NEW YORK, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- ZZ TOP, eternal icons of rock, blues and 
boogie, have, after many months of planning, writing, wood shedding, 
experimentation and recording, at last emerged with their newest album in 
hand. Entitled Mescalero, it's another milestone in a remarkable career that 
encompasses an amazing 34 years of American rock and roll history. As it was 
in the beginning, the ZZ TOP of 2003 boasts its original personnel line up -- 
Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.  It's the same "little ol' band 
from Texas," retooled and reenergized for the new millennium. Mescalero is 
the latest installment in an unparalleled resume that stretches back to 1969 
when the group was founded in Houston out of the key components of The Moving 
Sidewalks (Gibbons) and The American Blues (Hill and Beard).

The completion of a new ZZ TOP album is cause for unbridled jubilance among 
the band's considerable fan base around the world, and this latest effort, to 
be released by RCA Records on April 15th, is no exception.  ZZ TOP's 
traditional recipe for rock, underpinned by a canon of songs that are 
innovative, sometimes enigmatic and often humorous, propelled by Billy's 
blues based guitar virtuosity, Dusty's driving bass and Frank's fierce 
drumming, is very much in evidence on Mescalero.  Not content to rest on 
their considerable laurels, the band has taken something of a cutting edge 
approach on the new album in both sonic and compositional terms. The result 
is a recording grounded in the band's glorious past with a decidedly 
contemporary flavor.

Mescalero includes sixteen tracks (fifteen of which were written for the 
album plus one cover song) for a total running time of approximately 63 
minutes; the band refers to the album's length as "a buck and change."  The 
album was produced by Billy F Gibbons and Lone Wolf Production Company. 
Packaging, created by L.A. artist Ryk Maverick, is inspired by Mexico's "Dia 
De Los Muertes" in keeping with the border theme of the album.

"The album has some of that old ZZ sound," notes Gibbons, "it the same three 
guys playing the same three chords but we've gone in some new directions with 
them."  Dusty Hill adds, "You'll know it's ZZ TOP right away but we've kept 
it interesting and fresh."  Frank Beard attributes ZZ TOP's longevity to "the 
three 't's: tone, taste and tenacity."

The selections run the stylistic gamut from blues-rock to neo-metal to 
crypto-zydeco to boogie flavored vamps, even including a country inflected 
ballad and a big dose of TexMex border ambience.  In fact, one of the tracks, 
"Que Lastima" which might be described as techno-mariachi, is sung entirely 
in Spanish while the title song is a bilingual outing.  Beyond the Mescalero 
originals, the album includes "Tramp," the proto-rap R&B classic, written by 
Lowell Fulsom and Jimmy McCracklin, that was a hit duet for Otis Redding and 
Carla Thomas in 1967.

ZZ TOP recently headlined Rodeo Houston, attracting nearly 70,000 fans to 
their performance at the just opened Reliant Stadium.  Within their set, they 
previewed  "Buck Nekkid," and "Piece" from the new album, which received a 
great reception from the hometown throng.  Other Mescalero titles include 
"Two Ways To Play," "Alley-Gator," "Goin' So Good," "Me So Stupid," "Punk Ass 
Boyfriend," "Stackin' Paper," "What Would You Do," "What It Is Kid," 
"Crunchy," "Dusted" and Liquor."

After previewing the album for label executives, management, friends and 
family, Gibbons commented, "Mescalero -- what it is?  Nobody really knows!  
It is strange and alluring and that's a good thing.  Try it -- you gonna like 
it."