XXX (album)

	Chart positions ; Explanation of the data
	Albums
	XXX

chronology
XXX
Studio album by ZZ Top
Publication ; (s)	September 28, 1999
Label (s)	RCA Records
Genre (s)	Blues rock
Title (number)	13
running time	49min 29s
occupation	Billy Gibbons : vocals , guitar ; Dusty Hill : vocals, bass ; Frank Beard : drums ;
production	Billy Gibbons
1999	Fearless boogie
2000	36-22-36

XXX is the thirteenth studio album by the American blues rock band ZZ Top . It was released on RCA Records in September 1999, coinciding with the band's 30th anniversary. The album title means "30" in Roman numerals . Around 140,000 units of the album were sold in the USA in the first three years, around half of the sales of the previous album Rhythmeen .

useful information

The original plan was to record a live album with new pieces. The band later decided to start the album with eight studio recordings followed by four live recordings. These were recorded when performing in small clubs. Billy Gibbons sang the chorus to Hey Mr. Millionaire together with Jeff Beck , a later participation Gibbons on an album by Beck failed because Gibbons was in Europe.

At the same time as ZZ Top, the rapper Juvenile was in the Ardent Studios and the musicians exchanged ideas. According to Gibbons, elements from new musical styles such as hip-hop found their way into the music, which is why a mixture of early ZZ Top and modern music emerged.

After the album was released, the band went on a US tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd . The bands had at least five gigs a week and played around 50 shows together by the end of 1999.

Track list

Poke Chop Sandwich - 4:50
Crucifixx-A-Flatt - 3:58
Fearless Boogie - 3:59
36-22-36-2 :35
Made Into A Movie - 5:13
Beatbox - 2:48
Trippin ' - 3:55
Dreadmonboogaloo - 2:36
Live intro by Ross Mitchell - 0:35
Sinpusher (live) - 5:11
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (live) - 5:13
Hey Mr. Millionaire (live) - 4:08
Belt Buckle (live) - 4:05

reception

The reviews in North America were particularly bad. Stephen Thomas Erlewine complains in his review that the band sounds stiff on the album. He thinks that this could not only be due to the weak songwriting , because a band like ZZ Top should be able to record audible songs from third-class compositions. Erlewine sums up that ZZ Top is far too concerned with organic sound to play the blues the way comparable veterans of this style would do. The Austin Chronicle writes in its review that ZZ Top is an institution of Texas music, but does not always show this on the album. Only the frenetically pulsating beatbox would make you falter when going through the track list, and the live recordings couldn't keep up with hits like Tube Snake Boogie or Got Me Under Pressure . For Peter Bongartz from Der Schallplattenmann magazine , XXX is the best ZZ top album for years with its "dry as straw" top boogie, the album "never sounds old-fashioned, it sounds incredibly fresh".

Web links

XXX at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Sources chart placements: DE ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. / CH / US @1@ 2
↑ Melinda Newman: Industry Analyzes Mariah Carey Deal . In: Billboard Magazine . February 9, 2002, p. 3 .
^ Graham Reid: Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP Interviewed (2000): The less things change, the more they stay the same. In: Elsewhere Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2010 .
↑ Steve Rosen: ZZ Top: From A to Z. (No longer available online.) In: Guitar World. October 22, 2009, archived from the original on June 19, 2010 ; accessed on May 8, 2010 (English).
↑ ^a ^b Melinda Newman: Backstage At Billboard Awards . In: Billboard Magazine . January 8, 2000, p. 12 .
^ Raoul Hernandez: Austin Music Review - ZZ Top: XXX. In: Austin Chronicle. October 29, 1999, accessed May 9, 2010 .
↑ Peter Bongartz: ZZ Top "XXX". Der Schallplattenmann, September 26, 1999, accessed May 9, 2010 .

[charts-1] Sources chart placements: DE ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. / CH / US @1@ 2

[2] Melinda Newman: Industry Analyzes Mariah Carey Deal . In: Billboard Magazine . February 9, 2002, p. 3 .

[reid-3] Graham Reid: Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP Interviewed (2000): The less things change, the more they stay the same. In: Elsewhere Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2010 .

[4] Steve Rosen: ZZ Top: From A to Z. (No longer available online.) In: Guitar World. October 22, 2009, archived from the original on June 19, 2010 ; accessed on May 8, 2010 (English).

[newman-5] Melinda Newman: Backstage At Billboard Awards . In: Billboard Magazine . January 8, 2000, p. 12 .

[6] Raoul Hernandez: Austin Music Review - ZZ Top: XXX. In: Austin Chronicle. October 29, 1999, accessed May 9, 2010 .

[7] Peter Bongartz: ZZ Top "XXX". Der Schallplattenmann, September 26, 1999, accessed May 9, 2010 .