Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top in Bloomington, MN

Since
Rhino
released an exhaustive four-disc
ZZ Top
box in October 2003, some may question the appearance of a double-disc retrospective in June 2004, a mere eight months after the box set. The two may be released awfully close to each other, but they do play to different audiences -- in other words, there are a bunch of fans who want all the hits, but not a full box set, and that's what the 38-track
Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top
delivers. Not that it gets everything right -- there are a few classic album cuts, like
"Leila"
and
"I Got the Six,"
that probably should have been included, and ending the set with a live version of
"Cheap Sunglasses"
and 12" remixes of
"Legs"
"Velcro Fly"
leaves a bad aftertaste -- but it gets it close enough, containing all of their biggest hits and a great cross-section of album tracks and
AOR
favorites. And apart from the aforementioned bewildering final three tracks, it's sequenced well, with the down-n-dirty '70s material on the first disc, and the
MTV
hits from the '80s on the second. There's still a need for a single-disc that has all the biggest hits, but until that comes along,
Rancho Texicano
is the best and most concise overview of that lil' ol' band from Texas. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine