Shane’s Music Challenge: ZZ TOP – 1981 – El Loco

Shane | 25 February 2014 | Reply

Shane’s Music Challenge: ZZ TOP – 1981 – El Loco
6.5/10

The bearded ones’ seventh studio album, El Loco may not be their best work, but it is pivotal in their catalogue for two very important reasons.

Firstly, it’s their most playful record. Tracks such as Tube Snake Boogie, Ten Foot Pole, Pearl Necklace, Groovy little Hippie Pad and Party On The Patio embody the free-livin’ wild lifestyle of a ‘little ol band from Texas’ on the road and livin’ the dream.

Secondly, it’s the pivotal bridge between their more serious blues records, and their future synth-heavy, radio-rocking unit shifters which made them millionaires and household names, and in the process opened a million other band’s eyes up to how rock and pop can be fused without the loss of too much integrity.

Best tracks are the gentle ballad Leila, with it’s feet firmly in the old ZZ Top camp, and Groovy Little Hippie Pad, which experiments with synths and drum tracks in a way the band had never dared to try before. Party On The Patio is – for all it’s flimsyness – an irresistible balls-out party rocker which still gets you bopping today.