Fandango! | 
| Artist: Zz Top
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $7.98
Buy New: $3.98
You Save: $4.00 (50%)
New (35) Used (20) from $3.98
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 2703
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.4
MPN: 78965
UPC: 081227896522
EAN: 0081227896522
ASIN: B000CCD0HG
Release Date: February 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Thunderbird | | • | Jailhouse Rock | | • | Backdoor Medley: Backdoor Love Affair/Mellow Down Easy/Backdoor ... | | • | Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings | | • | Blue Jean Blues | | • | Balinese | | • | Mexican Blackbird | | • | Heard It on the X | | • | Tush | | • | Heard It on the X [Live][*] | | • | Jailhouse Rock [Live][*] | | • | Tush [Live][*] |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
One of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll bands ever to strut the 50 States, these sharp-dressed Texas titans-Billy F. Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill-are a righteously hell rain' power trio boasting a 30-plus year hit-making legacy, both in the studio and at concert arenas. With their revved up blues 'n' boogie, they always make the most of their Texas birthright with with a distinctive sound that shakes up rock, blues, soul, garage-funk, Americana, and more. Nowhere is their force of nature musicianship better displayed than on these two album classics, revved up wtih red-hot bonus rarities. "You know what I'm talkin' about...an how how how how."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 The Original Mix Is Finally Restored March 6, 2006
razzorjet2 (York, PA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
After years of only being able to get the bogus remixed and re-recorded versions of the first 6 ZZ records on CD, Rhino has finally begun issuing the Top back catalog (Tres Hombres and Fandango so far) faithfully restoring the original mixes of these classic records. The fact that these fine records were altered to begin with is a complete travesty. I had to resort to burning the original vinyl as CDs because of the previous butchery and doctoring of these vintage 70's recordings. But now the original mixes are finally available and they sound incredible. I hope Rhino doesn't delay releasing the other 4 albums along with Deguello in original mix, remastered form. I can't wait to hear them. So if you are considering buying any of the first 7 ZZ Top CD's, only buy the 2006 remastered, original mix version of Tres Hombres and Fandango, and wait until the others get released in the same format. You'll be glad you waited and saved your money, I can't emphasize enough how terrible the previous releases of these CD's sounded.
Great album, great remaster March 6, 2006
AK (Chicago)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Finally... this fantastic album gets the treatment it deserves.
The echo is gone. The drums are dry (in a good way) and the vocals are right up in front along side the Reverend's holy guitar tone. To sum it up, this remastered copy of Fandango! sounds brilliant.
The cd artwork is great as well- faithful to the old LP artwork and complete with lengthy and interesting liner notes. The addition of 3 bonus live cuts at the end is excellent. In particular,the live version of Tush is INCREDIBLE. I personally was hoping they would include the entire live recording from which Side A of this album was taken, but I really can't complain with what is here.
The songs are great (Billy's slide playing on Mexican Blackbird is worth the price of the album itself) and the sound quality is perfect. This copy of Fandango is the complete package. Buy it and throw out your old cd copy if you still have it.
 Sweet, sweet Texas boogie March 18, 2006
FairiesWearBoots8272 (USA)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Though Fandango isn't ZZ Top's best album, (that honor belongs to Tres Hombres), it does represent the band at the peak of their powers. This is ZZ Top at their raw, bluesy roadhouse boogie best. No synths, no drum machines, just drums, bass, vocals and guitar. Lots and lots of guitar. Billy Gibbons is a guitar god. Every note he plays sounds Divinely inspired.
The first half of Fandango is a superb live set recorded in New Orleans which starts out with the fiery rocker Thunderbird, then on to a groovy cover of Elvis' Jailhouse Rock. Finally a lengthy medley of several tunes including Backdoor Love Affair (from ZZ Top's First Album) and Little Walter's Mellow Down Easy which showcases Gibbons' vocal prowess more than his guitar. The second half consists of studio records beginning with the excellent riff-rocker Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings. Next is one of my favorite ZZ Top tracks and their best slow blues number, Blue Jean Blues, which features some of Gibbons' finest blues guitar playing. The barroom rocker Balinese is an especially tasty album cut, however Mexican Blackbird, though not a bad song, grates my nerves due to Gibbons' singing in an exaggerated twangy southern accent. Great guitar as always, though. Closing the album are two ZZ Top classics, Heard It On The X and Tush. The former being a favorite among fans of the band, and the latter being one of Top's biggest chart hits and a rock radio classic. A great album, overall and an excellent slice of ZZ Top's meaty Texas blues-rock.
The new CD is, of course, noteworthy for restoring the original mix the way the album was intended to be heard. Completely remastered from the original tapes, the album sounds better than ever. The sound quality is excellent and the mix is just the way it was heard in '75. To augment the package, three bonus tracks were included: live versions of Heard It On the X, Jailhouse Rock, and Tush. Heard here, Heard It On the X is very hard-rocking. It almost sounds like a heavy metal song in this version. The live version of Tush is also excellent, and thankfully longer than the way too short album version. The live version of Jailhouse Rock, however, is not much different from the one on the original album. A very cool bonus for fans overall.
These tracks are most certainly welcome, however I'm disappointed that there are only three. There is certainly room for at least a dozen such bonus tracks. I'd like to hope that live tracks are being held back for a future live release. ZZ Top obviously was and is a hot live band. It's a shame that the live cuts on Fandango are the only representation of Gibbons, Hill and Beard in concert.
Still, this remastered Fandango CD is highly recommended to old and new fans alike.
got ta mellow down got ta mellow down before you blow your top March 16, 2006
Will (Connecticut)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Remasters are great. Much better than the older cd. The live side (the first 3 tracks in this case) is alright. It was recorded down in The Warehouse in New Orleans which closed down awhile ago. The sound quality's real good. The studio side is grade A. Most hard rockin cuts are "Heard it on the X" and "Tush" I'd say.
If your'e a fan of boogie or blues rock this is good stuff.
The bonus tracks are actually kinda disapointing. I was hoping they'd put on some more recordings from the concert on Side A on this but I don't know maybe they were all real bad or they've lost them. That would be a cool idea for another album, to just be that whole concert in New Orleans. Anyway that's beside the point.
The live bonus tracks were taken from around 1979 or 1980 I think according to the new liner notes. They're bootleg quality sound and the crowd noise is pretty loud most of the time. The live version of "Heard it on the X" is really bad compared to the studio version. I don't know really why they included ANOTHER live version of "Jailhouse Rock".
Their are expanded liner notes on this remaster. Much more than what they had in the old cd. Very informative and it has a bunch of photos in it.
A pretty darn good album overall. Get the remastered version of Tres Hombres too. I'd say it's just about as good an album as this one.
Excellent, Excellent Sound....But Where's The Rest? May 15, 2006
"The Woj" (Downers Grove, IL)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
The sound quality here is excellent. Much truer to the original ZZ Top vibe than the bastardized version presented on "Six Pack". No ZZ Top fan will be disappointed in this purchase. My only beef is the live part of the album. With the expanded cd format, why not give us the rest of the live show (ala The Who "Live At Leeds" or Skynyrd's "One More From The Road")? I own this cd, and if you're a ZZ Top fan you should too. But as a diehard fan, I'm still holding out for the complete concert. BTW, search zShops for the best price.
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