Greatness is intimidating

In Irving Layton’s poem “Shakespeare”, his son asks him who the greatest poet is. Layton answers “Shakespeare” to which his son responds “will you ever be greater than him?”. After much consideration, Layton has to confess that no, he’ll never be better than Shakespeare: “there’s nothing to be done about that bastard’s unsurpassable greatness”.

That’s much the same way I feel while listening to ZZ Top’s Greatest Hits. Damn you Top !! Someday my son may ask me exactly what I did when I was younger. I’ll probably look at my shoes and tell him what I didn’t do. Write “Pearl Necklace”. That was the Top.

It isn’t just the quality of the material that leaves one feeling distinctly average, it’s the variety. “Legs” is done in one style, while “Sharp Dressed Man” or “Gimme All Your Lovin’” could be completely different bands. When one of those songs comes on the radio, nobody is going to say “it’s one of those ones with the car and the fuzzy guitars in the video, but I can’t tell them apart”. You can bet on it.

In the final analysis, it’s the scope and relentlessly high quality of the band’s output that intimidates. Shakespeare would have been great had he only written sonnets, so the plays almost seem to be taunting you with your lack of greatness. Similarly, one listens to “Sleeping Bag” and thinks “let me up, Top, I’ve had enough” only to get hit with “Planet of Women” immediately after. Some might say this album is “all killer, no filler”, but in honor of Shakespeare I prefer “all gossamer, no dun”. I think the Top would prefer that too.