ZZ Top: Greatest Hits

OK--I'll admit it; I'm one of the biggest ZZ Top Fanzz on earth. I have every song, single, album and collection they've ever released. I have the albums, etc of the music the individual members made with bands prior to forming ZZ Top (the Moving Sidewalks, American Blues, the Warlocks) and I've gathered up all the oddball CDs that Billy F. Gibbons has appeared on with other bands/artists. I even have some bootleg live CDs and DVDs (shh--don't tell anybody!). I've even gone so far as to pay $40 for an import CD, just because it has one song on it that I don't have--and I've done that twice! But in spite of all this, I CAN be an unbiased reviewer of the boyzz' various efforts (musical or otherwise).

I remember when, in the early 1980's, we (my friends and I) would watch anything that was remotely related to music videos. The first time any of us saw ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'" video was life-changing. It wasn't just the fact that we were watching fellow Texans, it wasn't just the perfect hotrod being driven by gorgeous leggy girls, it was the MUSIC! It was different from anything else we were seeing or hearing on MTV--the closest we had up to that point was the occasional Rolling Stones video.

This collection is a great time capsule, even for people who don't remember the songs/videos/era first hand; my young teenage nephew, who wasn't familiar with the band or its music pronounced the videos "cool" at first glance. This is a collection worthy of inspection from many standpoints, but remember, "ease up on the potato salad and bear down on the meat!" (Translation: even without the hot girlzz, hot carzz and spinnin' guitarzz, the music itself is great.)

OK. I admit it. The only reason I bought this DVD was to see three of the hottest women ever put onto film. In our day and age of push-button smut this DVD reminds me of a time when the adage of "...it's better to conceal than to reveal..." still held some merit. Truth be told I think a couple of the models in the early ZZ top videos were Playboy Playmates, so the saying loses some weight, but that doesn't detract from the fact that their beauty was, in fact, natural. The three original models in the first ZZ top videos are the epitome of a kind of natural sexiness that's been lost in our day and age. The original three models are three of the hottest women ever put into visual media, and I say that without any shame because it's true :-)

With so many constructed faces and modified bodies on today's so-called "models" it's a rarity to find any female model who hasn't committed mind, body and soul to cosmetic surgery. Surgery that, in my opinion, only worsens a person's appearance. The models used in the final videos on this disk ("Viva Las Vegas" and "Burger Man") just aren't up to snuff. With unnaturally enhanced breasts, and facial features that look like they've been chiseled, they look like freaks of nature: They're just not attractive, just like the rest of the women who've had similar work.

Oh yeah... the videos. I like 'em for what they are. The first three on this collection ("Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs") are my favorites. I'm not sure what the concept was behind "TV Dinners," but it failed to register with me. "Give it Up" was decent enough hearkening back to the original ZZ top video formula, ditto with "Sleeping Bag," which, if I recall J.J. Jackson from MTV (one of the original VJays) was made specifically to get the three models back into the ZZ top videos. Why? Because we the fans liked them, and were clamouring to bring them back :-)

Most of the videos themselves are all typical story book stuff, save for the space-ship/space-station oriented ones, and "TV Dinners." There's nothing deep about them, but the messages, however familiar, are welcome all the same.

If you like the good solid rock music that is ZZ Top, and "High concept videos" as purported by the copy on the DVD case, then go out and rent or buy this wonderful collection of videos. You won't be sorry.

When I was young all those "Eliminator" video clips impressed me no end.

And from then on I have been wondering...

Who's the girl that plays the 'nerd to beauty' role in "Legs"?

I have never seen her before or since, not in a video clip or a film. And I can't find any information about her (or about those other chicks in the car, except maybe one) anywhere, including here on IMDb.com.

I am dying to know! Or, in fact, I must now more about this woman ere I die.

I think it's a damn shame that IMDb.com required you to use 10 lines of text minimum, even if you want to simply pick the collective world's brain for some information. I am not sure why they do this, it surely defeats the whole idea of a coherent communication going on...

ZZ Top is the Best and this Very cool collection of Music Videos Proves it. In the Tape, There is About 15 of their Absolute Best Videos (Legs, Got me under Pressure, Gimme all of your lovin', etc.) The Sound Quality and the Picture Quality is to good to be True, Especially for Being made 10 or more Years ago. Good for any ZZ Fan or Rocker. I Give it 9 out of 10. Grade: A-. Also Recommended is AC/DC: No Bull.

The title pretty much says it : this is a collection of video clips showcasing part of ZZ Top's heavily bearded oeuvre. It's both a tribute to and a playful comment on a certain kind of 1980's excess, meaning that the viewer needs to possess a sense of humour.

Lovers of ZZ Top's music will recognize deathless hits such as "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs" and "Velcro Fly". I recommend it especially for "Rough Boy".

The lyrics for "Rough Boy" aren't anything to write home about, but the music, with those lush, endless guitar solos ! It's some of the sexiest music ever written - it's enough to make a Mother Superior throw away her habit, put on a red miniskirt and sashay into a tequila bar. And then it's off for hours of sweet sweet lovemaking with a seriously bewhiskered young man... It's also very beautiful music : it's got a mathematical complexity and intricacy a Rameau or a Bach might have admired.

Recommended.