A Country song is always going to sound like Country. These days there's a slight lemon twist of Fleetwood Mac meeting the Eagles with a squeeze of Skynyrd and Mellencamp. But Country rarely if ever slips out of its boots.
You might think the same about ZZ Top. Classic Rock fans have never looked at them for innovation and change. Yet every once in a while the Texas trio showcases evidence of surprise. Like a collaboration with the British synth-pop group Depeche Mode.
The Top/Mode team up comes in the form of a remixed version of ‘Soothe My Soul,’ the most recent single from Depeche Mode’s latest album, ‘Delta Machine.’ Released last month, ‘Soul’ received the remix treatment from a number of artists; in fact, the CD maxi-single includes no fewer than six rejiggered versions of the track — one of which was put together by ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons with producer Joe Hardy. It’s an unexpected pairing to say the least, but one that makes perfect sense in Gibbons’ eyes.
During his recent album-by-album look at the first 10 ZZ Top records, Gibbons reflected on the synthesizer-assisted sound of 1983′s ‘Eliminator’ by saying, “Bands like Depeche Mode were leading the synthesizer charge at this time. What’s interesting is, Joe Hardy and I received an invitation from them recently to remix one of their new songs, ‘Soothe My Soul.’ [Vocalist] Dave Gahan told me they were looking for a little ‘Texas mud’ to go with the electronica. Funny how things go around in circles sometimes.”
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013
ZZ Top And Depeche Mode Unite
A Country song is always going to sound like Country. These days there's a slight lemon twist of Fleetwood Mac meeting the Eagles with a squeeze of Skynyrd and Mellencamp. But Country rarely if ever slips out of its boots.
You might think the same about ZZ Top. Classic Rock fans have never looked at them for innovation and change. Yet every once in a while the Texas trio showcases evidence of surprise. Like a collaboration with the British synth-pop group Depeche Mode.
The Top/Mode team up comes in the form of a remixed version of ‘Soothe My Soul,’ the most recent single from Depeche Mode’s latest album, ‘Delta Machine.’ Released last month, ‘Soul’ received the remix treatment from a number of artists; in fact, the CD maxi-single includes no fewer than six rejiggered versions of the track — one of which was put together by ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons with producer Joe Hardy. It’s an unexpected pairing to say the least, but one that makes perfect sense in Gibbons’ eyes.
During his recent album-by-album look at the first 10 ZZ Top records, Gibbons reflected on the synthesizer-assisted sound of 1983′s ‘Eliminator’ by saying, “Bands like Depeche Mode were leading the synthesizer charge at this time. What’s interesting is, Joe Hardy and I received an invitation from them recently to remix one of their new songs, ‘Soothe My Soul.’ [Vocalist] Dave Gahan told me they were looking for a little ‘Texas mud’ to go with the electronica. Funny how things go around in circles sometimes.”
Listen to the song
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