From
ZZ Top nothing has been heard since 2012. That can't be down to lack of inspiration or energy from guitarist and singer Billy F Gibbons, who launches the follow-up to The Big Bad Blues (2018) with Hardware. The Texan whose face has been hidden behind an imposing beard since time immemorial, does on Hardware what he - with or without ZZ Top - does best. His blues rock always has a high Texas
… boogie content and never goes too deep. His voice has only gotten rawer over the years, which benefits his growling vocals. Gibbons is a collector of old cars and Hardware is an excellent soundtrack for long drives on vast American highways - not too slow and especially not too fast. On this solid album he sounds like himself, returning to the ZZ Top of before the disco influences. (MR)more
