Eliminator

Sounded like one long song...

Classic but Probably won't listen to it again. 2.5

Very good album. Heavier bluesy 80s rock. Downloaded album.

Great

Solid but not the best from Mr. Top. Billy Gibbons ducks tho

3 great tracks and an album bloated with meh. It's a shame, you out this on and you think "yeah here we go a 5" but it'll wear you down and here we are at 3. Less is more folks.

The drum machine was so distracting.

En weer terug naar de scheurende gitaren, waar is mijn sitar? Sharp dressed man is een banger. I need you tonight is heel nice, beetje blues achtig Dat blues achtige hoor ik ook op Legs, en weet niet waarom maar de synth op de achtergrond doet me een kleein beetje denken aan Donna Summer? Heel vet! TV Dinner vind ik een heel grappig idee en klinkt ook weer meer die blues kant op Dirty dog is een top nummer, wel meer rocky dan ik normaal leuk vind maar wel echt een heel vet nummer Zou het 3,5 ster geven, maar dat kan niet dus dan heeft ZZ Top nu een beetje mazzel. FAVO: Sharp Dressed Man, I need you tonigh, Legs, dirty dog

Ik heb een zwakke plek voor ZZ Top, zelfs binnen al het rock geweld van deze lijst. Daarnaast luistert dit album gewoon heerlijk weg. Meer baard alstublieft!! Favorieten: Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin', Bad Girl

Here’s a question, would ZZ Top had been as famous as they were if they didn’t have those beards and sunglasses? My guess is no. This is mediocre blues rock overlaid with some mindless radio friendly hits. Did I like Legs and Sharp Dressed Man as a teenage? Yes I did, because they are juvenile and simple. As I grew up, I learned there are so many better bands that played the blues than these clowns.

Eh

IMO kind of a weird blend with the blues licks + the almost electronic sounding 80s drums.

ZZ Top is one of those bands I kinda like but only in short bursts. If a random song comes on at an event I can enjoy it but an entire album of ZZ Top is entirely too much ZZ Top. Eliminator has some good riffage, some cool licks. But that's pretty much the entire show here. There is a song on here about eating TV dinners. These guys ain't got much to say... Album is 3.5 for me but since I can't rate it as such I feel better about giving it a 3 than I do a 4.

Gros sons de guitare graisseuse. Très cool écoute. Penchant pour le 3.5, mais un petit coup de coeur pour l'album.

Could see how it could be enjoyable, just not my style of music.

So this is their sellout album, is it? I got Tres Hombres before this, and after reading some of the reviews of that and seeing the cover art for this one, I thought it was going to be even worse and even more 80s with synths replacing guitars. As it was it was just kind of meh. The songwriting can't really be taken seriously. I preferred Tres Hombres to this, but overall I'm definitely not a fan of this band. Favourite tracks: Sharp Dressed Man, I Need You Tonight

Nice (blues)rock album, respected musicians in the genre and not just a hype of the 80s imho. For sure a lot better than some other rock bands that got famous in the 80s...

Tres Hombres is the best ZZ top album (10/10), followed by Eliminator (9/10). Presumably everyone knows this album. In the Netherlands Gimme All Your Lovin' was the big hit, followed by Sharp Dressed Man. Everywhere else in the world it was Legs. These are 5-star songs on Eliminator, just like Got Me Under Pressure and I Need You Tonight, so practically the first half of the album. The fourth single, TV Dinners, is 5-star too. The other songs are almost consistently 4-star. Together with the 80s' top production and the sound (I like the synths a lot!) you get a 5-star album, easily.

Simple rock tunes, completely produced to death. Very dated, very boring.

There are some classics and the album is solid but overall it is a bit too smooth.

it’s a cool idea and it’s interesting to hear they were consciously influenced by depeche mode and omd it just seems like they should have been able to crank out more than 2 or 3 memorable tunes from it

It's the same song over and over but the good news is, it's a great song!

Fun rock, goes a bit guitar solo "rock out, man" at times 3.4

NICE

Espectacular ya no se toca la.guitarra asi

Riktigt klassiskt rocksound, svårt att ogilla. Mycket bra bas och trummor. Favoritlåtar: Sharp Dressed Man I Got The Six Thug

Generic 80ties rock album

Sharp dressed man has an incredible driving beat that gets you involuntarily nodding along. They definitely upped the power for the 80s compared to their older work, and the muscular, sometimes simplified progression of the songs tops into the cock rock world, while still maintaining their Texas Identity. The tunes are always listenable, and some take a few tries to really get into.

meh

Good easy listening rock music all the way through. Most songs I couldn’t differentiate between however. Rating: 4.0

Definitely a classic album with songs worth hearing for the sake of music history.

Sharp Dressed Man is my favorite track from the album.

Top album from ZZ Top characterised by turbocharged rhythm section and some hard rock classics, especially Gimme all your lovin, Legs and Sharp Dressed Man. Honourable mention for TV Dinners too. Perhaps less light and shade than earlier ZZ Top albums but hugely likeable

I really want to like this unapologetically shallow rock. It's got great attitude and lovely grooves. Great for background, but what's it all for?

Many classics on this album, but not worth of 5 stars

Yv

pretty poor but not dreadful

A little samey and predictable but good solid blues rock anyway

Similar to 'Highway to Hell', I liked this but wouldn't want to go through their back catalogue. Decent, heavy-ish rock. Basically good to listen to for an hour or so.

A solid rocker. Good drums and well recorded for the time. Punchy.

Zz Top is great. Good album has most of the hits

Feels like I was listening to the same song over and over again; ZZ Top is good enough on this to make this a tolerable listen but not much more. Doesn't feel like this album tries to push any boundaries Stand out tracks were Legs and TV Dinners 2/5

What a fun listen. This album really makes you feel like you're eating a TV dinner

I did not like it at all. Just all blended together and the lyrics (from what I noticed) were just dumb.

Solid fun slick rock n roll I enjoyed the first few songs but by the end I realized they all mostly sounded the same

5/11, 45%

Always pleasure listening to the beard

This was not a bad album might be back for more

Some classic songs on here, but also a few stinkers. Honestly not a ton of variety, but still overall good. 4/5

Eifach voll nöd mis. Nöd emal fertig gloset. 2 Stern (will chli en Klassiker nöd nur eine).

Growing up, my parents had a copy of Eliminator on vinyl (the damn thing sold over 10 million copies, so I'm sure a lot of people my age would say the same thing), but I'd never listened to in its entirety until today. I like ZZ Top's music, and this album was no exception. The songs here are a ton of fun, and the guys made a transition into the eighties that still kept their signature boogie-rock sound. Sure, their southwest flare fades away on this album as they transition into a sound that's more solidly southern rock, but the sweet guitar licks are here to stay, along with some new drum machine and synthesizer sounds. I'm sure the guys lost some fans back in the day with this updated sound, but I think it works incredibly well. Lyrically though, the music hasn't changed much since the seventies, but I never realized how much these guys liked cocaine (and TV dinners, apparently). I find it really impressive that an established act like ZZ Top was able to launch themselves into superstardom in the MTV age. Speaking of MTV, the music videos from this album were fantastic too; the Eliminator car and fuzzy guitars are some of the most iconic images from eighties rock. Overall, this is a great album, and not only some of the best rock of the decade, but some of the best rock from this great Texan trio. Favorite track: "Legs," by a slim margin over "Gimmie All Your Lovin'" Favorite non-single track: "I Need You Tonight"

Me gustó el titulo. No soy fan del genero pero un poquito para jugar esta bien. El timbre de la guitarra me gusta, medio filoso, motosierra.

Muy poco memorable para mí.

I really wanted to like this album. It’s not as generic as some of the boring rock we’ve had, but still leaves me wanting more.

this feels boring in a way i find everything zz top does boring. i think they’re just not for me

There's absolutely better

i liked this one! i only knew sharp dressed man going into it but the album has a cool sound and some good tracks. nothing life-changing here for me but i'd listen to some of them again. favorites: gimme all your lovin', got me under pressure, sharp dressed man, legs, tv dinners

There was some good stuff, there was some skippable stuff but none of it was a bad listen at all.

Better than expected.

Good! I especially liked the instrumentals.

Gimme All Your Lovin, Got Me Under Pressure, TV Dinners, Flag Her Down. Guitar is Alfa. Legs is the only non Alfa song.

alfa. better than expected. last few songs get a little boring. 3.5 got me under pressure

Decently good duck dynasty rock.

Some good songs but the fuzz guitar was not enjoyable. I prefer La Grange era ZZ Top over 80s ZZ Top

Better then expected but not really my kind of music.

This is a fun album. Id you go into it wanting anything more, I believe that you’ll be pretty disappointed. The production, lyrics, vocals, and instrumentals are all basically fine, but this album really shines in the way it makes the listener feel. It’s just a good jam. Is there a lot of range on here? No. Do the two hits have practically the exact same opening? Yes. Did they put their two hits on the same side? Yes. Who cares. We ball. Enjoy yourself. 3/5

Se vain vyöryy eteenpäin. Hyvin vaikea olla nyökyttelemättä mukana. Mietin kuitenkin, onko yksinkertaisuus yksinkertaista vai hyvää (ehkä ekaa tässä tapauksessa, kun sitä on koko levyllinen, vaikka levy onkin sopivan mittainen).

Levy ratsastaa avauskolmikolla (joista kaksi viimeistä arvosanaltaan 5/5) sekä naurettavan tehokkaalla tuotannollaan. Gibbonsin laulun ajaminen efektiryppään lävitse kuulostaa yhtä luonnolliselta kuin hänen kitarasoolonsa. Ja vaikka Legs menee jo selkeästi hyvän maun yli, voiko kukaan väittää, että se poistuisi tietoisuuden piiristä?

#23 : Good Fun. What's not to love about ZZ. Rock solid all the way through. Gimme All Your Lovin'

Liked this more than I thought I would

Promedio 6/10

Lacking in some big hitters, but decent

Always love me some ZZ Top

Название знакомое. Причём знакомое из периода, когда я будучи 13-14летним школьником сидел ВКонтакте в тематических пабликах, посвященных рок-музыке и лайках посты с русским роком, потому что "другой я не понимал". Я помню, что из того времени у меня осталось только одно впечатление: вы посмотрите на их офигительные бороды! Битлы делали чупчики, а чуваки из ZZ Top растили брутальные бороды. Но вернёмся к музыке. Прямая бочка, сладкие ритмичные рифы, кое-где более лиричные баллады. И оно всё... фактически собрано из одних и тех же кусочков, с небольшими изменениями по тональности и темпу произведения. По сути это такой блюз, только в который сверху накинули тяжеляка. Некоторые критики пишут, что стиль группы не менялся с момента её основания и если сравнивать альбомы с промежутком в 10-20 лет - они будут похожи. Ну... не сказать, что они прям 1 в 1, но что-то похожее и правда есть (я сравнил с Tres Hombres 1973 года и с La Futura 2012ого). Наверное это достигается аскетичностью их состава: их всего трое, в основном все песни записаны на классической тройке инструментов гитара-бас-ударные, кое-где проскакивают клавиши, а приглашённых музыкантов они звали только 2 раза за всю свою 50+ летнюю историю. Резюмируя: блюз с овердрайвом. Точно: альбом имени педали "овердрайв". Мне начало наскучивать в какой-то момент.

Not my vibe

This album is rather odd in how tight everything is, it's almost like you made the album without playing any instruments at all and perfected this synthpop/hard rock/new wave sound. That being said, the hits are fantastic and catchy as hell, but like another commenter said, the rest of the tracks feel like lesser versions of the hits.

ZZ Top I think might be top of the heap in terms of how well various dad rock groups hold up, and this is the album that brought us most of their mainstays on oldies radio, keeps solid momentum

I know these songs but the don’t feel like they are for me.

This was one of those albums I remember from college that was everywhere. They have a great sound.

Decent album with a couple of great songs

ZZ Mid imo sorry if that hurts anyone but I don’t carry the gene that allows me to enjoy this band

They really know how to rock out 2/5

Ultimate 80s rocker corn fest. TV Dinners and Legs were hilarious.

I love me some ZZ Top, and I love this album. The only album of theirs that's better than this one is Afterburner. This record is definately front end stacked. This album was ZZ Top's 8th studio record, and their first to feature synthesizers and sequencers. They were keeping up with the sound of the day (that 120 bpm new wave electric sound) while maintaining their blues rock, Texas boogie-woogie style. They had the beards, they had the look (old 1933 Ford coupe, women, fuzzy guitars, swag), they had the music videos, these guys had it all. They were showing no signs of slowing down. The hits on this record are all phenomenal (Gimmie All Your Lovin', Legs, Sharp Dressed Man). Overall, a beauty of a record. Every song on it is gold. Dusty Hill's performance on I Got The Six is fantastic! Also, Dusty's slap bass in Thug is phenomenal. The band is so tight on this record, it's awesome!! Favourite songs: Gimmie All Your Lovin', Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, I Got The Six, Got Me Under Pressure, Bad Girl, Thug, Dirty Dog, If I Could Only Flag Her Down Least favourite song: if forced to pick, I Need You Tonight 5/5

Listened Before? N Killer stuff, beginning to end. I've never listened to this one all the way through before and boy am I glad I did. I'll be putting this one in the library. Hell of an 80s rock sound, solid guitars, awesome attitude. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: Got me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man

Nice and catchy and some very good songs

How can something that rocks so hard be so boring?

-Retrospectively Reviewed on 21/06/23 (generated: 19/06/23)- AL: it was very middle of the road rock. Type of thing I’d listen to whilst road tripping in ‘MURICA. Not bad but for a band you’d expect to hear on a station with a slogan like “not your momma’s radio station” it is pretty inoffensive. Maybe would give a relisten though. FT: “Sharp Dressed Man”, “I Need you Tonight” 2/5

This is a rock and roll album that's fine and kind of dumb.

ZZ Top: Not a fave, but listenable when they come on. Obviously, this record is filled with big hits, but none of them hit my core. The other stuff on the record is just ok. Meh.

Doesn't really do much for me, and sounds pretty dated. It's fine.

zz top, liked!

Une valeur sûre, des guitares assumées, on bat du pied, on hoche la tête. Ce sont des faiseurs d'ambiance

Classic texas rock. good background music for working

Echt niet mijn muziek...

Echt peak boomer dit album. Prima

Nostalgia

Polished sound, a well oiled machine. Not a fan of this kind of rock - lacking emotion. No highlight.

Classic sound, yet I have no specific emotions about it.

meh

80s drums ruin an otherwise great album

first listen pretty generic southern hard rock

What if Devo rocked out to the Texas blues? "Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either..." Finally, the drums sound bad on this album.

Feels very gimmicky

slick guitars, solid n consistent drums, fun and sometimes lame AF lyrics it's missing some heart in a few places... after awhile it gets quite repetitive and SUPER predictable. missing depth. on the upside it does make me wanna drive a muscle car with the hood down. pretty good on that front... not enough to save it tho fave songs : gimmie all your lovin', sharp dressed man, legs, least fave : I got the six would I listen again? no

Oh man. As the population songs when I was a teenager in the 80s played, I was transported back to MTV abs their iconic videos. I loved them and the power I felt as a girl watching them. Also tye music is great. One of my favorite albums by them for sure.

Rawk! Liked it more than the last ZZ album

Mehhhh

Pretty good songs about fucking, mixed in with some pretty bad songs about fucking.

I remember seeing Jenna Elfman on a late night show once. The host mentioned that she used to be a backup dancer for ZZ Top and asked if she'd do a little dance. The band leader asked what song they should play, and she replied that it doesn't matter, the dance is basically the same for all of them.

Not great, not terrible. Few good songs

I wish we could give half stars on this.

Put your sunglasses on and brush your beard because ZZ Top is here. Eliminator is ZZ Top pulp. Each song has the standard riff and percussion that made this band famous. It is a fun album; great to play it loud in your backyard during early summer. Really like it!

Todas las canciones son iguales. Las que más me gustaron fueron las que no eran tan iguales.

Not bad. Not my cup of tea, but track 6 all the way thru the end was solid.

Never got into ZZ Top. Not really feelin this either

ZZ Top. No argument-HOF.

Album 52 of 1001 ZZ Top - Eliminator Favorite Track : Sharped Dressed Man Rating : 5 / 5 I was all prepared to suggest that ZZ Top's hits are awesome but what was left is just mediocre. Boy, was I wrong. That is what happens when one lets what they've heard or read affect their opinion before experiencing something themselves. Good stuff all the way through. Fun album. May not really match up with some of the classics out there, but this serves its purpose quite effectively.

Good stuff, just some good ol rock and roll

Yee haw Solid 7

rumpumasiinaa.. peruskomppia heh... alkaa heikolla populääri rimputuksella... sen jälkeen vahvaa populääri rimputusta hehe.... vähän voisi biisejä laittaa eri suuntiin. löytyy ideoita sieltä täältä mutta ei USKALLETA... ei uskalleta valtatiestä syrjemmille kujille...hiekkateille... näin koko albumi on hyvin samanlaista 80 luku 'merikka poppia...vaikka hyvää settiä on......lyrisismi taas heh (huonoa siis) got me under pressure

I love this album, so much. I remember liking it when I was younger and I like it even more now. Its just fun hit after fun hit. If this had la Grange on it would a perfect fun album. It's simple fun, makes me deeply happy. Just dudes being dudes

Pretty cool. I liked how all of the songs fade out. I bet these guys can jam

Sooo boring every song is uninspired and repetitive

Dad rock. Classic for sure but didn’t get me hooked. Heard most of the songs before.

Completely insipid and atavistic. The soundtrack to white boy summer. Pretty good stuff.

Good

Classic 80s rock. Remember some car music's

Good rock album.

I've said before in reviews, there is absoloutely nothing wrong with ZZ Top. I can recognise they are a great band and what they have achieved. It just never quite tips into great for me.

Pretty solid album.

Love it cause I’m white trash at heart.

This is the first album I ever bought on cassette, so it's going to get 5 from me. Man, it's a good thing the notes didn't include lyrics ... Probably the tightest ZZ Top album.

It’s tolerable and very Miami Vice adjacent, but not very good. This may be treason against my home state of Texas, but when I’m looking for 70s/80s drug-fueled, debauched, power trios, I’d prefer Motörhead every single time.

I grew up listening to this one and own it on vinyl.

This album has the typical forward-driving sound of the band which can be quite charming but is rather repititive over a while. I liked to listen to it but rock music really has so much more to offer.

They call 'em ZZ Top because you'll be catching Zs after listening to their music. Their best album by a metric fuckton. Still a 2/5 though because I suck.

Really enjoyed the album from top to bottom

This knows what it is and executes very well. My biggest complaint is the number of fade outs to end songs. ZZ Top is not my kind of music. But I get this.

I feel like this album dominated my early childhood memories... radio, mtv, so many songs that are burned into American culture.

Fun, not really my vibe, but good!

Fun 80’s pop ZZ Top

Some absolute worldies on here.

This is really fun. It's quite consistent all the way through - to the point that a lot of it starts to sound the same - but that's mostly fine here. It's probably a bit too poppy to be really good, it's a bit too clean for this kind of music, but a nice way to start the week. 3/5.

Some fun songs, a lot of "filler" feeling songs

Enjoyed this WAY more than I expected to?

Fun and ridiculous, if a bit repetitive. I can’t take ZZ Top seriously. They sound like a parody of themselves.

This is one of those albums you didn’t know you knew so many of the songs to because they’re in so many movies and shows. It’s fun catchy rock but not too special in my opinion

OK - so ZZ Top recreated themselves for thew MTV era with this album. The hits are awesome (Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme Some Lovin') and exposed MTV viewers in the early 80s with some good blues rock bathed in 80s production. But if there is going to be one ZZ Top album on the list (they never made albums without filler), I would go with an early one (like Tres Hombres).

I did not have access to MTV when this came out so I missed it when this band exploded. These songs are catchy blues based rock but I don’t love any of them. I do think that do show off the band’s strength as a “power trio” in the mold of Cream and others.

The blend of blues rock and 80s pop sounds makes this an interesting but corny listen. The guitar playing was very good but many of these riffs sound the same as the album progresses. I also wish Billy Gibbons’ voice was a tad better. “TV Dinners” might be the funniest song we’ve heard so far in this project? “I Need You Tonight” was my favorite.

Great hits, the rest of the songs on the album are pretty good. I’m a sucker for that wailing guitar.

Totally not what I was expecting. More enjoyable easy listening than hard rock

Pretty ok dad rock.I expected zz top to be heavier due to their extreme image.It’s good though.Gimme all your lovin,sharp dressed man and tv dinners are all stand out tracks.Some songs are kind of really generic though.

Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Not really, a bit too dry for me Favourite song: didn’t have one

I previously had known their biggest two hits, "Sharp Dressed Man" and "La Grange", but I had never done a deep dive in their discography before now. This album could have gone either way, a 3 or a 4. If I could give half stars, it would definitely be a 3.5 or much closer to 4 than 3, so I will give this one the benefit of the doubt. I really enjoyed the guitar work on "I Need You Tonight" and that was my favorite track.

In my memory this album had a lot more synthesizers than I hear when now re-listening this for the 1001. I realized the synths in my memory were actually heavy processed guitars, underlined with an almost drumcomputer-like beat. In comparison to La Grange, which I previously had on this list, this feels like a huge step back musically, but I'm glad they got the money and fame they were due.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Singles are decent enough, it’s a bit fluffy after that.

Gimme All Your Lovin and Sharp Dressed Man are super catchy. I love the driving energy of all the tracks, they keep it quick and it makes you want to move. The vocals are probably what I’m most lukewarm on as they feel a bit muddy in the recording compared to the clarity of the guitar and drums, but they are still understandable.

Classic album, liked it a lot

this is a cute record. just the boys having a good time and claiming nothing else. that's why they are such goofy motherfuckers. and legs kinda rocks actually

The fact that the band members are cousins of Hank Hill is the most interesting part of this album (and the rest of their discography)

You can really hear that this was released when Reagan was president Vroooom kapow liberty rock n roll sent from my 1978 Dodge Magnum

Earlier ZZ Top is also really good, but this is a darn fine album in its own right. 4 stars.

Some hits but meh otherwise

Solid album with a handful of classics. The drummer does seem to phone it in a bit though, he keeps time well but there's just nothing that interesting in what he's doing.

I first heard “Eliminator” a few years ago, just as my newfound love of Talking Heads was changing my life. By comparison, this lightweight pop-rock - self-consciously retro even in the early 80s - did absolutely nothing for me. Listening now, I wondered if I’d been too harsh on it. Theres a certain laid-back self-assured quality to these songs, together with pristine production. Almost every track chugs along with crisp, disco-style drum beats, buzzing one-note synths and meaty guitar riffs. Yes, I bopped along to the shuffling “If I Could Only Flag Her Down”. Yes, “Thug” boasts an impressive extended workout on the bass. And yes, the guitars sound great in many of these tracks, particularly the crunchy refrain throughout “Gimme All Your Loving”. But the main issue is that there’s really no discernible charisma in these songs. It sounds as though there’s nothing on the line, that the band are going through the motions with some new-wave stylings slapped on top to make a sweet sweet dollar. The lyrics are worse still: “TV Dinners” is exclusively about its name, full of winking lyrics about twenty year old turkey, enchiladas, teriyaki. Can you imagine a more banal subject for a song? What were they thinking? Though on balance, the TV dinners are fleshed out more, and treated with more reverence and grace, than most of the women unfortunate enough to be subjects of ZZ Top’s songs here. In “Legs”, a woman is described and defined almost entirely by her lower half. In “Dirty Dog”, she’s just that, even though he “dug her bush and her ass was fine”. And then we have “I Got the Six” (followed by “give me a nine” in the chorus). Rather than sexual bravado or irresistible attraction, the image of someone forming half the 69 position just brings to mind a gibbering and drooling sweaty naked man in the foetal position, grasping at the intangible. ZZ Top, ladies and gentlemen, showcasing their sex appeal. Fans of “Eliminator” may cry that the band were in on the joke, that they were just trend-hopping, or somehow skewering a sleek new-wave culture they knew full well to have no place in. But when it’s all over, the album leaves little impression either way. My copy of “Eliminator” has been gathering dust since 2016… now back on the shelf it goes.

Grab me a cold one and let's get it!!

How can you not like this fun uplifting music!

As far as I know, this is my first time listening to an entire album by ZZ Top. It's pretty much exactly what I'd expect from a whole album of ZZ Top - it sounds like ZZ Top. Funny that they're a band I never really got into very much because I do very much enjoy their sound. I quite enjoyed this - especially in the work truck with the windows down on a sunny day! "TV Dinners" was the one moment on the album that felt unexpected.

Not too much stood out from one song to the next, but the guitar riffs are really cool. There's some funky bass in there too that I liked. Fave track(s): I Got the Six, Dirty Dog

Starts off good, gimme all your lovin is classic blues rock, but then the vibe stays very much the same and doesn’t develop, bit of fun but not much else. Probs a 2.5 from me

maybe a 2.3. big songs were big, the rest didn’t do it for me

Fun album with some classics

A master class in cool. If you're not tapping or singing along you're likely dead.

Classic. Earlier stuff is better, but this has the 80s hits.

An absolute classic of the 80s and a rock g good album 4*

A high 3 I think. Its fun to listen to for sure but I don't think it stands out above any other 80s rock.

A weakish 4, a lot of the songs sound sameish but when the same is kinda banging, don't rock the boat I guess.

My beard is not capable of growing long enough to quite pick up on the esoteric whispers this album wanted me to hear. I'll revisit when I'm in my late 40s, maybe it'll have more to say to me then

excelent

4.5

ALL HITS

So classic. A really unique sound and energy that is instantly recognizable.

Sums up what ZZ Top are about. Solid bangers.

Big part of my music growing up.

Didn't know I liked ZZ Top as much as I apparently do!

A great album

Baller. This was a huge album in my high school years.

Honestly haven't given ZZ Top much though but this is better than I gave them credit for. Still not really my thing but I appreciate the experimentation with synth and the tight drumming and great guitarwork.

I had no clue most biggest hits of ZZ Top were from this album: Gimme all your lovin', Shard Dressed Man, Legs. All blues-rock bangers, which make this a great record.

beards!

Beardsssssss

Too much guitar. And I’m a fan of guitar

I don't know, man. There's some interesting stuff, but I didn't really care by the end. I don't think it's a bad album, but I personally found it kind of boring. My favourite song was Legs.

A pleasure to give this one a try. No deep concepts here and no video to distract; at core the music had some pleasant surprises. Good enough that I'll probably eventually listen to it again and try out some of their other albums.

I just can't hear this any more.

At first I was going to say something along the lines of.. wow got my daily dose of testosterone today🤪 and while I still kinda feel like that.. some of the lyrics aren’t what I would call typically masculine. “living room/ passing time/talking trash/drinking wine/ I need something more substantial!” Slaaayyy. I love the lyrics to legs. I feel like I’m at Gretna Fest. Overall not my vibe. Don’t really know enough about 80s music to make any kind of educated points ab this album but yea wouldn’t listen again:/

It was fine! Was pretty rock and roll and had me leg pumping. Don’t know if it’s just that I listened to way too much 80’s rock as a kid but I wasn’t crazy excited throughout. Overall not the biggest fan but was listenable for sure. I remember seeing them live as an opener for Aerosmith when I was a little kid and they absolutely crushed it. Really good energy for a live performance

This album was released 1 year before I was born, currently age 39, and was in heavy rotation by my parents throughout my childhood. I recall the videos on MTV and this album still rocks 40 years later! Sharp dressed man is still played at many weddings as well as legs!

Good old rock & roll. Good craftsmanship, great sound. Overall great.

It slaps.

The album where ZZ Top reinvented themselves. Unfortunately, I am of the opinion that ZZ Top is not worth more than one album for this list, which dutifully goes to Tres Hombres. But let's not disregard how well Eliminator landed for ZZ Top. The sleek 80's production and hard rock edge made the band a natural fit for the likes of MTV. While they would retain their southern rock roots, I can't help but feel like the appeal of Eliminator is in the things that should make it fail. The textured synths, the high-energy drum machine, the catchier hooks, they all spell disaster for the band that did La Grange just a decade ago. But no, it's the embrace of the musical trends of the 80's that makes Eliminator so good. Suddenly the songs are more interesting, more energized, more fun. Despite getting massively overplayed on classic rock stations, these songs have an undeniable sheen to them. Not every song on here is a winner, but by god did they do a good job with this album. A surprise, but a welcome one.

A little too Duck Dynasty for me, but overall was a fun listen

It is hard to be objective about music so deeply worn into my brain. The opening of Gimme All Your Lovin' is so iconic and snapped me right back to the 80's. The hits are still great, the lyrics really haven't aged well but the guitar still rocks. Frustratingly, though, the Album Generator previously served me some earlier ZZ Top, which doesn't do slickified Eliminator any favors.

Resident zz

if i’m in the mood to listen to Zz top. i would play this album. having said that im rarely in the mood to listen to Zz top

Catchy riffs and upbeat rhythms; however, nothing stood out to me.

Some classic tunes, but just not my style.

Everytime a song would start I'd be reminded that I don't really like ZZ Top. Cringy lyrics, annoying vocals...just, no thanks. Then I'd get to the instrumental portion and think, "Hey this is pretty good!" Then either back to the cheesiness and the cycle would repeat. I guess I came away from this feeling ZZ Top has a place in rock and roll and can certainly play the guitar, but their overall vibe? Nah, I'm good. Didn't hate it, but this is a one and done for me.

This rocks. It's awesome. There's one problem - no album that has a song like "TV Dinners" can be a 5

I actually loved this album. So fully of energy from start to finish with two big hits in "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs", the latter my personal favorite ZZ Top song. I do wish it was a bit stronger in the last few songs but great nevertheless. 9/10.

Album starts out with some bangers; Gimme All your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man and especially Got Me Under Pressure are terrific tracks. Legs is also a fun track, and TV Dinners also does it for me. The rest of the tracks are also okay, but it all does sound a bit samey. All with all a great album though!

Outside of the four familiar classics, which by no means is a flop, the rest of the album is fairly 80s ZZ Top rock. 3.5 / 5.

It's dated, but it's undeniably a classic. You can't go wrong with these guitar riffs and these intense, screamy vocals. Wish more music today sounded this kickass! Standout tracks are Sharp Dressed Man, TV Dinners, Gimme All Your Lovin', and Bad Girl.

Sharp Dressed Man reminds me of Duck Dynasty

I am a ZZ Top fan, but have never really liked this album.

TV Dinners singlehandedly put this album below 3 for me. There are a couple hits but meh otherwise. 2.8 but rounding to 3 because this ranking system sucks

Pure commercialized schlock - all the genuinely great instrumental performances this band can put out are nothing when sterilized by a layer of sterile production and clear label interference

Not very good. Classic 80s america rock vibe, legs is okay.

There are some good, catchy songs on this album. But there is also a lot of crap. And most of the lyrics are sophomoric as are the "jokes". I struggle to enjoy lyrics that need the word "really" or "kinda" or that turn one syllable words into two, like "the-uh" or "i-is" to finish out a line. Bugs me. And nothing bugs me more lyrically than a "Really, really". Shows a lack of imagination if you ask me. Also, the repetitive keyboard (I think) technique throughout every songs gets old. It's their sound, but I don't dig on it after about two songs. Still get's three stars cause there are some genuine classics on it. Four classics with four role players (Bad Girl, for instance) would've made for a great album. But in my opinion, this is four classics with four or five that should've been left on the cutting room floor (TV Dinners, for instance).

Not my cup of tea

Pretty generic sounding overall. A couple ok songs.

I mean, it's ZZ Top so you pretty much get what you would expect. I found the first side more engaging, but that might just be because a full albums worth of their signature hard rock is too much for me.

The start of Eliminator is like being run over by a V8 engine. At this point ZZ Top began using synths and drum machine more heavily, and the result is an extremely tight and tempo filled album. Most of Eliminator is just pure fun with the band fully acknowledging that they are here to party, show off and have a good time - and nothing else. My interest fades away on the way too long “I Need You Tonight” and side B isn’t as exciting as the beginning either. But this is nonetheless still extremely fun to rock along to.

Classic. 4.5/5 All great.

80s beardy rock that chugs along. Synth and drum machine elements combine with the guitars and drive the songs forward. Front loaded with the bangers, but pretty catchy throughout. What this lacks in variety it makes up for in riffs and beards. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Sharp Dressed Man Date listened: 26/12/22

Pretty good, better than I thought it was gonna be.

Ace.

Heard a lot of these a million times on classic rock radio. Good songs just overplayed.

It's turning out rock isn't always my thing, it's generally too simplistic for me, relying more on attitude and tamber than melodic interest. I enjoy the singing but it fails to hold my attention

Lekker

Die band met baarden en die iconische clip uit de jaren 80 met die coole auto. Tot mijn verbazing is ook de rest van de muziek behoorlijk goed.

Rrrrrrockin' it!

Best geinig.

This is apparently what happens when Billy Gibbons listens to a little too much Depeche Mode. The hits you're familiar with still hold up well, proving they don't need the videos (except for Legs, that's a terrible song that I firmly believe only broke through because of the video MTV deemed clever). In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't appreciate that little ol' band from Texas until they made a documentary for Netflix, with an obvious appearance by Billy Bob Thornton. I mainly think of ZZ Top music as strip club music. That's either a feature or a benefit. Probably both depending on how often one frequents strip clubs.

What is probably their most iconic album, ZZ Top made a name for themselves with their take on Texas Rock and Blues. While the lyrics ooze with subtle misogyny the speed and musicianship hold their own and are the shining part of this. This may be mainstream Top 40 for their catalogs, but it is often what people think of for this band, despite their deep catalog.

This is an outstanding bluesy rock album. Much more than the big radio hits.

p511. 1983. 4 stars. Stripped down Southern rock meets 80s synths and produces classic hybrid. Great guitar work and riffs, but a lot of the tracks sound the same and you can argue that most of them outstay their welcome.

Really good album, lots of great rock classics. Favourite: Sharp Dressed Man

ZZ Top embraces MTV and churns out music with a hi-hat driven straight forward danceable beat. I honestly don’t mind the danceable blues aspect of this album. What really irks me is the absolute sameness of the album. If you’ve heard a couple of songs you could be forgiven for wondering if you’ve got a few songs on repeat. The hits are good and the rest feels like variations on those. The musicianship is fine, the shuffling guitar is a great representation of Texas blues, but unfortunately the whole package just doesn’t do much for me.

I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could. I think ZZ Top is fun and every once in a while I'll put on one of their hits. But holy crap, this album was repetitive. Every song sounded exactly the same.

This is just a fun, 80s blues rock album. I’ve listened to ZZ Top’s hit songs before, but never a full album. I was really pleased with it overall, would definitely listen to it again!

I feel like listening to this at 11am on a monday is not the intended listening experience, need to be in a pickup truck on the way to go fishing or in a dive bar somewhere. Kind of goofy. Fun though. Still love Sharp Dressed Man. Lost steam in the middle.

real boom boom

This album is a fantastic cure for insomnia as I can’t listen to it without falling asleep. It could be that unchanging, steady beat or those horrible lyrics just send me off. At best the songs are silly - at worst they are misogynistic. As a substitute for Nytol 5/5. Their place in musical history is just about middling.

Nice blues-rock album. Has some really great songs. The guitar solos and the music itself are not very complicated and quite basic from a technical perspective, but are very well executed. The flow/rhythm/energy in this album is great!

It's classic riffage - but it's the same classic riffs repeatedly.

The songs you know creep into parody/novelty music - the songs you don’t know, are junk. Also read, of their more popular hits, someone else wrote them and they didn’t give them a credit. Overall, not a fan.

GREAT songs mixed in with a few OK songs.

I think this is a nice album that's very indicative of its style of rock, though the songs all sound pretty similar

Dumb songs about nothing, but catchy as hell. Decent album overall.

The type of rock that makes you want to ride a big motorcycle. Solid rock with a nice groove to it.

Gimmicky period piece. Eitt og eitt lag í lagi, en ansi einhæft til lengdar.

Its a fun and good album, nothing really special in any way but it is rather enjoyable

- I need you tonight: 8,5/10 - I got the six: 9/10 - Sharp dressed man: 8,5/10 - Got me under pressure: 9/10 - Thug: 8/10 - Legs: 8,5/10 - Gimme all your lovin': 9,5/10 - TV Dinners: 8'75/10 - Dirty Dog: 6/10 - If I could only flag her down: 8/10 - Bad girl: 9,5/10

First half of this positively rips and the second half trails off a bit but, overall, ZZ Top's immersion into the popular consciousness can be considered a success, with some of the most ubiquitous songs on here still maintaining their kicks and the other tracks getting a shine. Risks do end up turning into rewards after all. Favorites: Gimme All Your Lovin', Got Me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man, I Need You Tonight, Legs, TV Dinners.

I've never heard people talking about this band before, but this band apparently has 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify which is kind of understandable. In this particular album they have a couple of massive hits and I actually enjoyed it, they were catchy, uplifting, and just hard rock. Although, there is a lack of variety on this record, especially on the slower songs, where it were just unnecessarily long and that's a big turn off for me.

Album was better than I remembered. The poppy MTV hits are catchy but kind of quasi ZZTop.

started strong, finished like me in bed

You can sure tell this is American from the get go. I've never been a ZZ listener, so was disappointed that they didn't live up to my mind's eye of the legend.

Some down and dirty early 80s rock. Couldn't get the image of frizzy beards out of my head.

Classic

Öppnar starkt med Gimme All Your Lovin' och sen Sharp Dressed Man som spår tre som är kanonbra låtar. Men resten når inte upp i samma nivå, tyvärr.

Great rock album, it has pretty much everything I expect out of an 80s commercial rock. From dancy rock to ballads I enjoyed all tracks, but I did had one issue, I wasn't blown away by anything, yes, I had fun and enjoyed every second of it, but I had nothing special to say about it, regardless of how much fun it was I wouldn't add it to my monthly rotation since I believe I'll get tired of it after a while

Pretty nice classic rock album

Slappin'. ZZ Top gives raw energy combined with a road trip vibe, and Eliminator even has a car on the cover - coincidence?

Classic rock' blues

Hyvä mahtava albumi, suosittelen, kunnon rokkia!

My favourite ZZ album, great rock/blues 80s vibe, sharp dressed man is a jukebox killer.

Great bluesy rock 🤷‍♂️👍

My dad had this record. I don't think he had any of their earlier albums until much later, but this one pierced his Led Zeppelin shield. At the time all of the lyrics on this record were basically over my head as a single digits earthling but the guitars sounded boss and the car was cool. Later I'll come to ZZ Top's Rio Grande Mud through a brilliant cover of Just Got Paid by some noise rockers who really should've named themselves better. The casual Texas objectification aside, Eliminator is a solid album and I can see why, along with the beards, these guys were a big enough deal that my POP! (as he prefers it stylized) would've picked it up.

High energy mullet staring me down from the past, mixed emotions tbh

I mean it was like exactly what I expected - not bad or anything but pretty much the exact same as 80% of popular music, not special at all like low 2.5

Very decent

Expected a boring wait between hits but it was actually quite a steady album.

yeahhh....

Didn’t really listen. So boring

1st album since Alex Chudacoff suggested I listen to the 1001 albums.

One of my favorite albums. Dusty and Frank driving the rhythm under Billy's melodic blues guitar and vocals. Very formula based and gets a lot of criticism for sounding the same. Billy's guitar tone and vocal growl make all the difference. The song "Thug" shows they can get out of their formulaic comfort zone with effects and Dusty popping a syncopated rhythm. Not the best song but just proof that they aren't a one trick pony. It really doesn't matter as I can easily pass the time grooving along to every sing on this album, and suddenly it's over. Great music for long drives and just chilling with friends. This is the blues power trio not prog rock (another favorite genre of mine.) I'll gladly listen to this album over and over, just to discover something new and a renewed appreciation for the group.

The sunglasses and beards are to hide their surprise at being on this list. I am pretty sure that if MTV didnt exist, neither would ZZTop.

Great musicianship. I still love the songs from this album that were released as singles. I think whoever was in charge picked the right ones. Except TV Dinners - I liked the B-side much more (Cheap Sunglasses) The rest of the songs weren’t bad, but didn’t make me feel like I missed anything. Fun fact: Billy Gibbons was on the show ‘Bones’ as one of the main character’s bad-ass guitar-playing dad. The song ‘Thug’ had an Eagles vibe. And brought to mind the theme from Seinfeld. I also am sorry I gave OK Computer 3 stars. It deserves 4. Karma Police has been in my head all weekend.

From the stark paranoid android landscape of OK Computer, we come to the party-time metronomic robot blues/pop of Eliminator. What a weird premise. Super processed guitars, thick sequencers, Frank Beard's syncopated quarter-note drumming, and blues-infused guitar producing some of the biggest hits of the '80s. Not to mention the entire album centers around Billy Gibbons' obsession with chasing (and catching) dirty women. But when it works, it's really good. The super-thick-slick sound is an accomplishment on its own, and when the riffs are good and the songs are solid, and Gibbons' incessant guitar work is flowing, this kills. But then there's the rest of the material. Some of the B-sides are just fine, but when Gibbon's sings "TV dinners, they're going to my head," it's really clear that the band is out of ideas. Where most of of the misogyny and adolescent lyrics are delivered with enough of a wink to excuse it as one big party, the weaker material makes the high points a lot less glossy. When this is great, it's a 4+, but the weaker material drags this down to a 3.14159265359...

Cool. A 45-minute summation of why the 80s sucked. Good sound, misogynistic lyrics. Sharp-Dressed Man’s OK. Give Me All Your Lovin could have been a Huey Lewis song. I give this album one star and five lines of coke. P.S. ZZ Top's origin story is worth looking up. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/fake-zombies-zz-top/

I couldn't get over all the "hits" that are on this album. It's like I was listening to the Best of ZZ Top. While I was familiar with nearly all the songs, I realized I don't know much about this band, including why these songs were so popular. I found myself singing along but I think it was simply the familiarity. The conditioned response of having heard one of these tunes every single day in high school or having watched one of their videos on solid repeat on MTV after school. Are they good musicians? I don't know. I'll wait and see what Scott & Andre have to say. I feel it's more likely that they were the right band at the right time --- the dawn of the MTV video with a specific look that does very little to intrigue me.

Quite boring and repetitive

Sounds like the rural county fairs from my youth. 3.5 stars for nostalgia and the top of the record.

Favourite track(s): Gimme All Your Lovin'; Got Me Under Pressure; Sharp Dressed Man; If I Could Only Flag Her Down As the soundtrack to working out (or other activities involving bodily exertion), this album just slaps. The intro track Gimme All Your Lovin' sets the tone and the guitar crying out and being answered in the beginning of Sharp Dressed Man almost invokes some sort of primordial feeling. Now not all tracks are on that level. I Need You Tonight slows the pace down quite a bit - too much for my liking. I Got The Six luckily raises it up again and while TV Dinners feels like another low point (low in terms of this album), the album closes out on two solid tracks. While some may consider it noisy, this kind of Rock focused on guitar riffs and forward-moving beats feels like a highlight of the overall genre. Notably, I do not have enough experience with the genre to make any statements on whether ZZ Top is THE band in this regard or merely a copycat. Still, great album.

Cet album signera l'envol en 1983 vers le succès mondial du groupe texan... Les vidéos tournaient sans arrêt sur MTV, le son avec ses synthétiseurs paraîtra tres novateur, le look des 3 bandits pas manchots, la voiture aux couleurs du groupe, une excellente reprise ("Gimme All Your Lovin'") et une ribambelle de hits feront de cet album un succes mondial.... Pour sûr, pour ma part, je préférais, et de très loin, "Deguello" l'album de 1979 qui avait déjà bien mis le feu... Mais il n'avait pas le côté moderne et "in the mood" de celui-ci... Il y aura au total 3 albums "avec synthétiseurs" dans l'esprit de celui-ci, mais "Eliminator" reste le meilleur du genre.... Ensuite ZZ ToP, usant un peu trop la corde, sortira doucement de l'actualité... Pourtant ils produiront encore quelques albums "monstrueux", dont le splendide "Rythmeen" de 1996, ou encore "XXX" de 1999 ... Mais les yeux de ceux qui font le buzz seront partis butiner ailleurs !!! Le groupels continuera de tourner régulièrement autour du monde avec beaucoup de succès, exportant leur boogie texan avec une ribambelle de hits un peu partout avec un succès tout à fait mérité.... A noter qu'ils feront même un caméo dans "Retour Vers le Futur 3".... Dusty Hill, l'énorme bassiste décédera en 2021... Cela ne mettra pas un terme à l'activité du groupe... D'ailleurs, ils tourneront en 2023 avec Jeff BECK (non barbu) pour leur nouvel album...

eyy, i know some of these me enjoy

good, really good

rock

This was pretty fun, if a bit samey. Might revisit.

Great album! Few big hits, strong b-sides, gotta love ZZ Top

really good

Molto energico, tipicamente americano. Bei assoli.

It’s definitely good music but it’s not my thing

Iconic singles and videos in ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and ‘Legs’ from unlikely rock superstars ZZ Top. While it’s undeniably a fun record, outside of the hits, there’s a fair bit of filler.

Could have been a collection of all time zztop hits. So many rockers on this