Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/15/2004
Since
Rhino released an exhaustive four-disc
ZZ Top box in October 2003, some may question the appearance of a double-disc retrospective in June 2004, a mere eight months after the box set. The two may be released awfully close to each other, but they do play to different audiences -- in other words, there are a bunch of fans who want all the hits, but not a full box set, and that's what the 38-track
Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top delivers. Not that it gets everything right -- there are a few classic album cuts, like
"Leila" and
"I Got the Six," that probably should have been included, and ending the set with a live version of
"Cheap Sunglasses" and 12" remixes of
"Legs" and
"Velcro Fly" leaves a bad aftertaste -- but it gets it close enough, containing all of their biggest hits and a great cross-section of album tracks and
AOR favorites. And apart from the aforementioned bewildering final three tracks, it's sequenced well, with the down-n-dirty '70s material on the first disc, and the
MTV hits from the '80s on the second. There's still a need for a single-disc that has all the biggest hits, but until that comes along,
Rancho Texicano is the best and most concise overview of that lil' ol' band from Texas.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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