Description
Billy Gibbons, the legendary ZZ Top frontman requires little introduction. His powerful guitar sound and gritty vocals are as distinctive as his beard is long, and with a career spanning over 50 years, the man has nothing left to prove. Nevertheless, he shows no sign of slowing down and has just released Hardware, his newest album, the third release by Gibbons, in a late but very prolific solo career. Following the Cuban-influenced Perfectamundo (2015) and the blues-rooted The Big Bad Blues (2018), Hardware retains some of its predecessors’ traits, but with a more rock-oriented approach.
This 2021 platter is a straight-ahead rock & roll album in the vein of ZZ Top, a record filled with originals that feel familiar, as they’re built of the same components Gibbons has relied upon for decades: fuzztone guitars, thick swing and burly boogie, sly jokes and growled vocals. Gibbons is working with much of the same crew as he did in the past so Hardware sounds similar to Big Bad Blues, but it’s lighter on its feet, spending as much time with lively party tunes as it does with the crunching riff-rockers.
