Hirsute it on the X

Thought I'd drop this little blurb in behind the ZZ Top concert review.

This past July, that Lil' ol' Band from Texas signed onto American Recordings, most likely with the hope of re-tooling their somewhat stagnant studio presence of the past decade or so. If you are not familiar with American, its headed by none other than uber-producer Rick Rubin - who like the ZZ boys, sports a solid mass of chin shrubbery.

Most recently, Rubin played an integral role in revitalizing the career of 70's pop icon Neil Diamond, and prior to that, produced a legendary trio of releases with the late Johnny Cash. Rubin's production credits have crossed many genres - from rap to alternative, country to metal, and everything in-between.

One of the trademarks of Rubin-produced sound is his innate ability to reduce music to its "purest essence"; to strip down the layers of un-needed production hoodoo - and look directly into the soul of the artist(s) and their music. This, I think, will bide well for ZZ and their forthcoming release, as most of their recent material has lacked some of the bare-knuckled bravado present on classic releases such as "Tres Hombres" and "Deguello".

The Top's most recent studio effort "Mescalero" (2003) isn't totally devoid of an attractive hook or two. But stacked up against their early to mid 70's catalog, it's like a lonely AMC Gremlin sitting in the back of a lot full of '57 Chevys. Easy not to notice.

Some of Rubin's more notable rock production gigs include work with AC~DC (Ballbreaker); Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Echo); the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Majik, Californication, Stadium Arcadium); Audioslave (Audioslave, Out Of Exile); Jakob Dylan (Seeing Things); and last but not least, Metallica (Death Magnetic). Did I mention that he's also worked with that politically-charged trio of country goodness - aka the Dixie Chicks . . . of which his efforts garnered three Grammy Awards. Yeah - didn't impress me either.

Having shot through a circuit of solid summer and fall performances, The Rev. & Co. hopefully have their chops honed to gritty perfection - and are primed and ready to hit the studio with their surfer foot gas pedal to the floorboard. Rumor has it that the upcoming release will meld elements of their classic 70's style / tone with the pop sensibility and hooky-ness of the Eliminator-era material. Which to me sounds like some good, old-fashioned bump n' grind - ZZ style. A how, how, how . . . J.