Rick Rubin Behind ZZ Top Delays Says Billy Gibbons

ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons hints at frustration with old friend and producer Rick Rubin over first-time collaboration: “The band is wondering, ‘Where is this thing?’”

Billy Gibbons says producer Rick Rubin is responsible for delays with ZZ Top’s next album – and admits even the band are wondering about the hold-up.

They’ve been friends for decades, but it’s the first time they’ve collaborated on a business footing. And Gibbons suggests there’s been a certain amount of frustration during the experience.

The band signed up with Rubin in 2008, then two years later confirmed he’d be at the desk for what will be their 15th studio release, following on from 2003′s Mescalero.

Commenting on the long wait, Gibbons tells Noise11.com: “Everything’s buzzing. I guess the irony is that the band is wondering, ‘Where is this thing? When do we hear it?’

“Rick’s funny. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember – triple decades – and this is the first time we’ve broken the mould as business pals. He’s got a somewhat unorthodox way of doing just about everything he does.

“But make no mistake: he has a sense of intuition that can’t be beat.”

Last year Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor slammed the producer’s working style, saying: “He’s a thin shadow of the Rick Rubin that he was. He is overrated, he is overpaid, and I will never work with him again as long as I fucking live.”

The previous year Muse mainman Matt Bellamy thanked Rubin for “teaching us how not to produce”.