Theoretically, aging wouldn't be that difficult of a trick for ZZ Top to pull off, since the little ol' band from Texas is thoroughly grounded in the blues, an ageless music that can sound equally good from the young and old alike. So why does ZZ Top sound so stiff and useless on XXX, a record celebrating their 30th anniversary? Part of it could be that the songwriting is decidedly weak, but a band as seasoned as ZZ Top should be able to make third-rate material at least listenable. The real problem is that the band long ago sacrificed organic rhythms for a steady synthesized pulse. They suggested this even before 1983's Eliminator, but that record was a bizarre, unpredictable masterstroke; after all, nobody would have predicted that a blend of Texas blues-rock and new wave drum machines would work, let alone flourish. The problem was, the massive success of Eliminator made ZZ Top reluctant to abandon that sound; on every album since, they retained the steady click track, even as they stripped away the synthesizers. Each album of the '90s suffered because of this, but XXX really reveals the extent of the damage, possibly because it should have been a celebratory release, possibly because it ends with four tracks that were recorded live but sound as processed as the eight studio cuts that precede them. There is no grit or sensuality to the music, no propulsion in the rhythm, and no joy to the playing; even when the band stretches out, they feel tightly wound. Ironically, ZZ Top doesn't follow the advice they offer in "Fearless Boogie": they're too scared of sounding organic to really let loose and boogie, or play the blues like the accomplished veterans they are.

The title notwithstanding, this debut from the former Faithless singer is pretty angelic-sounding stuff. You're bound to think of Sin�ad O'Connor, but the comparison is as misleading as it is inevitable. Granted, Dido's ethereal vocals here frequently recall O'Connor; but Dido's...