Michael Fremer Album Review

I am very proud to continue our new feature (look for this every Friday), music reviews that are written by the senior contributing editor of Stereophile magazine- Michael Fremer. It has been a pleasure to speak with Michael and learn more about audio sound and equipment. In fact, his new DVD, "It's A Vinyl World, After All" has hit the shelves and is selling out very quickly. This is a must have for anybody who loves vinyl, it is a true masterpiece.


Additionally, make sure to stop by his site, www.musicangle.com and bookmark it for further exploration. I certainly want to thank Michael for the exclusive rights to reprint his fantastic material.



ZZ Top (reissue)
Fandango

Warner Brothers 306172 180g LP

Produced by: Bill Ham
Engineered by: Terry Manning, Robin Brian, Jim Reeves, Bob Ludwig, Terry Kane
Mixed by: N/A
Mastered by: Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech





Review by: Michael Fremer
2009-07-01


One side of this 1975 release gives you a smokin’ hot live recording of mindless, Texas-style speed-boogie music (the mind is not a terrible thing to waste!), while the other is a somewhat more introspective studio set.

The live set, recorded without studio overdubs at New Orleans’ The Warehouse, is a sweaty aggressive affair taken at warp speed before a wildly enthusiastic, probably sloppy-drunk crowd of revelers.

The bearded ones play it as fast and tight as the lubricated crowd is slow and sloppy, working them into a frenzy and delivering the lyrics with the rapid-fire articulation skills of the best tobacco auctioneers.

It’s amazingly well recorded too, which is not surprising given the album’s illustrious name brand engineers (Bob Ludwig gets a rare engineering credit). Crank it up and you’ll feel as if you’re there. All that’s missing are the sticky floors and smell of stale beer and puke.

The pace remains torrid on side two’s opener “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings,” but on “Blue Jean Blues,” the boys slow it down to an ominous pace and you can hear on what Stevie Ray cut his blues teeth. It’s the origin of “Tin Pan Alley.”

“Balinese” channels Little Feat and after appropriately, the boogie hit “Tush” (as in “rush”) ends the album. While it’s supposedly slang for “outstanding,” there’s no denying it’s also about ass.

You won’t learn anything here, except whether or not you can keep a beat and whether or not your system can take being cranked up to club levels, but it sure is a fun listen!

BTW: I liked the studio side better, but you may prefer the other side.