It's hard to believe that Billy Gibbons (guitar), Frank Beard (drums) and Dusty Hill (bass) have been playing together as ZZ Top for almost forty years now. The trio formed in Houston, Texas in 1969 and has been going strong ever since. Although they hit their commercial peak in the late seventies through the mid-eighties, they've still got a pretty rabid following and their blues based, guitar heavy rock and roll still holds up really well, decades after it was recorded. Don't believe me? Then give ZZ Top - Live In Texas a spin on your Blu-ray player.

Shot entirely in high definition in 2007 at the Nokia Theater in Dallas, Texas, the eighty-five minute live set contained on this release is fantastic from start to finish. There isn't a lot of crowd interaction - just enough to let the audience know they care - instead, the three musicians concentrate not on working up the audience but on letting the music do the work for them. Gibbons' guitar playing remains as sharp and fluid as ever and he doesn't miss a lick while the solid rhythm section from Hill and Beard compliment the fuzzed out 'guitar up front' sound that the band is famous for. The stage show is flashy enough to make you take notice, but the giant hot rod styled LED display behind the band isn't so over the top as to take the attention of what matters most - the music.

With Gibbons and Hill clad in their trademark hat and shades, crazy beards blowing in the wind, and Frank Beard happily buried behind his drum kit, ZZ Top look just as they always have. The sexual innuendo and tongue in cheek lyrics that populate most of the band's music are still fun, and the music still makes you want to shake your ass.

The track listing for the concert is as follows:

Got Me Under Pressure / Waitin' For The Bus / Jesus Just Left Chicago / I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide / Pin Cushion / Cheap Sunglasses / Pearl Necklace / Heard It On The X / Just Got Paid / Rough Boy / Blue Jean Blues / Gimme All Your Lovin' / Sharp Dresses Man / Legs / Tube Snake Boogie / La Grange / Tush

All in all, it's a nice 'greatest hits' show with all the tracks you'd expect to hear at a ZZ Top show represented nicely. Completely deserving of their 2004 Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame induction (courtesy of host Keith Richards), the three men who make up ZZ Top continue as an active, important, influential and respected musical force and the performance on this disc stands as testament to why and how they band have lasted as long as they have.

Video:

ZZ Top - Live From Texas arrives on Blu-ray in a 1.78.1 anamorphic 1080i AVC high definition transfer. For the most part, the image is very strong. Shot entirely on HD in 2007, this picture is colorful, crisp, and very detailed. Black levels are strong and deep while color reproduction is very natural and authentic looking. All of the stage lighting and background effects look fine and even when the entire set is bathed in red hues, the picture stays clear. There's a little bit of aliasing but there aren't any problems with edge enhancement or mpeg compression artifacts. Skin tones look dead on and detail is very strong in the foreground and the background. Ever wanted to count the hairs on Billy Gibbons or Dusty Hill's face? Now you can!