'El Loco' is the Top's last LP before they did before they started overdoing it with the synths.And,it can be argued,this is their last great album.The boogie is there.The humor is their.And,of course,the ever-present sexual euphamisms are there.

Never being a "serious fan" of ZZ TOP, other than seeing their now familiar series of videos on MTV in the mid- Eighties, I never took the plunge and purchased a full length album from these legendary Texas rockers until a few years ago. A friend of mine turned me on to this cassette about ten years ago and I copied it, loving all the songs. Seriously fun, boogie-woogie blues, rockers, a few ballads, even a dance song ( the middle part of "Heaven Hell or Houston" has a great dance beat as well as some incrdeible guitar playing. ) ZZ TOP purists would probably hate me for saying this, but I think it's their best overall album ( I have since purchased quite a few of their discs. ) Oddly enough, my favourite track on this album is the most unconventional, most "this doesn't sound like ZZ TOP" song "Groovie Little Hippie Pad" starts with a few synth squiggles, then blasts off with a herky jerky rhythm and drum machine patterns that quite frankly wouldn't have sounded out of place on the first B-52's album ( and to me, that's not a bad thing.) Finally, a hard rocking album you can dance to. Great at parties, there's something here for literally everyone.

Wondering what they're doing in those greasy overalls shown on the cover? They were working very hard on another sweet album!

ZZ sounds more contemporary on this album than they ever had before, while at the same time throwing down some funky blues (Tube Snake Boogie, Don't Be Cruel), sweet 70's country-flavored ballads (Leila, It's So Hard), and a couple truly bizarre, genius tracks (10 Foot Pole, Heaven Hell or Houston).

As with Tejas, Billy's tones are more frequently in the Strat realm than the fat Les Paul territory he is widely known for. He doesn't hold back on this one, slingling his gun with great zeal. Tube Snake, Don't Be Cruel, and Heaven, Hell or Houston all feature some of his sweetest solo work, in my opinion.

Out of my five star rating I give one star to each of these tracks:

*Tube Snake
*10 Foot Pole
*Leila
*Don't Be Cruel
*It's So Hard
*Heaven, Hell or Houston

Whoops, that's 6 stars. It's just a sweet thing!

This is ZZ TOP at it's best the whole range of ZZ TOP'S music is here in this one album.Starting with the anthem 'TUBE SNAKE BOOGIE' to the rockin 'I WANT TO DRIVE YOU HOME',In which Billy Gibbons guitar licks are just awesome.If you like a good hard rockin album with the best guitar riffs and great lyrics this album from 'THAT LITTLE OL BAND FROM TEXAS'is a must.

Um, I don't know why this album has caught so many bad reviews... I've never heard the original version (though I'd like to) but even so, this just may be my favorite ZZ Top album and I own quite a few. I will admit that at first, I didn't care for it much at all. But the more I listened, the more it grew on me and now I listen to it the most out of my ZZ Top collection. It sounds weak through an iPod, so I prefer to play it in my car, which has a very nice stereo system... it sounds so groovy and laid back, which I really like. Good cruisin' music. This album sounds like blues numbers mixed with a surf edge to them; there isn't much in the way of heaviness and distortion on this album. I guess it's really about personal taste more than anything else; I'm a laid-back guy so I like laid-back music. So yeah this isn't an album for angry people. Actually I take that back, buy it if you're angry cause it'll calm you down. Anyway, I'm done. Long live ZZ Top.