Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
1973
Album Summary
Tres Hombres (English: Three Men) is the third studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released by London Records in July 1973 and was the band's first collaboration with engineer Terry Manning. It was the band's commercial breakthrough; in the US, the album entered the top ten while the single "La Grange" reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
WikipediaThis is a great record, honestly. It only gets docked a star because it's not ALL great. Just MOSTLY great. But the songs that are great are REALLY great. "Waitin' For The Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," and, of course, "La Grange" are just ... man. So good.
Few albums kick this much ass. Almost a precursor to metal in some ways, this is HARD hard rock that deserves to be played on a windows down kinda day. If I could give half ratings, I would. Only four and half because of a few duds that drag on first listen, but probably hold up on more. STANDOUTS: -Waitin’ for the Bus -Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers -Move Me On Down the Line -Precious and Grace -La Grange -Sheik
Soon as this album gets going you're thrown into the soundscape of some musty hard rock pool hall complete with a few biker guys, cigarette smoke, and a well used jukebox providing the cohesive glue of American blues rhythm of ZZ Top that pulls it all together. By the time you're three tracks in, you're already riding a motorcycle, and your beard is long enough to get caught on the zipper of your leather jacket. A pillar hard rock crafted from blues and the precursor to a sound that would be further explored by bands AC/DC, Motorhead, and Mötley Crüe; ZZ Top's first top ten album delivers on the American Harley dream. Tracks like Waitin' for the Bus,Jesus Just Left Chicago, and of course La Grange utilize the guitar fueled yet ever steady rhythm that is synonymous with throwing on your shades and riding out into the horizon. While these a bit homogenous in the delivery of this type of sound over the course of the album, frequent and sporadic guitar flourishes keep things interesting as you ride along the introspective vibe of wandering the country or getting access to that whorehouse in Texas or simply waiting around for the bus for too damned long. This tale of wanderlust expands beyond waiting for busses and covers other locations in Jesus just Left Chicago and even some out of country locations in Shiek. The track Master Of Sparks stood out to me with interesting time changes throughout the song compared to what I had heard up until it, which was a nice surprise. Sheik also ends with with a bit of a psychedelic outro which also spoke to me thorugh my favorite genre. Very cool. In the end though, La Grange is where it's at, and to be honest, if you've heard just that, then you've heard a decent amount of the album. Favorite Track: La Grange Honorable Mention: Master of Sparks
As a teen in the 80s it was impossible to avoid Zed Zed Top in their highly successful if not overly commercial era (MTV videos in heavy rotation). Wasn't bad, wasn't my taste. Just there. I was aware of a handful of their older tunes through radio but never thought about them. At the time I remember working a restaurant job late one night on cleanup and one of the older guys blasted this album while we worked and I was pretty surprised "Jesus Just Left Chicago" was the same band that did "Legs" - almost a 180degree turn in production as this album is super dry, simple guitars/bass/drums and barely a hint of reverb anywhere. While southern-tinged bluesy rock isn't something I really reach for, this is a fun album and definitely has a sound and place.
Love this album, and ZZ Top is always a fun listen. Billy Gibbons is fantastic as always, Dusty Hill is so solid, and Frank Beard lays it down nicely. Just three guys playing some groovin' bluesy rock. Still sounds great fifty-ish years later.
Awesome album. Watertight rhythm section and expertly executed guitar lines that cut like laser. Stunning.
I know several ZZ Top songs, but only one of them is on this album, so I'm excited to listen to their other material. What a crisp version of blues-rock music. Great guitar soloing, solid grooves, the drumwork adds so much. Track uniqueness surprised me, not every song follows the typical blues chord pattern. Best track: had to be 'La Grange'
Solid American bluesy rock and roll here. It flags a bit with Move it down the line which includes cliched riffs and lyrics like “big wheels keep on turning” 🙄 but its saved by the excellent single La Grange with the signature ZZ Top geetar sound. I like how they mixed up the tempo and mood with Sheik also.
Music for a blue collar bar in a suburban strip mall. Hot, Blue and Righteous stands out as a sweet song to end side A on an otherwise greasy collection.
Straight forward, unpretentious, beardy blues rock. Enjoyable for what it is, but not pushing any boundaries. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: La Grange Date listened: 04/08/22
La Grange is an all-timer and the rest of this album slaps alongside it!
Great example of their basis in blues, storytelling, and Texas boogie.
This is at least a 4, maybe my first 5!? Several songs I really like. I'll listen closely to the rest.
What a classic!! Growely vocals, jamming blues guitar, slick drum riffs. I listened to "Master of Sparks" at least 5 times in a row - I couldn't get enough of it. I've heard a lot of songs off of this album, but not all of them, and not all together.
I actually own this album on vinyl. Every track is exactly what you want from ZZ Top. Great guitar work and the opening three tracks are just a perfect album lead in.
Probably represents ZZ Top's sound better than any other album they released. Solid rock & blues. Bought it when it was released, listened to it periodically since. A great album. Didn't need to add it - owned it for decades.
An amazing album, with just about the greatest collection of guitar tones ever.
Un discazo de principio a fin. Cortito, al grano, y lleno de buenos riffs. Aunque no deja de ser rock en el estilo Texas, la verdad es que en estas dosis pequeñas y bien cuidadas no tiene desperdicio y no se siente como un gimmick repetitivo. Tal vez si me echara toda la discografía o un disco de éxitos me cansarían, pero en este caso se ganaron sus 5 estrellotas.
I already loved ZZ Top but I didn’t know that every song on this album was a banger! Great one to listen to. I saved the whole track list.
Near flawless in its simplicity. You aren't getting much unexpected, though multiple solos involve pushing a guitar just to the edge of listenable. The trio gets their slow cuts in without breaking up the listening experience with a sudden mood change.
This is a great album, and its absolutely crazy how completely together and tight ZZ Top is as a band. All great tracks - 5/5
Great breakthrough Album for ZZ Top. Lots of love and radio play for most of the tracks rockin blues grooves throughout. Only soft spot for me was “Move me on Down the Line” -just doesn’t measure up to the rest of the album.
Loved the fuzzy guitar sounds. It's funky but also hard rocky, and the combination interests me a lot more than I expected.
This one's on my list of albums that everybody else should hear before they die.
ZZ Top is Texas Rock. This album gives groovy blues & touches of early metal. I've always loved La Grange, and Beer Drinkers & He'll Raisers is classic metal - who would've thought they could rock this hard? I'm glad I'm finally listening to a ZZ Top album in its entirety. Being born & raised in TX, this band reminds me of home. They've got some heat in this album - if someone were to ask what the Lone Star state sounds like, I'd play this album. Gonna listen to their entire discography thanks to this challenge.
Love it, a classic hard rock sound! Saved tracks: Waitin' for the Bus, Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, Master of Sparks, La Grange,
Despite being from Texas AND liking the rock/blues style, ZZ Top has never been my favorite. This album is good, objectively, with La Grange being the best track. For me, it doesn't reach 5 stars, but it's better than 3 stars as well. I guess that leaves it at: 4 stars.
Would give it a 5/5 but don’t think it musically deserves it. Too many songs I don’t fully fuck with but the ones I do I love.
Classic guitar licks. It’s everything you expect from a blues guitar, bass and drums. Small group with big sound. Love the variation from a blues rock, ballad and rocking’ classic in La Grange.
First time listening to a whole zz top album. They had me with bus stop in the name of the first song.
Classic Americana Rock with heavy blues influences, but neither too pop-y or too bluesy
Mistura muito boa de blues com rock, com o classico La Grange coroando o album.
One of the best 1-2 openers ever. If you were raised on the MTV version of the band, this album was a revelation. It's a shame "La Grange" is so overplayed, because when you revisit it after 5 or 10 years, it's really good.
Bon album, du bon blues rock qui s’ecoute bien. La grange est une hit qui est intemporel et l’album se meriterai un 5 juste pour cette toune. Le reste amene cela a un 4
Was für coole Typen; geiles, geradliniges und doch auch verspielt vielschichtiges Rock Album, a an dem sich die manche Nuller-Band (Kings of Leon, Black Keys, ...) orientiert haben dürften. per los tres hombres: 3.8
A storm of blues rock from Texas, in the year when southern rock was at its peak. All a statement!
I liked this one lot, it felt like classic rock and the songs come together
Like this one way more than I thought I would. Typical bluesy dad rock, but still fun. I could put this on in the background while I do something else and I think it would help me stay focused.
I listened to the 2000-something remaster, and I was pleasantly surprised!
The songs you think of when you hear "ZZ Top" and consider riding a motorcycle. All around pretty good energy.
Eliminator will forever be my ZZ album of choice but this is more traditionally blues rock. Great album
Some of the best biker bar music there is. Love the sound of this album, it's hard, fast, and yet still has a comfortable blues/southern rock sound that is endlessly listenable
This album rocks. LA Grange is just such a classic road trip song, and the rest of the album provides a wonderful soundtrack for it too. Nothing to skip here.
It's childhood to me honestly. It's classic rock, the guitar slaps, add the drums and the solid as vocals? it's so good to me man.
I love the vibe of it, and as much as I’ll be saying those six words—I truly dig the way it makes me feel like I’m cool doing something that most likely isn’t.
Great stuff. One of their best. Have mercy! Standouts: Waitin' For the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago La Grange
Was expecting a few short embers of enjoyment, but that was really good. Knew of them, but hadn’t hear much - if any- of their music. Toight
Heard this one before so it gave me time to listen to the deep cuts. Apart from 2, all the songs were enjoyable and a thrill to listen to
My Dad is a ZZ Top Fan but I never managed to hear an album in full. Glad that changed
Tres Hombres by ZZ Top (1973) Unapologetically grungy, grimy, greasy, and grotesque, Tres Hombres is philosophically shallow, poetically stunted, theologically unsophisticated, and entertainingly nasty. Posing as a group of hard living country-proletarian party boys with a complete lack of self awareness, ZZ Top speeds us down a Texas two-lane in pursuit of the baser passions, all the while keeping a nervous eye in the rear view mirror for any sign of the transcendent. There’s a lot of heaven, hell, and mercy in the midst of death defying recklessness (“Master of Sparks”—Hold my beer) and rollicking indulgence in the low range of even lower pleasures. This album is celebratory of the bright moments in the otherwise dull lives of barely employed lower middle class American males (i.e., “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers”). There’s virtually no reference to love or romance (none at all if one thinks that “Precious and Grace” refers to something other than a couple of chicks—and one might well be right). Furthermore, one could ask how appropriate it is to appeal to Divine Mercy for a speedier trip home on public transport “with my brown paper bag and my take home pay” (“Have Mercy”). Perhaps a better mercy would be for an increase in the virtue of patience, but at least the listener can relate. However: Drummer Frank Beard (the only member of the trio who’s generally pictured without one) is wildly dynamic, yet precise. Bassist Dusty Hill (d. 7/28/21, R.I.P.) clearly mastered the art of doubling the groove of the electric rhythm guitar, while deftly negotiating the volatile relationship between drums and melody. And guitarist Billy Gibbons excels in both rhythm and lead passages. It’s hard to imagine how only three musicians can produce so much quality sound. So what we have here is an exquisite and highly relatable musical and lyrical expression of the dissipated life—well worth the listen, and rising to level of art (kind of like, in its day, Bizet’s Carmen or Puccini’s La Bohème, without the plot or tragic resolution). In “Jesus Just Left Chicago”, we hear a prayerful enough petition to join our Savior in his incarnate embrace of everything he created, all the way to (of all places) New Orleans. “You may not see Him in person, but He’ll see you just the same. You don’t have to worry, ‘Cause takin’ care of business is His name.” (Did I say this album was theologically unsophisticated? Maybe I’ll rethink that.) But the highlight of the album, of course, is the seductive, understated, and growly advertisement for the famous cathouse outside of “La Grange”. (It’s only a “rumor”, but “you what I’m talkin’ about”.) Now, intros come and intros go, but the first 37 seconds of this track are historic. We’re gonna need a bigger set of speakers. The sly reluctance in the lyric to be more explicit might be designed to enable the quasi-pimp to avoid the law, but it’s also designed for ZZ Top to avoid the opprobrium of the American Family Association (or, more likely, disc jockeys and the FCC). But now, I might be mistaken (A-haw haw haw-haw). 4/5
Absolute stonker of an album, ZZ Top at their finest! Actual rating 4.5
Classic era Z Z Top, with the glorious fat guitar sound, deep rooted in the blues. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers - some of their trademark sly wit in there. La Grange is one of the all-time great grooves. Lovely gospel vibe on Have You Heard.
Great blues/rock sound, really good album with a range of tempos and melodies to suit the genre. Extremely enjoyable and a classic album.
One of the best things to ever come out of Texas. Also, my first concert ever (Eliminator tour). Gonna give this one a thumbs up.
4.5 First time listening to this. Man, they are a tight trio. Never really listened to them until Dusty passed this year. Great collection.
I quite liked this, and would have liked it even more if it had ended after La Grange. 8/10
I was surprised to find this album to be genuinely good, down to earth, rock music.
I had no idea that ZZ too had been making music for so long….it came as a real surprise. I hadn’t heard any of the early ZZ top music but I found it very enjoyable, very listenable.
I have vivid memories of hanging out in my basement in HS playing La Grange on Guitar Hero. This is a truly fun album with great guitar riffs, I’m more of a Revolver fan when it comes to ZZ, but still love this album.
Classic rock/blues feel to it. Hearing the live versions on the remastered alongside the studio really helps you understand how good they were live.
Great listen! I didn't love all the songs (sometimes I felt their voices didn't match the level of rock that they needed for certain songs) but the ones that were more funky/bluesy were amazing!
Driving, polished rock blues boogie. Includes Move me on down the line and La Grange. Thoroughly enjoyable. Four out of five.
70s rock rhythm guitar-y bass-y vibes. Recognizable song; Master of Sparks. Vocalist voice reminiscent of Vanilla Fudge. Album quite short.
One of Texas' greats. Not for everyone and save for La Grange, the front half is the best. Still a solid 4.5/5, but rounding down to 4 stars.
American blues rock classic. Not every song on the album is a winner but overall quite fun. Favorite track is of course la grange.
Big fan of this ZZ Top sound. Very garage blues sounding and la grange is always fun to hear again
Bluesy, sleazy, and fun. Jesus…Chicago, Waitin for the Bus, LaGrange all classics. This set them up for a lifetime of great boogie.
This one surprised me. Great riffs and rhythm, really good blues. Red Hot Chilli Peppers. So much better than what know them for in the 80s. Funky blues.
Very fun especially by the time it gets to LaGrange. Again nice turn and surprise
Premier album de ZZ Top que j’écoute. Bien sûr je connaissais La Grange, mais tout se tient sur cet album. Agréablement surpris de mon écoute. Je vais sûrement essayer de le trouver en vinyle.
Oh yeah Master of Sparks haluun prätkän ja ajaa auringonlaskuun. Ei myöskään tauhkaa levyllä. Helppo 4/5
ZZ Top are a great blues power trio and this is the album that brought them into the limelight. I give them credit for having such a full sound too. Take a track like "Shiek". Once you get passed the fact that it isn't spelled correctly ( I blame the Texas school system), the guitar and bass work together to sound like 3 instruments. There's the classic track "La Grange." For those who don't listen to classic rock radio, they probably heard it on guitar hero. The whole album does rock from start to finish and did make me want to check out more of their stuff.
Enlightening. I did not realize just how bluesy they were in their early days. They've got a pretty cool sound on Waitin for the Bus and Jesus Just Left Chicago. Respect. Hot, Blue and Righteous almost had a Skynyrd Tuesday's Gone feel to it - some blues, some southern rock. The rest of the album has a more fast-paced or pulsing rock sound, which was pretty solid. They create some good rhythms. Master of Sparks as well as Precious and Grace stand out. And of course La Grange stands out but everyone knows that is an incredible tune - great pace and intricacy in the drums and guitar/bass. Really enjoyed this album. Almost gave it a 5 but that seemed a bit much.
Ah, ZZTop. You can't escape these guys on classic rock. They're good comfort food, and pretty fun, too. If you can, catch the documentary on them up on Netflix. It was pretty entertaining. It's really hard to believe that these guys have been around for so long. Still going after one of them passed away, too. I did not like the transition between the first two songs. Sounded kinda clunky. They reminded me a bit of Mountain, but looser (particularly in songs like Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers). La Grange is that old? Wow. Really fun stuff, this I could imagine as more of a party album than Kiss' Destroyer.
Great blues driven rock and roll. Some filler, but the rest were killer.
I wasn't familiar with this album of the songs on it, aside from the infamous La Grange. It's impossible not to get hooked on that teaser intro and vocals, only to then be paid off with exceptional rhythm guitar and riffs. Blues rock can be a bit hit or miss for me, but ZZ Top's music has a unique gritty, "dirty south" rock quality to it that I can't help but dig; it perfectly complements Gibbons' iconic vocals, and that is very much on display on this album. I enjoyed this album even more than I thought I would!
This album is a much more pure rock album than some of their later work. This for sure my favorite ZZ album.
Cool album. La Grange is not in my top 5 of ZZ Top songs, but the overall album is pretty good.
ZZ Top's first album recorded in a real studio, and the quality shows. They had clearly been gigging like crazy over the previous few years, and so this unfussy recording of them as a tight live unit really shines. And they had material that really shows off their southern swamp boogies meets Texas blues at its best. Is it groundbreaking? Not really, but it is a kind of best-in-class for this type of thing. Short, sharp and to the point, with no wasted time or filler, this is a catchy and highly listenable album. La Grange still gives me a pavlovian need to play the Getaway pinball.
They get lost a little in this one, but when they're on, they're on. Best track: La Grange
Finally an album to enjoy! This entire album is solid and la grange is a pleasure to listen to. I would definitely add this into my rotation. 4 out of 5 stars.
I only knew these guys as a novelty facial-hair / eyewear band but it makes sense they started out a bit more legit. Good chunkin’ blues with a touch of country and funk in the mix too. I’d say good but not great though.
Muy buenos riffs, mucho rock, mucho blues, y mucha actitud en este disco. Destacan Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers y obviamente La Grange.
Why hasn't anyone told me a 1973 blues-rock album by MTV pop rock mainstays during the eighties could *somehow* remind me of early naughts desert rock such as Queens Of The Stone Ages? Music and its convoluted history are wonderful things, aren't they? I was obviously familiar with the John Lee Hooker rip off for "La Grange" before, but I had not heard the first side of *Tres Hombres* yet. And to be honest that first half sounds pretty great, at least from "Waitin' For The Bus" to "Master Of Sparks". I've just read here that "Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers" was covered by Mötörhead. Frankly, I can see why Lemmy would single out this song. You can say a lot of things about who Lemmy was as a person or even a band leader, but one thing's for sure: he had great taste as a music fan. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 846 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 83 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 38 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 32
Albúm insignia para sus generos abordantes. Blues rock de principio a fin, un disco que desgasta su sonido para comenza con el “zz” pesado, teniendo cambios bruscos para discolocarse (precious and grace, la grange y sheik) una transición de sonidos impecable, siempre predominando la improvisacion de blues, ese estilo particular del southern y hasta toques psicodelicos que nos hacen recordar a una especie de hendrix. Sin duda un album que invita a ser escuchado varias veces. fav songs: jesus left chicago master of sparks precious and grace ☆ la grange ☆ sheik ☆ 4.3/4.5
First time of Listening for me. Texas Blues at their best. Some good tunes on this one, Starts with the wonderful "Waiting For The Bus" with some great mouth iron work from Billy Gibbons. They moved away from this Blues based sound in the 80's which I think is a shame. Loved the aforementioned "Waitng For The Bus", "Jesus Just Left Chicago" "Le Grange" and "Hot, Blue and Righteous" Not on my list but I understand its inclusion!
Simple to the core, and that's why it still rocks today. There are some gems here, but the real trick is three guys playing together.
ZZ Top does Texas proud with this collection of crunchy, riff-filled Southern rock. No song overstays it welcome-the trio have an excellent handle on tight arrangements.
-S Tier- Waitin’ for the Bus Master of Sparks La Grange -A Tier- Jesus Just Left Chicago Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers Sheik -B Tier- Hot, Blue, and Righteous Precious and Grace Have You Heard -C Tier- Move Me On Down the Line AVG SCORE: 3.8 / 5 - - - Even if “La Grange” never existed, this would still be one of ZZ Top’s greatest works top-to-bottom. Give me this era over the Eliminator era every day.
Enjoyable riffs and everything sounds great. Hooker should have won that court case for plagiarism on 'La Grange' though. Good background bar music, not sure I'll return much to it at home.
When it comes to bluesy Southern rock, it doesn't get much better than ZZ Top. "Eliminator" will always have a special place in my heart, but "Tres Hombres" is a solid album, and features my favorite ZZ Top track: "La Grange." The rest of the album was new to me, but it didn't disappoint. I particularly enjoyed the opening trio of songs, "Waiting for the Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," and "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers." I don't *love* every track, but if someone slapped the record on and "forced" me to listen to it, I certainly wouldn't be begging for them to skip any tracks. Billy Gibbons' guitar playing alone makes the album worthwhile.
Feeling generous this morning, was going to be a 3, but I really enjoyed a couple of their tracks
An arsenal upon the senses. This freaky little record gave me one of the most powerful orgasms I've had today. What a shit splattered success. My heart wants to headbutt a racoon into Jupiter.
who knew i would be a ZZ top fan. i genuinely really enjoyed this no nonsense blues rock. meant i also watched a video of them live where they have treadmills built in to the stage so they whizz about while playing, absolute nonsense but the kind of nonsense i enjoy.
Not a perfect album, but really, really good bloozy rock. Waiting on the Bus, Jesus Just Left Chicago, and La Grange are the famous tracks here, all of which adhere to the older ZZ Top formula of chugging blues riffs over a killer rhythm section. Solid all around. Master of Sparks and Sheik are standout album tracks, but Hot, Blue and Righteous is really impressive swerve into a slower, somewhat more plaintive direction. Four stars, but this is definitely an album I'd reach for if I was driving fast down a country road.
Maybe not the orchestrated production of later albums but this blues-rock and Billy Gibbons guitar rich opus is a perfect representation of the true roots and soul of this Texas trio.
Songs blend well with one another, smooth transitions & little downtime Enjoyable solo's, never a dull moment La Grange is iconic, automatic win All in all, a nice album to listen to. 7/10
A masterclass in Texas Blues with a thick layer of Southern Rock, and some funky licks. The songs in the middle get a bit less than the start, but luckily that downward spiral then gets broken by the amazing La Grange - A song I could listen to 5 times in a row and not get sick of. "Hey look! It's ZZ Top! You guys rock! "
ZZ Top rocks pretty hard. This is just kinda solid cool rockin music. La Grange is a classic. 3/5.
1973. Key Songs. La Grange, Precious And Grace, Jesus Just Left Chicago
Bluesy. Had me in the first half, but aside from "La Grange", it just kind of tappers off for me. Solid licks as always. Favorite tracks: "Waitin' For the Bus", "Jesus Just Left Chicago"