ZZ Top "Mescalero"

Mescalero is the fourteenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in September 2003, as the band's final release for RCA Records. While the band still retained their foundation in blues rock, Mescalero explored genres like country and Tejano. Recording sessions took place at Foam Box Recordings in Houston, with Billy Gibbons as producer.

In 1993, ZZ Top signed with RCA Records, which produced Antenna (1994), Rhythmeen (1996), and XXX, the latter of which marked the band's thirtieth anniversary and received mixed reviews from critics. They mostly toured in the years between XXX and Mescalero, visiting Australia, New Zealand and various countries in Europe. In 2002, the band performed at the annual RodeoHouston and with Brooks & Dunn on CMT Crossroads. They went on a short Casino Tour in the United States and European Tour.

In 2002, ZZ Top convened at Foam Box Recordings in Houston, a private studio owned by the band that was used to record XXX and Rhythmeen. Gibbons produced the project and wrote most of the songs, collaborating with the engineers Joe Hardy and Gary Moon, as well as band members Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. A variety of instruments was used on Mescalero. After taking a lunch break at a Mexican restaurant, ZZ Top hired a father-and-son marimba duo from Chiapas, Mexico. They provided entertainment at the restaurant and were anxious to appear on a rock album. After explaining that there were only three chords involved, they played on the title track. James Harman played harmonica on "Que Lastima", a title meaning 'what a pity'.

Mescalero is centered on a variety of Tejano instrumentation including accordion, pedal steel guitar, and harmonica. The album often uses slide guitar and "fuzzy" bass guitar sounds. It opens with "Mescalero", a track with marimbas used throughout the entire song and a solo at the end. "Two Ways to Play" is a hard rock-inspired track in which Gibbons' guitar is tuned down a whole step from standard pitch. "Alley-Gator" made use of the accordion and a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop played by Gibbons. "Buck Nekkid" is a moderate swing, while "Goin' So Good" is a slow ballad on which Gibbons used a 1949 Fender Telecaster prototype and played Steve Cropper-tinged licks; he traded phrases in call and response form with a pedal steel guitar. "Me So Stupid" is a moderate rock with a clip of Gibbons' voice remaining constant throughout the track. Dusty Hill sang lead vocals on "Piece". Auto-Tune is used on Gibbons' vocals at several points on the album, most audibly on "What Would You Do", "Que Lastima" and "As Time Goes By".

The album depicts a skeleton wearing a sarape and a sombrero while drinking mescal in the desert. The skeleton appears to be shooting flames out of its mouth. The title, Mescalero, refers to a heavy mescal drinker.

In 2003, ZZ Top showcased two tracks from Mescalero in a performance at RodeoHouston in Texas. "Buck Nekkid" was used in a television commercial promoting the album.

Following Mescalero's release, ZZ Top embarked on the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour (April – November 2003). The tour spanned three months in the US with Ted Nugent (featuring drummer Tommy Aldridge and bassist Marco Mendoza) as the middle act, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd (with Double Trouble) as the opener, with a European leg visiting twelve countries and included a concert in Helsinki, Finland, as special guests with The Rolling Stones. After returning to the United States for more performances, ZZ Top appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; they played at the Compaq Center (previously known as The Summit); this was the last event to be held in the venue. The band continued touring to support Mescalero throughout summer 2004 and performed at the Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Billy Gibbons, except where noted.

1. "Mescalero" 3:50
2. "Two Ways to Play" 4:15
3. "Alley-Gator" 3:29
4. "Buck Nekkid" 3:02
5. "Goin' So Good" 5:34
6. "Me So Stupid" (Gibbons, Joe Hardy, Gary Moon) 3:33
7. "Piece" 4:19
8. "Punk Ass Boyfriend" 3:05
9. "Stackin' Paper" (Gibbons, Hardy) 2:58
10. "What Would You Do?" 3:03
11. "What It Is Kid" (Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard) 4:13
12. "Que Lastima" 4:24
13. "Tramp" (Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin) 5:12
14. "Crunchy" 3:13
15. "Dusted" 3:55
16. "Liquor" 3:22

Total length: 61:27

ZZ Top "El Loco"

El Loco is the seventh studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1981. The title means "The Crazy One" in Spanish. The band's guitarist/singer Billy Gibbons has said that the recording of this album was the first time the three members of the band were isolated from one another in the studio, rather than recording simultaneously in the same room. It also foreshadowed ZZ Top's synthesizer-driven direction later in the decade, with early experimentations in synthesizer backing on certain tracks.

El Loco was produced by Bill Ham and recorded and originally mixed by Terry Manning. The biographer David Blayney explains in his book Sharp Dressed Men that the recording engineer Linden Hudson was involved as a pre-producer on this album. Hudson did not receive credit for engineering the tracks on "Groovy Little Hippie Pad" which were used on the final album mix. In 1987, most of the band's back catalog received a controversial "digitally enhanced" remix treatment for CD release; however, El Loco did not receive this remix treatment and the original mix of the album has been available on CD since 1987.

On June 3, 2013, Gibbons told Joe Bosso of MusicRadar.com that the album was "a really interesting turning point", explaining that the band had "befriended somebody who would become an influential associate, a guy named Linden Hudson. He was a gifted songwriter and had production skills that were leading the pack at times. He brought some elements to the forefront that helped reshape what ZZ Top were doing, starting in the studio and eventually to the live stage. [He] had no fear and was eager to experiment in ways that would frighten most bands. But we followed suit, and the synthesizers started to show up on record. Manufacturers were looking for ways to stimulate sales, and these instruments started appearing on the market. One of our favorite tracks was "Groovy Little Hippie Pad". Right at the very opening, there it is – the heavy sound of a synthesizer. For us, there was no turning back." Gibbons would later cite seeing a Devo soundcheck in Houston as inspiring the synthesizer line on "Groovy Little Hippie Pad." 

Track listing

All songs by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.

Side one

1. "Tube Snake Boogie" – 3:03
2. "I Wanna Drive You Home" – 4:44
3. "Ten Foot Pole" – 4:19
4. "Leila" – 3:13
5. "Don't Tease Me" – 4:20

Side two

1. "It's So Hard" – 5:12
2. "Pearl Necklace" – 4:02
3. "Groovy Little Hippie Pad" – 2:40
4. "Heaven, Hell or Houston" – 2:32
5. "Party on the Patio" – 2:49

Woods Of Ypres "Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth"

Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth is the first full-length album by the Canadian black metal band Woods of Ypres. It was recorded in 2004 at Spectre Sound in Tecumseh, Ontario. This marked Woods of Ypres' first release with David Gold on vocals and guitar as well as drums, along with the first appearance of keyboardist Jessica Rose. Steve Jones & Connor Sharpe supplied most of the lead guitar and bass work for this album, but were uncredited in the album booklet due to leaving Woods of Ypres before its release. Producer Glenn Fricker has since stated on his YouTube channel that the record “is the sound of a band disintegrating,” and characterized the sessions as “extremely difficult” due to one member, likely Gold, being “very unreasonable.”

Four songs from this album were later re-issued in Woods of Ypres' 2009 compilation CD Independent Nature 2002-2007. That same year, the band re-released their song Allure of the Earth from this album as a vinyl-only single, accompanied by a cover of it by Australian cellists Sebastian Simpson & Chris Doig.

Songs from this album were not a frequent sight at recent Woods of Ypres concerts. Only "The Sun Was in My Eyes (Part I)" has been documented as a full setlist addition since 2009, though shortened versions of "Summer's Envy" & "The Ghosts of Summers Past" have been played in a medley style occasionally in the band's later years.

On this first edition of this release, the track listing on the back excludes track 7. "Shedding the Deadwood" is track 6 but "Dragged Across a Forest Floor" is track 8. The tracks follow as 9, 10 and 11.

Near the beginning of this recording, the rest of the band decided not to continue with Woods of Ypres, leaving the guitar and bass tracks almost completely recorded. Connor Sharpe (bass) and Steve Jones (guitar) are not properly credited for these performances in the album's booklet.

Recording information:

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Spectre Sound, Ontario, Canada.

Woods Of Ypres "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light"

Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light is the fourth studio album as well as the fifth and final studio release from Woods of Ypres. David Gold died two months before this album was released. On February 19, 2013 it was announced that Woods 5 had been nominated for a Juno Award for "Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year", along with the likes of Devin Townsend, Cancer Bats and Ex Deo, an award that it went on to win.

It was recorded in August 2011 at Beach Road Studios with Siegfried Meier in Goderich, Ontario, and released the following year through Earache Records. In comparison to past Woods of Ypres albums, the album has a stronger emphasis on clean vocals and gothic metal sounds, with little of the black metal sound that was present on previous releases. Woods V is the band's only studio album (and second release overall) to feature guitarist Joel Violette, and the first Woods of Ypres album since Woods III to feature David Gold on studio drums. It also marked the band's final studio collaboration with cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne and oboist Angela Schleihauf, who had both guested on Woods IV: The Green Album.

Originally slated for a January 30 release date, the final version of the album was released in the UK on February 13 and in the US in April 2012. Though not the band's first release on the label, Woods V marked the band's first (and to date, only) album to be initially put out under the Earache Records umbrella.

A link to an incomplete promotional version of the album was tweeted by Earache Records shortly after David Gold's death on December 21, 2011. This version of the album excluded "Keeper of the Ledger," split "Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)" into two separate tracks, and had a different track order from the final release. The limited edition vinyl pressing of Woods V includes an exclusive producer's mix of "Finality" on the second disc, which is unavailable officially in other formats.

Also, a vinyl reissue has been announced by Earache Records, and it was released April 7, 2017.

On February 19, 2013 it was announced that Woods 5 had been nominated for a Juno Award for "Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year," along with the likes of Devin Townsend, Cancer Bats and Ex Deo, an award that it went on to win.

Recorded at Beach Road Studios (Ontario, Canada).

Mixed at Bordello Recording Rooms (Oslo, Norway).

Woods Of Ypres "Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues"

Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues is the second full-length album by Woods of Ypres. It was recorded in 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, and it was the band's last album released before relocating to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008. Woods III marked the band's only album to feature bassist/producer Dan Hulse, their last with keyboardist Jessica Rose, and their last album with frontman David Gold on studio drums until Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light in 2012.

Four songs from Woods III were later re-issued in the band's 2009 compilation CD Independent Nature 2002-2007. Though not the last release on the label, this album was Woods of Ypres' last full studio release on Krankenhaus Records before it was succeeded by Gold's new independent label Practical Art Records in 2009.

Similarly to their previous album, and despite its length, material from Woods III was not commonly heard at the band's post-2007 concerts. Only "Your Ontario Town is a Burial Ground" survived into the band's post-2009 setlists (possibly due to Woods of Ypres' shift to a more doom-oriented sound), though "The Northern Cold", "Distractions of Living Alone", and "Thrill of the Struggle" were also played live following the album's release.

A music video for "The Northern Cold" was released in 2007 featuring the performers on Woods III, along with then-members Shawn Stoneman on guitar & Chris Mezzabotta on drums, neither of which performed on any Woods of Ypres albums.

Recorded throughout 2006-2007 at Obsidian Sound Studio.

Drum tracks were recorded in February 2006 at Chemical Sound Studio, Toronto.

Mastered at Silverbirch Productions, summer 2007.