Tres hombres

Nice blues-laced rock & roll. Great first album.

BANGIN' southern rock/blues album here. Only one slow-burner I could skip.

What a pleasant surprise! I only knew the post-MTV ZZ Top music, which I find very generic. This album is MUCH bluesier than the one in this list from the 80s, which I just had assigned to me earlier this week. This band really went backwards musically over time. They became a shtick.

I think I personally have to wait a little more for that Cadillac.

The playing is pretty tight and it seems like they had a vision. Good for them.

Solid rock and roll. Doesn't demand a lot of attention but is fun throughout.

I have never listened to Z Z top before, I am looking forward to this, I am expecting Bearded rock and roll!!

What I got is what I expected and I enjoyed it. Beardy blues rock with some great guitar riffs. The album is enjoyable but not ground breaking, its a decent score of 3/5. it lacks a couple of really big songs!

Favourite song: Hot blue and righteous and La grange
Least favourite: None of the tracks were bad!
Album artwork: Green!!!

For this review, I will not consider the live tracks added to the expanded edition from 2006.

Well, I’ve already heard the other ZZ Top album on this list Eliminator two months ago, and Tres Hombres is easily the better of the two. This decision boils down to the live percussion, more laid-back compositions that maintain emphasis on the guitar riffs, and less embarrassing songwriting.

This album is straightforward Texas blues rock affair, and sticks in that lane without much deviation. If you’ve heard the single “La Grange” before, then you have a good idea what this album sounds like. It’s not mind blowing, but it’s efficient in its execution, from the one-two punch of “Waitin’ for the Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago”, into cuts like “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers”, “Master of Sparks”, “Precious and Grace”, and “Move Me On Down the Line”.

Tres Hombres is an overall fun album that doesn’t waste time. Give it a listen.

I like maybe 4 songs by ZZ Top. La Grange is one of those songs, so this album has that going for it. The rest of the songs are forgettable. They’re not bad, just nothing special. I’m sure some people probably really dig this, I just find it kind of boring.

Pretty cool album. Had more to it than just the biggest hits. 4/5

Noooooooooo. OK, I have a gut reaction of dislike for ZZ Top (and what kind of name is ZZ Top, anyway? More like ZZ Bottom. Hmph), and this low-res MS Paint album cover isn't changing things for me. The wiki genres ("Southern rock, blues rock, boogie rock, Texas blues") are similarly unappealing.

I wonder if the "muddy water" lyric in 'Jesus Just Left Chicago' is a reference to Muddy Waters, who is I suppose like a slightly more enjoyable version of ZZ Top. And 'Master of Sparks' could almost be an Audioslave song. Heck, maybe 'Hot, Blue and Righteous' is about Gonzo from the Muppets (introduced in 1970). And I guess "I'll be where the big wheels keep on turnin'" in 'Move Me on Down the Line' is a CCR reference? Plus "I'll be ridin' on the bus 'til I Cadillac" is also an objectively funny line. So there are things to enjoy for me here, but the overall sound just isn't my style. The live tracks at the end don't help matters!

Very middle of the road. Nothing terrible but apart from La Grange nothing memorable either.

The most three-y 3 to ever 3.

It’s not a bad album. It’s not a very captivating album, though. It’s an enjoyable listen, but other than La Grange, and maybe a few other tracks, it’s not a very memorable listen either. It just feels half-baked to me, but perhaps I’m holding this to a much higher standard than I should be.

I fully recognize this album for what it is; it’s for when you’re on the road, trucking along, and you need some rock music to listen to without giving a shit. It totally works in that sense; this is fully competent 70s rock to drink some beer to. It doesn’t challenge itself too much, nor does it ever really challenge the listener. It didn’t really wow me as the listener, either. The instrumentation, other than the usually more involved guitar solos, feels a bit neglected and basic. The percussion in particular sounds like I could play it on some of these tracks, and the extent of my rhythm/instrumental experience is like, playing Rhythm Heaven and slapping a desk.

I dunno, it’s just sort of disappointing compared to the last ZZ Top album we got – they definitely grew more as musicians, and got more comfortable exploring complexities, but the core of what made Eliminator work is here. It’s just not all there in terms of confidence, instrumentation, or bombast. It’s a solid 33 minutes though; I don’t hate it, and there’s not a single bad track here, but I just don’t think I can go any higher than a 3.

Tres Hombres is an album that is pretty basic but still good. The album does get the vibe of a southern sound to a T. There are songs that had a hard rock sound (which dominated most of the album) but they also did have some ones that had more of a country style which i think is quite cool. Unfortunately this album is a bit basic which is to be expected since it seems to be an earlier hard rock album but i still would have liked to see some more interesting ideas and elements. This album is a good one, i just wish it had some more things going for it.
Best Song: La Grange
Worst Song: Sheik

They reinvented themselves for the 80s with Eliminator but they always had little innovative moments like with Master of Sparks on this and the way the first two tracks segue right into one another.

Good for if you're a middle aged biker dude in a bar. So I guess kind of cool but kind of bland. 'La Grange' makes up for it. That is one kick-ass song.

La Grange is a classic. The rest of this is just ok.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch review: Honestly not that toasty but definitely comes through on the cinnamon and crunch aspects.

Bluesy rock, before zz when mainstream.

En 1973, le rock était un paysage diversifié, allant du glam décadent au rock progressif complexe. Et puis, du fin fond du Texas, un son est sorti, épais comme de la mélasse, chaud comme l'asphalte en plein été et direct comme un coup de poing. Ce son, c'était celui de ZZ Top sur leur troisième album, "Tres Hombres".

La force de "Tres Hombres" réside dans son absence totale de compromis. C'est un album brut, honnête et incroyablement puissant. Le trio a ici trouvé la formule magique qui fera sa gloire : le son de guitare sur-saturé et "gras" de Billy Gibbons, posé sur la section rythmique la plus solide et la plus groovy qui soit. Dusty Hill (basse) et Frank Beard (batterie) ne sont pas là pour faire des démonstrations techniques ; ils sont le moteur d'un bulldozer, un rouleau compresseur qui avance avec une puissance et une régularité hypnotiques. Leur synergie est le coeur battant de l'album.

Dès l'enchaînement d'ouverture, le légendaire "Waitin' for the Bus / Jesus Just Left Chicago", l'auditeur est happé. Le premier riff est lourd, minimaliste, presque menaçant, avant de glisser sans effort dans un boogie irrésistible. Le ton est donné : ce sera bluesy, lourd et terriblement efficace. Des titres comme "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" sont des hymnes qui encapsulent toute la philosophie du groupe : une célébration sans prétention du rock'n'roll, de la fête et de la liberté.

Et puis, il y a "La Grange". Ce morceau est le joyau de l'album, et peut-être de toute la carrière du groupe. Inspiré par un célèbre bordel texan, son riff est d'une simplicité enfantine mais d'une efficacité diabolique. C'est le boogie dans sa forme la plus pure et la plus contagieuse. C'est un classique instantané, un morceau qui, à lui seul, justifie l'acquisition de l'album. Il est impossible de rester immobile à son écoute.

Alors, pourquoi l'album n'atteint-il pas la note parfaite de 4/4 ? La raison est simple : sa plus grande force est aussi sa légère faiblesse. "Tres Hombres" est un disque d'une formidable cohérence, mais aussi d'une certaine uniformité. Le groupe a trouvé un filon et l'exploite à la perfection, mais il s'aventure rarement en dehors. Les morceaux, bien que tous excellents, naviguent dans le même registre de boogie-rock poisseux. Il manque ce moment de respiration, ce changement de rythme ou cette ballade inattendue qui aurait pu donner à l'album une dimension supplémentaire et le hisser au rang de chef-d'oeuvre absolu. C'est une formidable autoroute rock, mais qui ne comporte que très peu de sorties.

En conclusion, "Tres Hombres" est un classique essentiel et indiscutable. C'est le son d'un groupe au sommet de son art, avant que les synthés et les clips de MTV ne viennent (légèrement) diluer la formule. C'est un disque viscéral, qui se ressent plus qu'il ne s'analyse. Pour tout amateur de rock authentique, de riffs qui collent aux doigts et de rythmes qui font taper du pied, cet album est un passage obligé. Un 4 sur 5 solide et mérité pour ce concentré de chaleur texane.