I'm not really a kid, but o well. 4.5 rounds up to 5 stars

This was the third ZZ Top album I purchased, the first 2 being Afterburner and Eliminator. After listening to this bluesy background of ZZ Top, I decided to get more of their older 70's albums. Why? THIS STUFF WAS AWESOME. Throughout all 10 tracks (well, besides a couple songs) this album blew me away



1. (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree

Great start to a great album. Gibbons sounds great on the guitar. This really is one of the better lead-off songs I've heard, aside from Van Halen's "1984" and ZZ Top's own "Gimme All Your Lovin'" 5/5



2. Brown Sugar

Enough said, this was really one of ZZ Top's greatest blues songs. Sure, "Rough Boy" was great, but this song was just the kind of "raw" sound that really fueled this song. 5/5



3. Squank

Great song, but the lyrics are pretty weird. The guitar work combined with the drums went together great. This wasn't the song that blew my mind, but it was still fairly good. 4/5



4. Goin' Down to Mexico

Great song. Period. Sort of like ZZ Top's first rock song, it was still powered by blues, but at heart I believe that it was really a rock song. Not only that, the vocals go great together with the instruments. 5/5



5. Old Man

Great Blues song. After the rockin' song before it, this really brings you back to the blues. This is another 4/5 song because like "Squank", the lyrics are a little bizarre. 4/5



6. Neighbor, Neighbor

What else can I say but: this tried to be a rock song, but failed. I only give it 3/5 because of the guitar-drum combo. 3/5



7. Certified Blues

Certified what? Are you kiddin'? Certified is like "Brown Sugar" or "Backdoor Love Affair". Clever vocals, though. 3/5



8. Bedroom Thang

What a relief!!! After the previous two songs, I was ready to turn it off and only tolerate the first five, but this changed my opinion. Really a great song the way it all falls together. 4/5



9. Just Got Back From Baby's

After this song, I think it's safe to say that ZZ Top redeemed itself. This is what blues rock should be, just the perfect combo of awesome guitar and bluesy swing. 5/5



10. Backdoor Love Affair

Wow, what a great finish. This was probably the least regarded song on the whole album, not showing up on Chrome, Smoke and BBQ. This was a blues song with just the right dose of rock to make it a fantastic finish. 5/5



If you do end up buying this album, I hope you found my review helpful. : - )

First three GOOD

ZZ Top's First Album. Great but not as great as the southern rockers from Georgia, Macon. (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree is a very nice composition. Brown Sugar is the name given to black beautiful women. Squank is another hard rocking song. Neighbor, Neighbor is another one of my favorites of this album. Backdoor Love Affair is about a man's backdoor adventures.

***3/4. Getting off to a good start

ZZ Top's 1970 debut remains one of their roughest and certainly bluesiest albums.

It's a gritty little blues-rock record with lots of fuzzy guitar, rollicking barrelhouse rhythms and a raw, gutsy sound, and "ZZ Top's First Album" offers a handful of really excellent songs, like the tough "Brown Sugar" (not the Stones song), the swaggering, riff-driven "Goin' Down To Mexico", and the slow grind of "Just Got Back From Baby's".



Some may find that a number of these songs glide by on their tough, gut-bucket grooves without offering anything truly memorable, and while it is true that not every one of these ten songs is an instant all-time classic, the overall level is quite high with several peaks and very few let-downs.

This is 34 minutes of tight, well-played blues-rock, as muscular as anything ZZ Top has ever put out. Less MTV-friendly than their 80s pop concessions, of course, but all the more gritty and authentic.

3 3/4 stars. Nice.