So, "Over You"....
I like it. I do. Some people don't. Let's talk about it....
To me it represents the third ballad in ZZ's history, following "Leila" and "Rough Boy". To me "Breakaway" is neither blues nor a ballad, but that's another topic for discussion.
"Leila" is hit or miss. It is uncharacteristic of the Top, and likely does not suit the majority of fans' tastes. But can we criticize a band for an eccentric song when at the same time we praise the band for not sticking to a formula and their incessant willingness to try different genres?
"Rough Boy" is the best of the three in my opinion. Whether you opine that "Afterburner" sounds dated and metallic is a moot point. This song fit perfectly in the mid 1980's music scene, and the band made a concentrated effort to prove that first they could write such a song and secondly make it a damn good one. Like Dusty once said, they didn't lose any longtime fans when the ballad reached the airwaves, but they gained a lot of new ones, especially women, which ain't a bad thing.
"Over You" is somewhere in between. The lyrics are simple like "Rough Boy" and Billy's gravel road voice fits the context perfectly. What the song lacks are the slick, smooth, effortless guitar licks that, especially in the outro, made "Rough Boy" such an amazingly proficient number. Billy's ability to pull out the absolute best solo, the only solo, that could ever fit "Rough Boy" was proof the band, even under intense pressure, could rise to the occasion and do no wrong during that 1981 to 1987 period. "Over You" seems to lack the focus, drive and concentrated guitar work that is essential to projecting that ZZ "sound". Jeff Beck commented that Billy is the greatest at knowing when it is better to NOT play a note rather than to, but in this instance additional takes and trial and error could have proved beneficial and elevated a good song to a great song. Isn't It a Pity....
To me, 'Over You' is easily second to 'Gotsta Get Paid' on the whole album - it's classic Billy Gibbons: simple, but yet not the straight-forward three-chord ditty (it actually has four chords...), accessible (my old man as well as my wife like it), not main stream (Rough Boy still plays on local radios and shopping malls from time to time, which isn't a bad thing, though), and most of all I like the voice! It's not unlike Dylan, whose quite similar voice has taken on a character in recent years that is both reflecting age and experience in the best possible way and the very identity of ZZ Top - Masters of Cool, again similar to Dylan, who in my opinion is second to Billy in coolness - just listen to his recent albums and their ironic and spiteful lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the classic ZZ Top guitar sound of the first four or five albums and find the high-gain (but low end!) sound of recent years a bit boring - every guitar sounds the same, be it a Tele or a BFG (big fat Gibson). But the guitar sound in 'Over You' is spot on. And so is the solo. I agree that the fading outro noodling of 'Rough Boy' is classic Billy and should actually carry on a lot longer on recordings, but the solo and outro flourishings of 'Over You' are very high-class to me. Anybody who has played the song on guitar yet must surely agree that those bluesy lines are simply outstanding. To me, they represent all Billy is about, and I wish he'd have played more of that kind on the whole album. While the old ZZ songs instantly hit you in the face and stay in your ears for hours and days, the new songs don't really stick. They're nice and refreshing in a world of overproduced, cleaned-up, hip hop-induced candystore pop, but just not innovative and catchy enough. I'm probably quite alone with this opinion, but thanks to the guy who recently mentioned The Cadillac Black in his concert review - those guys know how to rock good and hard, and that's more like what I wished ZZ had delivered. Well, I digress...
'Over You' already now is one of my all-time favourite ZZ tracks, and I hope that they will soon open their vaults and release some very early 70s live footage in the vein of their 1980 Essen, Germany live concert. Don't get me wrong, ZZ are still my all-time top band, and I have seen them a lot in recent years, while I am too young to even have seen them in the 70s, let alone in the 80s, but their sound was so timeless back then that it still resonates today - to me, and certainly to a lot of other people just as well.
All three are great,. I even thought about naming a daughter should I have one Leila.
ReplyDeleteRough boy it;s a masterpiece no dough and so is over you.
I can't really give a 1,2,3 order because my mood shifts but if did over you and rough boy are basically a tie.
Anyway when he sings it's "the hardest thing" in Over you I feel it. Underneath the polish of rough boy I feel his pain there too. Leila is just a bit cheesy but it's also what makes it more fun then sad. My 2 cents.
:)
In my opinion, 'Going So Good' on Mescalero, is also a ballad.
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