Party on the Patio: ZZ Top Doubleback on New Limited Vinyl Box from Rhino High Fidelity

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ZZ Top are revisiting their biggest hitmaking days on vinyl.

From the Top (1979-1990) is a new limited 5LP box set as part of Rhino's High-Fidelity initiative, featuring new pressings of the Texas trio's most pop-friendly material: Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985) and Recycler (1990). (it follows a similar set issued last year.) All vinyl masters have been cut from the original stereo tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. The luxe package reproductions include glossy, heavyweight gatefold jackets plus new liner notes by author James Austin (with commentary throughout by band frontman Billy Gibbons) - all encased in a faux leather, individually-numbered hardshell slipcase. Only 3000 copies will be made, and it's shipping exclusively from Rhino's online store now.

When singer/guitarist Gibbons, singer/bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard returned from a brief hiatus after touring in support of their 1976 album Tejas, things looked and felt a little different. Happily, Beard had kicked some addiction issues; interestingly, Gibbons and Hill both decided to let their beards grow down to their chests. With the new look and some new influences (including Gibbons' growing fascination with punk and some neat new studio effects in engineer Terry Manning's arsenal), 1979's Degüello pushed the group's boogie-blues in intriguing new directions, with tracks like "Cheap Sunglasses" and a cover of Sam and Dave's "I Thank You" nonetheless satisfying fans.

Things got even more interesting on 1981's El Loco, where the group began experimenting with synthesizers, an unexpected addition to the ZZ Top sound. Undaunted by the technological jump (or the Top 20 placement of an LP which offered goofy ribald cuts like "Pearl Necklace" and "Tube Snake Boogie"), the group leaned in even harder on 1983's Eliminator, complementing their synth-assisted sound with yet another unexpected accouterment. The trio promoted Eliminator's singles with a cadre of slick music videos, casting themselves as disappearing and reappearing mystics with the power to summon the souped-up hot rod on the LP's album cover, usually full of female models offering wish fulfillment for hapless protagonists. After "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Sharp Dressed Man" were moderate chart successes, "Legs" reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 - and suddenly, that little ole band from Texas wasn't so little anymore.

ZZ Top would repeat the Eliminator format twice more for Warner. 1985's Afterburner procured another Top 10 - the synth-augmented blues-pop of "Sleeping Bag" - and Top 40 hits like "Stages" and the ballad "Rough Boy." After controversially remixing their pre-Degüello catalogue with synths and gated drums, the band issued one more album for Warner; while titling another album of synth-assisted blues Recycler may have been cruelly ironic, it was their third straight Top 10 long-player and featured the modest hits "Doubleback" (heard in that year's Back to the Future Part III), "Give It Up" and "My Head's in Mississippi." ZZ Top are still rockin' more than 50 years from their inception, even as their status as one of the bands with the longest unchanged line-ups ended in 2021 with Hill's passing. (The band's guitar tech Elwood Francis stepped in, per Hill's wishes, and the band has occasionally played the Hill-sung "Tush," synced to his final live performance shortly before his death.)

You can order From the Top (1979-1990) at the link below.

From the Top (1979-1990) (Warner/Rhino, 2025)

LP 1: Degüello (originally released as Warner Bros. HS 3361, 1979)

Side 1