Conference napalm::heavy_metal

    every girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man
    
    Shane, who always thought the drummer looked out of place...he didn't
    have a big beard and he always played the same beat.  But I *do*
    like some of their songs...especially The Grange
    

>>    have a big beard and he always played the same beat.  But I *do*

and his name was Frank Beard.  

    This has got to be one of the most overrated groups. Simple chords,
    simple beat, simple simple simple.

    
    RE: -1
    
    ah...but there is 'beauty in simplicity'...just look at the Ramones! :)
    
    /jen

    Thats MOD_SQUAD, bub...
    

    One word:    
    
    
    		T O N E !!!!!!!
    
    

      When ZZ fist started the drummer was the only one with a beard. Then
    while the other two grew their beards out, he cut his off.
    
    All and all I think they are a good classic grovin band even though
    they are simple.
    
    -BG

    They may be simple, but they do sound great.
    
    P

G'day,

 I saw these guys live in the late eighties, wasn't too impressed, but that
was a long time ago so maybe they've improved.

 But the albums are easy to listen to

 Nic

    
    It's hard to beleive that they have been around for about 25 years or
    so.
    
    Dave
    

    ZZ Top....The ULTIMATE Party Band !!!! 
    
    I can't begin to count the parties I attended in my youth where ZZ Top
    ( along with VH & AC/DC ) were the main musical entertainment.
    ( On the turntable, C.D. or cassette , of course.... )  %-}
    
         *** Kit ***
           

Geez we used to play Kiss, but that was back when they were good and VH and
AC/DC didn't exist.

    ..saw ZZ Top at the Orpheum (or wuz it da Music Hall...Jeesh! memory's
    going BIG-TIME!)
    
    wuz cool show indeed...they had livestock, snakes, tumbleweeds
    rolling around the stage....I'll tell ya, don't know how
    the cattle didn't keep from getting spooked (the Top was LOUD indeed!)
    
    musta been sedated or soemthin'....or wuz dat me??
    
    that wuz around '75 or so.....
    
    
    mac

    These are some of the albums I have and some tunes that I think are
    wicked!
    
    Eliminator - Everybody should have this one!
    Afterburner - They got a little techno on this one!
    Greatest Hits - tunes from '73 to '94 I believe - bout 16/18 tracks!
    Antenna - They started to slide here a little (IMO) but worth it for 
    	      "Pincushion"!
    
    Dirty Dog, La Grange, Tush, Cheap Sunglasses, Sleeping Bag, Velcro Fly
    Sharp Dressed Man, My Heads in Mississippi, Pincushion.
    
    What r' yours?  

    
    	Most of "Eliminator" is excellent ... "TV Dinners" even grew
    	on me more than any of the others eventually.
    
    	"My Head's In Mississippi" is their best since then.
    

    I gotta find me a groovey little hippie pad..........
    

   .12 - Geez we used to play Kiss -
    AC/DC didn't exist.
    
    Now how could that be possible, your record store didn't carry AC/DC ?
    It seems to me that Kiss was mainstream in 76 and that's when AC/DC's
    High Voltage was released.
    As far as ZZ is concerned I prefer to listen to it accompanied by the
    videos even today, with the HotRod and ...., you know.
    
    Stephen
    

    ZZ Topp Trivia:
    
    Billy Gibbons uses a Quarter for a pick! His previous band, Moving
    Sidewalks, used to open for Jimi Hendrix with whom he became good
    friends.
    
    I always thought ZZ was good traveling music. I spent a couple of weeks
    driving around Texas once ... windows down ... stereo turned up all the
    way. ZZ Topp and Aerosmith blasting out the windows and scaring the
    wildlife. Great fun ...
    
    
    Bugs

    Seen em 3 Times and Always Enjoyed.Fun Vidios too.
    I Thought their Last_Realease"Antenna"was Kindda_Lame Tho..
    
      Crazy_Lookin_Fer_Some_Tush_Al

    How could you all forget the great "Pearl Necklace"?!?
    
    Paully 8)
    

    My fav ZZ Top blastin' tunes:
    
    	Gimmee All Your Lovin'
    	Sharp Dressed Man
    	La Grange
    	Tush
    	Jesus Just Left Chicago
    
    Billy Gibbons is underrated.   The guy gets the most incredible tones
    and then just plays the most righteous licks over it.

    
    	"Got Me Under Pressure" is possibly my all-time favorite, as is
    	"La Grange".
    

    
    how about "ten foot pole" and "Tube snake boogie"?
    
    
    
    						ian

    How about the one that goes "just got paid today... got me a pocketful
    of change..."
    

    Saying ZZ TOP is simple, simple, simple is like saying the blues is
    simple, simple, simple, or that all blues tunes sound like the same
    tune. Like Dave B. said tone is  really important and
    Billy knows tone, and the feeling behind the whole concept. Billy takes
    blues and makes it sound cool, popular. I really dig that. Hey millions
    of fans cant be wrong. I dont think you can go wrong at a party by
    putting on La Grange. And if ever there was a beer drinking, foot
    stompin, look at them gals dancin tune it would be "tube snake boogie".
    
    One of the attractive things about ZZ top is that altho Billy and the boys
    have a strong backdrop of party (loud guitar, indulgin') there is a
    definite spirituality that says when the sun going down in the desert
    and thoughts can turn to your maker (jesus just left chicago, have you
    ever been to heaven (sic) I'm not sure about the title for that last
    one but it definitely has a gospel feel to it and comes from one of the
    early albums.)
    
    something else they do well is produce as it regards effects. you
    listen to the cd and  your thinking at the end 'that really sounded
    cool' you're not thinking how they had three guitar tracks, maybe with a
    mixture of super clean with beautiful overdriven marshall tone, vocals
    with a hint of flange, and maybe  enough delay on the drums to make
    it sound trippy. you dont sit there and analyse (unless youre trying to
    reproduce it) you just sit there and party with them.
    
    And i gotta say it. if you're into playing in a rock band , they are
    really fun to cover. The tunes get the crowd going and you can have a
    blast on guitar.
    
    As long as they keep turning out their product, I'm interested.
    
    
    								--Fred

    
    >Saying ZZ TOP is simple, simple, simple is like saying the blues is
    >simple, simple, simple, or that all blues tunes sound like the same
    >tune.
    
    	Too easy.  I'll pass this time.  8^)
    

    bless you, shawn!
    

    didint realize that there was an ongoing blues sux/duznot/duz so
    discussion. definitely not worhtwhile chasing that one down. 
    
    		       				%^|   -f

    Well then, seems like scales just came off my eyes.
    
    8:)

    
    Ok, I'll bite...

    
    	... 'til yer daddy takes yer d-chord away.
    

    >Saying ZZ TOP is simple, simple, simple is like saying the blues is
    >simple, simple, simple, or that all blues tunes sound like the same
    >tune.
    
    Funny you should say that....   ;-)
    
    	db

    .32 Hi Mikey!

     re "...skips a lot of guitar notes' yeah i can remember seeing a
    blues, blues not dicsussion years ago in GUITAR. It's not really
    solvable. there are going to be those that espouse, those that dont,
    and those that dont care. At risk of dredging up old arguments, I put
    forth a few thoughts. I could have said "saying zz top is simple simple
    simple is like saying all of music is simple simple simple because it's
    comprised of only 12 tones". Is yngvie (sp?) complex and interesting
    because he uses harmonic minor scales, different modal scales etc? Some
    might argue yes. However one of the most important notes giving the
    flavor to those is going to be the 'blue note' or  the minor 3rd. I
    have to believe that all of what any of us might bring up here has been
    said in other confs; it just shows that there are 2 sides that probably
    will never agree about it. I just consider myself lucky that I can
    enjoy both types of music and see the value of both.
    
    						-Fred

    Fred,
    
    Just so you understand my position, it was never my contention in
    GUITAR to argue that "blues was simple".
    
    I just found it ironic that some bigtime blues fans in there were
    dismissing shredders as all sounding the same.
    
    I found it ironic because it struck me that if you stop and think for
    about .178 seconds, TO THE NAIVE EAR, it struck me as PAINFULLY obvious
    that the same could be said about the blues.  After all, most of it is
    twelve bar blues with the exact same chords (usually in the same key),
    and pretty damned similar "lyrical topics" ("My baby done me wrong",
    etc.).
    
    It was not my contention that either argument was valid.  In fact, I
    think any such argument is bogus.
    
    	db
    
    p.s. I like the blues, but I just can't take it in concentrated doses.

    Dave;	
    	I agree, thanks for coming back. I think it's just one of those
    philisophical divides 'tastes great, less filling'! I love the blues
    and I like listeing to and learning from the more complex players such
    as malmsteen, stariani, vai etc. I prefer to have a feeling in the
    music tho otherwise it's just too mehcnical. Mechanical can be fun too
    tho. Have you ever heard a band called "Spodge" (sp?) i think it's
    prnounced 'splooj'. They are really nuts. every bar is a different time
    signature, melodic and chordal structures all over the map and all at
    break neck speeds. Really keeps you guessing. Again i like an
    expressive feeling (maybe splodge-type stuff expresses a feeling too
    tho) 
    When it gets right down to it, if you study practically anything, there
    usually is enough substance to say, 'wow that style or performer really
    does have something to say, it's not all the same' Hey it pays to keep
    an open mind!
    
    Just as an aside, didnt you play at DEC jam years ago? I played in a
    band with dave clark butch leitz and joe holewa. Rick Sawyer was the
    organizer. I tried to track down rick. I clled his mom in NH but he
    never returned my call. He was a character and good guitarist too.
    
    					later - Fred
     
    I would rather listen to
    Danny Gatton or Billy Gibons tha

    hey good debate keeps the mind going!..........-F

    > I love the blues and I like listeing to and learning from the more
    > complex players such as malmsteen, stariani, vai etc. I prefer to have
    > a feeling in the music tho otherwise it's just too mehcnical.
    > Mechanical can be fun too tho. 
    
    I hope your not implying that Malmsteen and Satriani play with ANY
    less "feeling" than, say, B.B. King or any other blues guitarist
    (nor that they are purely "mechanical").
    
    If so, you've just recited the "blues snob" pledge. ;-)
    
>    Just as an aside, didnt you play at DEC jam years ago? I played in a
>    band with dave clark butch leitz and joe holewa. Rick Sawyer was the
>    organizer. I tried to track down rick. I clled his mom in NH but he
>    never returned my call. He was a character and good guitarist too.
    
    Yep, I played at a few of them.  
    
    Weren't you the guy that inserted a little quote of Yes's "Starship
    Trooper" (which my band had just played)?
    
    Rik left the company years ago (maybe a decade now for all I know).
    Ironically, Willy Wiegler (drummer from many DECjam bands, and my
    old "db wilfred" band) ran into Rick about 5 years ago.
    
    I know that people who knew Rick will think I'm making this up, but he
    pretty much dropped out of the corporate world and when Willy ran into
    him, he was selling bead jewelry/art out of a van.   
    
    Ric was definitely a character, but he was fun to have around.
    
    	db

    RE: selling beads from a van ...
    
    Man, some days that sounds really appealing.

    They should change their name to ZZZZZzzzzZZzzzzzzzz Top. 

    I agree.
    
    Boring boring, simple simple. 
    
    
    ZZZZZzzzzZZzzzzzzzz

    re: .-1
    
    I think anyone who finds ZZ Top boring just isn't playing it LOUD
    ENOUGH!!!
    
    ;-)
    
    	db

    They have a few really killer tunes, if you're in the mood for 'em.

    Great road or party music, but not the kind of stuff that you listen to
    with headphones in a dark room, attempting to absorb every subtle
    nuance.

    I Have the Last_ReLease"Antenna"on Tape and it Ain't Bad ,But Nothin
    Stands_Out and Grabs Ya.
    
    
        Crazy_Fandango_Rules_Al

    Best track on that one has gotta be "Pincushion"...that tunes should
    have gotten more airplay when it was first released!  ZZ kickzz buttzz!
    
    Besides ya can do that cool "Gino" head bopping thing when listenin' to
    most tracks!
    
    	J

    IMHO: I agree ... I think "Pincushion" is one of their best tunes ever.

    
    I think they're one of the best bands to ever come out of the US~I
    could listen to them any time!
    
    
    					ian

    {look of disbelief}

    re .42
    Dave;
    
    	Wow i didint even remember that starship trooper quote! You've
    defintiely got the steel trap-type memory! Yeah that was us; we playted
    mostly classic rock stuff and (God forbid) a blues tune. I think the
    list was white room, blues power, stay with me, six days on the road.
    
    	Didint you do some Beatles stuff? Cant claim to have a crystal
    clear image of that nite! I wish I had stayed invvled with the dec
    jams. i know that they were a continuing tradition. Was there a summ 96
    one or is there going to be another one. Looks like there are a few
    bands we could get but who has the time??
    
    	Yeah Rik became disenchanted with corporate life (how could THAT
    ever happen - arent we ALL so dad-blamed HAPPY!?!??!) I hope that he's
    doing ok. We had some fun with a four track as well. We worked on a few
    of hios tune putting a demo together. I still have it. one was a great
    little rocker dont rememebr the tongue in cheek name he had for it, but
    it was a satire blasting Mumar Kadafy. It was very appropo (sp) at
    the time; the U.S. was trying to kill the son-of-a___ by shooting
    missiles into his hangout. We missed tho and he got away.
    
    	Yeah I'd like to get a big party together with all my guitar
    slingin' buddies. we could have a blast. Does this notes file ever have
    a rip roarin guiatr jam party ever/ Please keep me in the loop if so.
    
    	Oh yeah satriani defintiely plays with feeling, emotion. Yngvie
    soes too it's just that I think that the emotion is mostly anger and
    strange dark stuff. But that certinaly has come to the forfront with
    bands like megadeth and even mettalica. 
    	Hey what is it with the .....ca titles Republica, Elastica,
    Mettalica?
    
    					talk to you soon,
    
    						Fred
    	

    There was a DECjam about 2-3 years ago, but none since.
    
    All it takes to get one going is ONE person to agree to organize it.
    
    I'm sure, despite all the layoffs, that there's plenty of interest,
    and I even believe the last place we played ("The Cove" in Worcestor)
    would be more than happy to have 8 bands playing for free again to
    an unusually large crowd for a Thursday night.  ;-)
    
    	db

    
    Db-
    
    Believe it or not it was almost 3 years ago (next month)....and it was
    a Sunday night too!
    
    /jen

    Re: db
    
    Well give me some names of some bands and I can talk to Jay at the
    Cove or maybe even Red Square in Nashua.
    
    Shane, who just realized it sounds an awful lot like I volunteered to
    organize a DEC jam with the above statement

    Shane,
    
    If you indeed want to organize this (it's not THAT big of a deal really
    and a great way to "meet" a lot of DEC musician types) you just need
    to post a note here, in GUITAR, in MUSIC and maybe some other places
    and I guarantee you, you will get a least a half dozen bands that
    are interested.
    
    I can't "give you the names" though.   
    
    Believe me, the easy part is getting the bands.   We had 8 at the last
    one (and probably some got turned down).
    
    DECjams are ALWAYS a lot of fun, and I credit DECjams (and Rik Sawyer)
    for all the pleasure I've gotten in the last 10 years of playing in
    bands (never really had done much before the first DECjam).
    
    I also credit DECjams for hooking me up with pretty much EVERY musician
    I've played with in various bands over the last 10 years.
    
    	db

    re the DECJAM: are the rules that all members have to be DECCIES or can
    we make a slight revision (due to low company population) and say that
    you only need one member to be a DEc persion for your band to qualify?
    
    
    If so count me in (TIME CAPSULE) (and i probably can scare up another
    Dec band as well.....
    
    				let the party begin,
    					Fred
    
    							

    
    	"Guideline" is that 1 member must be a DEC employee.  If not,
    	then it's not exactly a DECJam any more.
    

    re .61
    that works!

    anyone that thinks that they are "simple" should get their heads out of
    their butts cause they don't have a clue to what is goin' on

    Why thank you.

    Signed,

    A simpleton.

    One more thing about the "simple" thing...
    
    Y'know, one thing I've learned (the hard way is) that people never
    appreciate that which they don't look for in music.
    
    If they don't look for "complexity" they don't appreciate a band like
    Dream Theater or the Flecktones.
    
    If they don't look for "simplicity" they can't appreciate BB King.
    
    If they don't appreciate chops they don't appreciate the Dregs.
    
    I think ZZ Top is fairly "simple" and yet I absolutely love them!!!
    
    Now, by saying that, maybe it is true that "I don't have a clue" but
    what I like about them is that what Gibbons plays is just so 100%
    "right" for the music - both note-wise and tone-wise.
    
    So it doesn't bug me when someone disses them as "simple".  I just view
    it as them not having an appreciation for what ZZ Top does well.  It's
    neither an insult to ZZ Top nor the person dissing them really. 
    
    To me, it's as if someone was defending the honor of Ben & Jerry's
    Chocolate ice cream to someone who doesn't care for chocolate in
    general.
    
    	db - the fresh prince of Heavy Metal ;-)

    Thanks! A very thoughtful analysis, and I couldn't agree more.

I love the comment I read once about Gibbons, about how the tone he gets
out of his guitar can raise welts on your skin.

    
    > If they don't look for "complexity" they don't appreciate a band like
    > Dream Theater
    
    ...or if you're looking for complexity...
    
     :^)

    Oh yeah, "she's got legs" is just a brilliant tune

    {chuckle}
    
    You obviously have no clue.