Chicago Top Hits

Five CD box set containing a quintet of their albums housed together in an attractive slipcase: Chicago Transit Authority (1969), Chicago II (1970), Chicago V (1972), Chicago VI (1973) and Chicago VII (1974). While Chicago are oft remembered as a Pop/Rock hit making machine, their musical roots were Jazz-oriented and this quintet of albums features the band blending their commercial sensibilities with their excellent Jazz/Rock musicianship

Assembled from various shows from various tours from around the world, 2016's Live: Greatest Hits from Around the World is billed as ZZ Top's first "full-length live album" – a matter of dispute considering how Eagle Rock released three CD/DVD/Blu-ray combo sets between 2008 and 2014. There is no visual component to Live: Greatest Hits from Around the World, which may be how it skates around the first live album distinction – if there's no video, this is a pure album – but the record mines a similar musical vein, collecting highlights from latter-day ZZ Top tours. During the 2000s and 2010s, ZZ Top released an excellent studio album called La Futura, but that's ignored here in favor for all the songs that are classic rock staples.

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…

Following 2004's Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top by a decade, The Very Baddest of ZZ Top comes in two different styles: a single-disc compilation with 20 tracks and a set that doubles it. The single disc is good, racking up most of the MTV-era hits – "Gimme All Your Lovin," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs," "Got Me Under Pressure," "Rough Boy," "Velcro Fly" – while doubling back for "La Grange, "Tush," "I Thank You," "Waitin' for the Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," and "Cheap Sunglasses."…

Although commercially successful, Chicago's previous long-player, Chicago VI (1973), had not been received as warmly from both the critics as well as from some bandmembers. Both parties expressed their dissatisfaction with the lighter fare and significantly shorter material. In response, the combo briefly returned to their previously tried and true methodology on their follow-up album…

Following 2004's Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top by a decade, The Very Baddest of ZZ Top comes in two different styles: a single-disc compilation with 20 tracks and a set that doubles it. The single disc is good, racking up most of the MTV-era hits – "Gimme All Your Lovin," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs," "Got Me Under Pressure," "Rough Boy," "Velcro Fly" – while doubling back for "La Grange, "Tush," "I Thank You," "Waitin' for the Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," and "Cheap Sunglasses." It's enough to satisfy the very casual fan, but even a quick glance at the track listing reveals plenty of missing favorites: no "Pearl Necklace," "I Heard It on the X," "It's Only Love," "Francine," "Just Got Paid," and "Sleeping Bag."

A CD accompaniment to the Eagle Rock live DVD release of ZZ Top's November 1, 2007 set at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, TX, Live from Texas is one for the fans - a latter-day live record that's by no means embarrassing but not very captivating, either. The set list is hits-heavy, containing every one of the MTV hits from Eliminator and all the classic rock radio staples, all taken just a little bit slower than they were on record. That combined with the crystal clear production makes the band seem just a little bit sluggish at times, but they can still churn out a boogie - "Sharp Dressed Man" in particular cooks - and Billy Gibbons' guitar still snarls as much as his voice growls, which is enough to make this worth a listen for longtime fans.