12

Having grown up with this album on vinyl, I've been consistently disappointed with all the CD releases of this gem. Buried under overdubs and mountains of reverb (most noticeable on the drums), somebody should've been smacked around for allowing the CDs to be released. With this re-issue, they finally got it right: crisp, immediate, in your face. Exactly what I remember from the vinyl but cleaned up. While the added live tracks are a welcome addition, the sound quality isn't the best. Nonetheless, this remains, in my opinion, ZZ Top's best work and a must-have.

Average customer rating:

NOT THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS!!
Did you ever hear of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"?
Garbage Remix With 80's Gimmickry
Here's an incredibly beautiful blues/rock album that was ruined with the remaster...
5 out of 5 for the music.....as for the production

Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Southern Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Fandango!
Rio Grande Mud
Degüello
ZZ Top's First Album
Tejas

ASIN: B000002KJQ
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Waitin' For The Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
Master Of Sparks
Hot, Blue And Righteous
Move Me On Down The Line
Precious And Grace
La Grange
Shiek
Have You Heard?

Amazon.com essential recording

Fandango! is the early Top classic. It's all killer, no filler, even if half of it is live. Any record with "Tush" and "Heard It on the X" deserves its classic rock status. Tres Hombres doesn't quite match its rep: "Jesus Just Left Chicago" is back porch blues made for the arena, "La Grange" kicks open the door of the whorehouse, and "Waitin' for the Bus" is the best James Gang impression by a band actually from Texas. But the rest doesn't have Fandango!'s nerve or El Loco's sophomoric wit, which is what every band needs when the gimmick starts to run dry. --Robert Wilonsky

Customer Reviews:

NOT THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS!!.......2007-04-01

I am a recording engineer and sound mixer. I grew up in Texas, listening to and watching ZZ Top. The first two ZZ Top albums were released on vinyl records. Tres Hombres was the first to be released on Compact Disc. When the inevitable popularity of the CD overtook the market, Bill Ham thought it would be a great idea to release the first six albums on CD, which they affectionately called the "six pack." While remastering this compilation, somebody (who knows, but who controlled all of ZZ Top's musical movements??) got the bright idea to re-edit, reproduce, re-arrange and remix the first three albums. At the time, there was a new device in the studios that was known as a "digital echo" device for adding reverb and delay textures to sounds. Most notably, Phil Collins was using this echo device to enhance his drum sounds. ZZ Top's producer (you know who) decided it was the way to go as well, that the new sounds would attract the day's "new audience." The echo and reverb patterns on the "six pack" were so much bigger and wetter than on the original first three albums. Then I started to notice that there were different vocal performances and different guitar riffs in a few places. Talk about re-arranging an original! At a later time, the reproduced versions released on the "six pack" were then released on individual CD's which contain the original artwork of the first three albums. However, they are definitely NOT the original recordings. This process is much like Jimi Hendrix's producer, who went into the studio after Hendrix died and actually hired a player to finish the guitar work on recordings that were incomplete when Hendrix died. Those recordings were subsequently released as "Hendrix's final unrealeased recordings." Suffice it to say, that if the world's art museums decided that certain Rembrandt or DaVinci paintings looked "faded" or weren't "up to date with today's audience," and they repainted certain brush strokes on these masterpieces, the world art community would have a cow! Don't buy these CD's, they are not ORIGINAL works. They have been repainted to fit what someone thought would be a new and "catchy" idea.

Did you ever hear of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"?.......2007-02-22

Well I'm glad that by reading just a few other reviews that most people share my sentiments about this re-release. I took this out of the library to throw in my car to listen to, I used to have this cassette when I was in high school and always loved this album. It really is one of their best. But as soon as Waiting for the Bus begins you notice the horrible over produced drum sound. I was repulsed (I'm a drummer and always hated the slick over produced and ultimately unnatural drum sound, even back when it was the popular way to produce back in the '80s) and immediately began going to the next track hoping this bad dream would end and I would hear the inviting, dry natural sound of the origional. Of course I was wrong. I can't even listen to this album all butchered like this. I never knew they redid this whole album, I knew I would hear 2 versions of La Grange but I didn't know they butchered whole albums. I hope they regret it now in retrospect. Remember all the drum machine parts in the album after Eliminator? The writing was on the wall.

Garbage Remix With 80's Gimmickry.......2006-03-07

As part of an attempt to capitalize on the success of their Eliminator sound, ZZ Top decided to go back into the studio and remix and also re-record parts of their first 6 albums thinking it would make them more money and entice fans of their newer sound to go back and buy their earlier records. Well guess what, in the process their older fans who were used to the original versions on the old cassettes and albums were shocked when they listened to any of these first generation CD releases. They heard bogus reverbed drums, and entire sections of both music and vocals re-recorded. Talk about tarnishing the legacy of a great band's output. Well someone finally wised up and now at least Tres Hombres and Fandango are now available in original mix, remastered form. So stay away from this trash and wait for the entire back catalog to be released in it's original mix, remastered form on CD.

Here's an incredibly beautiful blues/rock album that was ruined with the remaster..........2006-01-01

Yes, I too agree with others here about the echo and what sounds like a cheap drum machine instead of Beard. There may be good news for us...I first heard the entirety of this album when I bought the tape a few months back at a small gas station in the middle of Pensylvannia. Since then I've learned how to play some of the songs and could listen to this every day. When the purchase of the CD came along, we all know what happened from there. My solution is simply to record the tape to a .wav file and burn yourself a CD...(Dont sweat, Amazon. It ain't piracy if you've bought the tape and the CD is for your own use.)

I'll base my rating from the tape/LP and say that where some songs are obviously better than others, its one of those albums you can leave on and not have to skip a track. If some songs come off raw in the vocal department or slow, perhaps blues is not for you. I find it packed with soulful (J.J. Left Chicago) and sometimes funky (Sheik) playing styles that are just short of a religious experience. Warning! The instrumental bridge of Precious and Grace can sometimes cause one to mash the accelerator to the floor.

5 out of 5 for the music.....as for the production.......2005-12-18

For any collector of music,a majority of CD reissues are faithful(or can even enhance)the original production. Alas, with Tres Hombres (in my opinion ZZ Top's finest album, and a rock classic to boot), the drums have been remixed with something similar to
their 80's offerings. (Which are fine by the way, but do not belong here) It has ruined the sound and overlooked some of the excellent musicianship on the original recordings. The same applies to the album `Tejas' I would ignore this issue till Warner Bros decide to reissue early ZZ Top with respectful and decent remastering, such as that shown in the `Chrome, Smoke and BBQ' boxset and `Rancho Texicano' (Very Best Of), where Engineer and remastering expert Bob Ludwig has done a faithful and exceptional job. As for now, those with fond memories of ZZ Top on the vinyl versions, will be in for a nasty shock.

Average customer rating:

Best of Classical Guitar, Vol.3

Manufacturer: Gha
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004TY9J
Release Date: 2000-06-28

Average customer rating:

Ein Rudi Voller Saison 4
Tres Hombres
Manufacturer: Zyx Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002CX4U4
Release Date: 2004-07-12

Average customer rating:

Matter of Time
Michelle Mayfield
Manufacturer: Tres Hombres
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000OSLJ6M

Product Description

8 tracks: paradise * matter of time * so long * too late * here with me * steal the girl * wonder song * point of no return

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