Review: Billy Gibbons - Hardware (2021)

Always active the old good Billy Gibbons, known to the general public for the great ZZ Top, who has reached his third soloist, entitled Hardware .

The musicians with him in this adventure are the great Matt Sorum (still my favourite Guns N' Roses drummer) and Austin Hanks on rhythm guitar and bass, both already featured on the previous album The Big Bad Blues a few years ago.

Hardware should be taken as a light, fun and no-frills record: first track is My lucky card which brought me back to the initial bluesy pieces of the film A star is born (sorry), maybe a sign that the style of artist is also a great influence even for Hollywood. Then the engaging She's on fire  (great chorus on this one!), the Bluesy Blues Shuffle, Step & Slide and the beautiful ballad Vagabond man , perhaps my favourite of the album, with a beautiful lead guitar.

Very particular Spanish fly (which reminded me of the "noisy" moments of Tom Waits, in the verses), with a fantastic Matt Sorum at the end of the tune, then also the engaging West Coast Junkie and I Was A Highway , which smells so much of mother band. Towards the end of the album we also find a funny cover of Texas Tornados, Hey Baby, Que Paso and a spoken words, Desert High , which would look great in a Tarantino film.

Hardware will not be a record that will go down in history but it is certainly a light listening, of quality and that will make you beat your foot on more than one occasion, despite an inspiration not always at the top. But that's fine when you have decades of honorable career behind you.

Rate: 69/100

Top tracks: My Lucky Card, She’s On Fire, Vagabond Man.   

TRACKLIST: 

01. My Lucky Card 

02. She’s On Fire 

03. More-More-More 

04. Shuffle, Step & Slide 

05. Vagabond Man 

06. Spanish Fly 

07. West Coast Junkie 

08. Stackin’ Bones 

09. I Was A Highway 

10. S-G-L-M-B-B-R 

11. Hey Baby, Que Paso 

12. Desert High