Reviews (page 6 of 14)
Generally solid 80s rock without many standouts. Thug probably my favorite
7/10 Favorite: Sharp Dressed Man
Los arreglos de los 80 no mejoran a los ZZ Top. Son disfrutables un ratito y mejor si ves sus videos.
Enjoyable classic rock album.
- Habe es zwar nur kurz durchgeskippt aber gefällt mir sehr gut - Werde ich die Tage auch nochmal in Ruhe hören - Hat einen nicen rockigen Sound mit geilen Gitarren Sounds -Topsong: Sharp Dressed Man
Packed with iconic hits—“Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs” are pure rock swagger. But the energy fades in the final tracks, leaving the album slightly uneven. Still, a classic.
The lads from Texas found some synthesizers and started making rock tunes to a dance beat. I'm already very familiar with "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Sharp Dressed Man", but the rest of the album follows a similar formula. There's not tons of variety and it feels a bit bland at times, but when ZZ Top does switch it up a little, it's at least interesting. I don't know how I had never heard "Legs" before, but I was not prepared for it. I'll admit, for as corny as some of these songs are, it was difficult not to bob my head along, and, now that I'm noticing it, the synths are a great addition and give the songs a bit more depth. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did, but I doubt I will listen to it again. It's more of an appreciation than a fondness. Not essential by any stretch, but it is indeed different, and there's not much else that sounds like it (which is a blessing).
Seems like the iconic album from ZZ Top. So many hit songs on it. I think its a solid album, not really up my alley. Gimme all your lovin, sharp dressed man, legs, all great songs.
Didn't like it so much back in the day but did enjoy hearing it today!
I had heard of ZZ Top, but never really listened to them closely. It is rocking - this is the intensity and vibe I love. It's horny, it's silly, it's super fun. Honestly, I'm just a sucker for 80's rock and I'm going to start embracing it more. Song specifics: Sharp Dressed Man is SO good. TV Dinners is such an odd topic, is it a metaphor for something I dont understand?
This is the best album by “that little band from Texas” in my opinion. Five of the eleven tracks were singles or at least had lots of radio play. ZZ Top was smart (or lucky) enough to take advantage of MTV at its prime, with their shiny old car and spinning guitars in their videos. Not quite a five star rating, but pretty close.
Eliminator? I hardly know 'er. I could have sworn we had this already, but no, that was a different ZZ Top. I think this one is actually better than "Tres Hombres", but even though it's 80sified, it's still not my style. 'Sharp Dressed Man' always reminded me of 'Money for Nothing' (mashup potential), and the fact that there's a song about TV Dinners* on this album is only reinforcing that link for me. I feel kind of bad giving this a 2, but it's just so much guitar, you know? A high 2, let's say. Syntactically unnerving lowlight: the lyric "i'm needing someone like you / that i just wanna do love to" (D:) *About it, Wiki says "these servings of industrially processed foods are standard cuisine for lonely and culinarily challenged unpartnered gentlemen", which is a nice complex NP but also feels unnecessarily gendered. Let the lonely and culinarily challenged unpartnered humans of all genders enjoy their TV dinner song >:(
wait why did i love
I found this repetitive. Even within songs, once you’d heard the first 20 seconds of the song, you’d effectively heard the whole thing.
Raise your horns 🤘, it's time to rock! I never realized how "new wave" this sounded based on the singles. Kinda repetitive musically (12 bar blues scale for almost everything), but that's their MO.
Classic. Rock.
This album is a fucking banger. Stone cold classic. Bops from start to end.
I dunno if this is a 5... But it is certainly better than some 4s I've doled out. Five it is! As badass as you can get while begging for hugs and kisses.
its ZZ Top. Its Got Legs and it knows who to use them!
They have some like three great songs on here and guitar play is solid, however the other songs are just not that great, hence the rating.
There’s a reason why you know a couple songs on this album because the rest aren’t that good
Kinda expected more from a band as famous as ZZ Top, but I guess what I got shouldn't surprise me. All the songs sound like "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Sharp Dressed Man". It's fine, sounds fine, lyrics are about what I would expect. It's all just kind of fine. I do like the song about TV dinners though that was a bit of a surprise and I thought it was funny.
they do have a highly recognizable sound, but just kind of repetitive by end of album. never have been known for depth to lyrics.
Aight
Such a solid
Run's out of steam a bit by the end, but 5 or so of these songs are stone cold classics. I love Legs. 4 Stars.
nope. two stars for beard effort only.
I remember when this came out I was a bit disappointed when I first heard it… I was a “Rio Grande Mud” “Tres Hombres” kind of guy. But it grew on me fast… regardless of the sounds used the song writing and guitar playing are top notch! This era of Z Z Top probably insured their longevity …. Great memories of seeing them on MTV when I hear these tunes! 4 stars !!
Good musicians but repetitive not my favourite
70s and 80s "hard rock" is proving to be a genre that does very little for me. Although this one grew on me, but started to test my patience by the end. 2.5 rounded up Heard before? Some songs Owned: No 17/1001, 17/71 (23%) Will I get? No
Not my thing
Van Halen with the pyrotechnics taken out. Tidy riffs with no eruption. Conservative sexual postures without DLR's excessive posturing: men dress well; women show off their legs. Diamond Dave just shows off, full stop. Even when these Biblical patriarch are demanding love, they ask for hugs like a trio of fuddy-duddies. 1.5 Dire. It’s difficult to pick a low point but it was probably the line ‘someone like you, I just want to do love to’ in I Need You Tonight. The high point was when I thought, for a minute, that TV Dinners was about eating TV Dinners. I can’t remember why I made that mistake. 1/5
lower mid
I understand why it would be appealing to a certain demographic but its not my personal favorite!
This album is fine. There's a few huge hits, but nothing beyond that stands out to me audibly. I feel like this is another album where having not read the book it leaves me lacking understanding why it's included on this list.
A little disappointed, to be honest. I'm generally a fan of ZZ Top, but I didn't love this one as a start-to-finish album. Still decent, but I guess I had inappropriately high expectations. 3.4
Yeah well. I enjoy ZZ top in guitar hero explicitly. Feels like a middle aged uncle version of Sabrina carpenter.
I enjoyed it
There was some really good tracks on this album. Enjoyed it a lot.
Banging album. Good fun. Every track was a bop - probably very underrated in the grand scheme of things.
Amazing, not overcomplicated rock album. This one just makes me want to drive off in a nice old classic American car into the sunset. However, I think it might be better that I don´t do that, might save me quite a few speeding tickets. 5/5
It's a nice record, pretty energetic and a fun listen, although honestly it won't be going into my hard rock favourites. I thought the use of synths was pretty nice, and it embodies a very specific 80s sound. The best track by far was "Legs" for me, "Sharp Dressed Man" was pretty good too. "TV Dinner" is pretty tongue in cheek and funny, but it also has pretty low replay value for me given its subject matter.
- already I like this more than Tres Hombres, which was released 10 years prior to this album. the guitar riffs are more engaging and the sound is more straight-rock than boogie-rock, which I think fits that distinct 80s style of guitar distortion quite well - I didn't realize there was a synth playing under the entirety of "Sharp Dressed Man, which adds something that the songs on Tres Hombres were missing (though the editor in me is cringing at the missing hyphen -- without it, he's "a dressed man who is sharp," not "a man dressed sharply") - I think there's a reason more of the songs from this album made it onto the radio. everything just oozes masculinity, like you're flying down an Arizona highway on your Harley-Davidson with the ape hanger handlebars and flames painted on the sides - there are virtually no country-adjacent or "good ole Christian country boy" aspects -- almost like someone shoved an AC/DC song through an Aerosmith filter to make a track like "Bad Girl." they're still largely about women, but there isn't as much storytelling as the songs on Tres Hombres (as far as I could tell without examining the lyrics to each of the songs) - digging the slap bass on "Thug," and I think the guitars are generally more interesting and memorable here. I didn't find myself actively wanting the album to be over and wasn't checking my phone each time to see how much progress I was making to the end (even though the songs all sounded pretty similar to each other) so: ZZ Top is still a band I don't like, but I dislike this album a little less than I expected to. at any rate, it did not deserve my initial reaction of "ugh, *another* one?" when it was revealed
Swaggering blues, crunching fuzzy guitars, a layer of synths just underneath. Sometimes funky, particularly the bass which often takes a real slapping. Some nasty blues licks on guitar. Straightforward, good old fashioned rock and roll. A few filler tracks but the hits are BIG. Favourite track - Sharp Dressed Man. 8/10
Ja ist ein gutes Album, ausser gimme all your loving hat sich alles irgendwie gleich angehört.
Some bangers but lots of filler
Never been a 80's MTV era ZZ Top fan. I know their popular hits of that time and can remember some of the videos but not for me. I had never listened to earlier ZZ Top before because I never liked them in 80's, but Tres Hombres is great. I had listened to that as part of the album challenge a few months ago and really enjoyed earlier ZZ Top; just not 1980's MTV ZZ Top.
This album is such a disappointment. The only reason this isn't 1 star is because of nostalgia for the 3 hits (Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs). And those only because they were the first ZZ Top songs I'd ever heard back when I was all of 10 years old.
No cóż, ZZ Top nigdy Top, raczej tak gdzieś w środku. To porządny zespół, ale nie porywa. Jest to po prostu trójkowy uczeń, robi to czego się od niego oczekuje i niewiele więcej. 6/10
Some bloody good tracks. A couple of duds give it a 4.
Getting slightly repetitive towards the end of the album.
Soundtrack from an 80s teen comedy drama starring Molly Ringwald.
Meh. I wanted to like this more. I can recognize what it did historically and I liked these songs as a kid but... meh.
Banger after banger. Great album.
Big, commercial hits that rock.
Memorable only for the flagrant use of chorus.
Bluesy country rock with some pretty terrible sexist lyrics. But the synths were dope at the time! Not for me.
Fun album! Lots of hits here, and even the other tracks are fun bops. There's some stuff that I think lyrically isn't great, like "TV Dinners," but the whole vibe of the album is enjoyable.
Y’know that one buzz lightyear meme where they’re all on the shelf as identical copies of eachother? That’s every blues band, and this album and band are no exception. If you like blues noodling with the most generic “I’m a man you’re a woman let’s have sex”-type lyricism then maybe this album is for you but otherwise just avoid this schlock. The last 5 songs in particular suck particularly hard, I guess the hits are passable. 1/5
Pure pop money maker
Mid
This album is pretty close to perfect. Front to back these Bearded Wonders put together one of the best rock albums I have had the pleasure listening to.
Não foi incrível, não foi memorável, mas não foi péssimo.
haha funny beard. TV dinners sounds like a Tim & Eric song.
decent album
🤘
Boring. Sorry
Lo he escuchado pero ya ni me acuerdo, xreo que no sonaba mal
Except for the hits off this album and songs like La Grange and Tush I have not listened to much ZZ Top. It definitely takes you back to the early 1980s. I remember them playing Gimme All Your Loving, Sharp Dressed Man and Legs constantly on the radio and MTV. Overall, my impression of ZZ Top was they were always a bit too southern fried for my taste, but this is a pretty good album of blues rock. Songs that will get your toe tapping.
A masterclass in how to create a piece of art that holds no appeal for me.
Fun, good gardening music
A guilty pleasure at best, misogyny at its worst. Bonus points for it being 45 minutes exactly. I also like that ZZ Top essentially came out of the Fake Zombies USA resurrection.
Very good album and lots of fun to listen to
Das Albom hed halt scho ganz klar zwöi Banger: Give me all your loving ond shart dressed man. Die zwöi send ned nome mini Favorite, sondern au klar die meischt gstreamte Stöck us dem Albom. Das lod sech au erkläre: Sie hend halt alles wo so e Rock song bruucht: E riff wo hangebliibt, e gueti balance zwösche stemm, schlagzüüg ond Rockgitarre. ond e gueti Portion energie. Das fätzt de halt scho. De andere Stöck fählt denne halt emmer ergendöppis. Got me under Pressure esch de Riff met zwöi akört wo sech abwächsled halt scho ned s spannendschte. I Need You Tonight wörd besser fonktioniere, wenn t Gittare no vel meh wörd hüüle wies Dire Straits super hebechömed. Ech chönnt jetzt so wiiter mache aber de Ponkt esch glaub klar. Sie send huere Talentiert, das merkt mer guet, es fählt aber no gärn ergend e chliine teil was huere schad esch. Trotzdem fätzed die meischte lieder ghörig ond mer cha jo au ned verlange dass jedes lied e absolute Bager esch. Drom geds es ufgrondets 4 *.
I've never had a more solid 3 than this album. It's fine. Never asking anyone to change the music, but never jamming out to it either. It's just a boring album, but it's still fine to listen to.
What went wrong? Actually, I have no idea why I didn't enjoy this album. Everything is fine, but for some reason I just did not want to listen to 11 ZZ Top songs. Sharp Dressed Man was good. Shoutout to Duck Dynasty. Other than that, all the songs are new to me and I probably won't be listening to them again much. Weird.
Unexpectedly glorious. Crank it up.
Hot stuff! FS: Sharp Dressed Man
Surprisingly good fun!
painfully mediocre compared to all the amazing rock music that came out during this time.
Fantastic album. This is what guitars are meant to sound like.
Got a bit samey and there’s some cheesy lyrics, but ZZ have their brand and are faithful to it! Some good riffs in here
ZZ Top was created in a lab to write songs for your stepdad. When it comes to their albums it’s easy to predict what you’re gonna get: white people blues rock about having sex with beautiful women. All of the music is performed well, and occasionally the songs are good! I wasn’t psyched about this one, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected, and that might be because I found it so easy to tune out. Until one of them began singing about 69ing.
It’s the archetype of the ZZ Top sound and I was all-set to dismiss it, but this ended up being a great fun listen.
Turn the volume to 11
Kinda fun at the beginning but it gets tiresome quickly
My favorite ZZ Top, but still nothing lifechanging. It's uncle Blues with a touch of synth.
Your average blues/southern rock album talking about blues/southern rock topics with a car on the cover. The first 5 songs are cool, the last 6 are garbage. Still, it can be enjoyed while cracking a lager beer in the garage.
Before: my only access point to ZZ Top is that there’s a few times Stephen King references them in his books. I think it’s actually kind of a major plot point in one of them haha. I assume they’re just classic rock? Idk much what to expect. After: Immediately this album made me laugh. “ Give me all your lovin, all your hugs and kisses too” cracked me up every time they said it. And there were just like flourishes all over the album, like the ad libs on the song sharp dressed man that made me actually laugh out loud. I feel like growing up, this is what I imagined most classic rock was like, and that made me steer away from it. Lately I’ve gotten more into groups like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and wondered what had made me hesitant. I think stuff like this album is what made me hesitant haha. The vocal performance and lyrics are cheesy to me, and there’s something about the rhythm with which they’re sung that make it even worse. Legs was the first time I really started to enjoy the instrumentation. The guitar really broke loose there and started doing some interesting stuff. I didn’t catch anything else on the record I enjoyed quite as much as that. La grange auto played afterwards and that was so much better than anything found on this album
This album is a fun classic but that's pretty much the only lens I can view this album. It works well for very specific circumstances like a needle drop in specific scenes, a playlist for when you're on a mtn biking camping trip with your dad, etc. I can't totally take it as a serious work of art. It has fun iconic riffs and catchy hooks but that's about it.
Ah man. This is record splits my brain. I immediately want to hate it, because of its cheesiness. But then I hear so many elements of music that I love. Lyrically, its kind of a disaster. Its so silly, but I think its trying to being genuine, which then kind of makes it worse. If you can get past the cheese factor, the songs are pretty fun. It suddenly becomes less hard to hate and easier to enjoy, but its not really something that pulls me in. What does stand out to me, is the heaviness behind the blues inspired guitar riffs. Its kind of a continuation of the southern rock tradition of artists like Allman Bros or Skynyrd but kind of appropriated to be heavier and louder. And that feels like something I should hate, but that sound is very much alive and well in bands like Widespread Panic, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Drive By Truckers, Marcus King Band, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. So in a weird way, this kind of cheesy butt rock sound found its way into alt-country bluesy jam bands, where its kind of found a new life.
Generic rock, unfortunately, despite the lovely Texan accent.
Volví. No soy tan fan de ZZ Top. Conocía a este disco por nombre. Conozco a algunos de los hits de la banda. No mucho más. Por eso puede sonar a blasfemia que una persona que no tiene a ZZ Top encarnado en el alma (valga la contradicción) diga algo así, pero esto es DISTINTO al sonido de la banda. Es un disco menos blusero, más modernizado, con sintetizadores y un sonido pulido. Y eso está bien y está mal, creo. Tomemos por caso el 2do tema del disco "Got Me Under Pressure". Lo escucho ahora, por segunda o tercera vez, y los sintetizadores y la sección rítmica me hace acordar a The Cars. Solo la guitarra me hace recordar que esta banda es ZZ Top (cuando deja de ser guitarra rítmica y empieza a jugar). Es interesante que una banda se modernice, que cambie su sonido. Al mismo tiempo, el tema no es tan bueno como las mejores canciones de The Cars ni como las canciones de ZZ Top que conocemos más o menos todos. Y eso pasa en todo el disco. Es un blues más moderno, más comercial, más poppy. Es interesante que exista, sí. Pero también es algo que no satisface ni a los que quieren escuchar blues ("Es "Southern Rock", filisteo" me dicen los fans de esta banda y los Allman Brothers. "OK", contesto yo, pero es claro a lo que me refiero. Al mismo tiempo, esta música no es lo suficientemente catchy para alguien que tenga ganas de escuchar un disco de power pop o new wave. Y, siempre, siempre, siempre, lo mejor de cada una de las 11 canciones que conforman el disco es la guitarra de Gibbons. Especialmente cuando se suelta, cuando intenta hacer el Southern Rock de antaño. Esa es, me parece, la propuesta original del disco, ver como persiste la guitarra de Gibbons en el nuevo sonido de la banda. Y eso es un poco todo. Creo que no tiene sentido distinguir entre canciones, ya que todas siguen, más o menos, la misma fórmula. Habrán algunas que sean un poco más bluseras como I Need You Tonight, otras más popperas como I Got the Six o Legs, y otras más rockeras como Gimme All Your Lovin' o Bad Girl. Todo esto entre comillas, porque lo cierto es que todas las canciones son un poco las tres cosas. Dirty Dog comienza con un riff rockero super poderoso, pero al toque aparecen synths y una sección rítmica muy ochentosa; algo parecido sucede con la ya mencionada You Got Me Under Pressure ¿Mi favorita? TV Dinners... tiene una atmósfera un poquito más ominosa que el resto del disco, lo que la hace mi favorita. Pero es un disco muy parejo y todas las canciones tienen la misma calidad. Los que aman amarán, los que odian odiarán. Para mi es un punto medio, por lo que le pongo tres estrellas.
Just through the power of large number there’s some great riffs in here. I’m always surprised by how incredibly cheesy this kind of hard rock is. Did people find this intimidating, was this ever “alternative”?
The generator gave me this album on a very glum and rainy Monday morning in the UK. Put this on at 7am. By 9am I was on a Teams call wearing a denim jacket and bandana, drinking a Budweiser and preaching to colleagues about the 2nd amendment.
This was turgid. Feels like they know one thing and they repeat it until it forms a hit, as much to their surprise as anyone's. Sharp dressed man is a banger, without it, this would be a 1 star. Hard going in general.
I thought this was alright, fairly standard dad rock but Sharp Dressed Man is a stand out.
Not a massive fan of ZZTop. I get why people like them but they are just fine.
This is so fucking corny it's unbelievable, sounds like it was dreamed up in a C-suite office and stinks of trying to target light beer enthusiasts
Gimme all your loving, Got me Under Pressure, and Sharp Dressed Man is just banger after banger. I Need You Tonight slows things down in a way I don't quite love but picks right back up, hitting another classic Legs and keeps on rocking through the end of the 34 minute album
ZZ Top always surprises me because I always think of them as this hardcore hardrock/blues rock band that's all about the **rock and roll** persona. This is true to an extent but this album shows that they have some range beyond just the single "Sharp Dressed Man" and other songs like that. It has a really cool sound, which I think definitely matches their persona, but it's much more well-rounded than I would have expected. That said, it's still a rock and roll album and not earth-shattering in any way.
A constant head bobber! Nothing wildly standout, a nice guitar riff at the minimum on every track though. TV Dinners IS hilarious, a much appreciated ode. Listened to: on a flight to Guadalajara. Favorite tracks: Got Me Under Pressure, Legs, TV Dinners
Cookie cutter songs that were manufactured to satisfy a specific clientelle. They are well made and well performed, but the album is musically bland. It's the kind of music you'd expect in a rock/biker bar, makes for a nice background and that's about it. To me it sounds like they're easily capable of better and therefore it was probably a conscious decision to maximize the commercial aspect of the album.
🕶️
Next time I need to go hyperproductive berserker, this album is up! Oh, and Legs is a perfect rock song.
I really surprised myself in my enthusiasm for this album.
Can really hear the moment they enter their old man era during a song about getting indigestion from eating tv dinners
so basically we went from your generic reggae album to the epitome of what a “dad-rock” album sounds like i mean it was fine, i listened to it from front to end, but nothing was really interesting. no songs added, no relistens planned meh
I really liked this album. I just felt like the songs got kinda long after a while and they all ended up sounding very similar. Really liked their sound though.
Some pretty fun romps. Evidently the lyrics were suggestive but I didn't really hear much of them tbh, so obviously that's not good
Absolute classic. Music actually sounds super repetitive but nothing like some ZZ Top to make you feel like you’re slaying ducks and sipping sweet tea, Jack.
I enjoyed it pretty well and it has a few iconic songs, but after awhile it kinda all sounded the same. I may listen to a couple again but as far as listening to the whole album through, maybe not. 6/10
The sound is kinda iconic. The problem is every song sounds the same. Very homogeneous, which gets stale after a while. The singles shine, but the deep cuts are bland and dated. So much toothless filler on this album really drags it down. I want albums to give me a reason to keep listening or come back. But as it kept playing, I found myself thinking, “Has this looped? Did the album restart?” Everything sounded so similar. I don’t see a reason to revisit. 4/10 Standout: Sharp Dressed Man
Lots of bangers, a little one note
Fun but generic
Kann man die Füße nicht bei still halten. Geil.
When I was a kid, my father still kept his vinyl collection in our living room. And, as you might expect, his ZZ Top records were at the very end of the row. At the bottom of the shelf, you could see the cover of Eliminator sticking out. Its spine was heavily creased because everyone was fascinated by the artwork and kept pulling it out to have a look. However, I can’t recall it ever making it onto the turntable very often. And for good reason, it seems. Maybe I’m wrong, and my dad played it more often than I remember. But then again, you kinda have to choose which memories to hold on to, and apparently, I decided to erase those associated with ZZ Top. It’s certainly well-crafted hard rock, complete with all its classic ’80s trappings. But if there’s one genre I truly despise, it’s precisely that. At least — and I cannot stress this enough — the lyrics aren’t misogynistic garbage, which makes Eliminator one of the more tolerable representatives of the genre.
En ollut ennen kuunnellut koko albumia alusta loppuun, mutta kuuntelen varmasti uudestaan!! Varmaan parasta zz toppia mitä löytyy. Ei se suotta ole ollut Gimme All Your Lovin' soittoäänenäkin.
Truly hoping “TV Dinners” makes my Spotify wrapped. I listened to the song 5 more times after I finished the album.
i wasn’t expecting a lot from this record, but let me tell ya… i had a rough day delivering senior meals for work. it was horrible. but i popped this album on and magic ensued. such a great rock record!!! the songs are phenomenal, the cheeky witty lyrics for some of the songs are great, and specifically, the musicianship!! 5/5!
The three big hits on this record are the hits for a reason. The three at the end (Dirty Dogs through Bad Girl) are legitimately good songs. Outside the 6 I mentioned, the remaining 5 could’ve been scrapped and this could’ve been an incredible EP. Sharp Dressed, Legs, and Gimme All Your Lovin’ are a solid example of the 80s aesthetic. 10/10 would listen to the hits while working out. This album created some tension within the band and you can’t hear it at all. However, that’s because the band isn’t playing on most of it. It’s drum machines and synths and Billy F Gibbons. Now I’m going to eat a microwaveable Salisbury steak in front of the tube and watch Johnny! Note to self: acquire fuzzy spinning guitar
This album is dumb. This album is brilliant. Almost like a Weird Al style parody of itself, the rock scene, and the era in which it was released. It’s hilarious to think that all those badass outlaw bikers we grew up around… were listening to this! Like when everyone thought KISS was satanic, but they actually wrote the stupidest songs in existence. On this record, ZZ Top play the same exact song 11 times in a row and made millions! It really is a joke they were in on, but still somehow a perfect road trip album AND, as ridiculous as it is, an album with substance! Plus, they’re from Texas, and Texas exports more incredible bands/songwriters/musicians than almost any other State in the union. Wasn’t familiar with a bunch of the badass B sides, but loved “I Got The Six” and “TV Dinners”. The Seinfeld bass line in “Thug” almost made me crash my car I was laughing so hard. Love this album, but it’s still a hunk of fuckin’ cheese 🤣.
Great album. No doubt one of the classics
Great album, I saw these guys live in 2024 and they still sounded just like they do on this album! Consistently great tracklist and performance.
Unlike many of the other dad rock picks in this book (except Deep Purple and Sabbath), this album's pretty good! Maybe partly because even at their most overplayed ZZ Top is not the most obnoxious band I've heard, but also the rest of the album besides Sharp Dressed Man is pretty solid and the exact kind of bar blues rock I wanna hear when I'm having a full glass of beer, it's fun, the riffs are muscular but its not everything in the music, just all around a good time
Such painfully simple and obvious rock 'n roll, that it almost annoys me whenever it's actually pretty good.
Interesting album. Seems to leave the southern biker blues behind and transition into a more modern dare I say strip club blues? The album has some of their more famous songs on it, but not much outside of that. 3/5 Might listen again
Non si esce vivi dagli anni 80
The song legs was actually written about Ken Chutney - long, slender and defined legs that so many women are jealous of! 3.0 5/11 - I Got The Six
I knew a few songs from the album before going into it and thought they all might be a little cheesy but was pleasantly surprised. Would listen again.
Fun, if somewhat simple. If that's what you're in the mood for it fits the bill.
Decent
Here’s my review for Duran Duran’s Rio which I listened to and reviewed the day before ZZ Top’s Eliminator. The same review applies and any changes are in brackets: Not sure if I ever listened to this album all the way through before, but I feel like I’ve heard every song here 1000 times. I guess [ZZ Top] has dug itself deep into the collective unconscious. Album cover looks like something I would’ve seen in a salon in 1992.
I wasn’t super captivated but can’t say I’d isn’t enjoy it
I know there are some classic songs on this album from a lifetime of hearing them on the radio. Maybe that adds to my general disinterest in the album. It seemed a bit monotonous. Not to discount ZZ top, there were some pretty ripping guitar riffs throughout the album. It definitely fits the beer drinking, 80s, hard rock vibe.
Unfortunately this just blends together to create one of the most 3-star albums ever. They aren't bad to listen to, but for whatever reason this type of rock just blends together soooo easily for me.
Another album where the overall sound is nice, but it's too one-note to effectively stretch across an entire album.
This might be a slightly biased review because ZZ Top is one of my dad’s favorites and, while listening to them, I can’t help but think about how my dad loves this shit. But I can absolutely see why he loves them. Sure, a lot of the lyrics are silly, and most of the songs sound similar. But they all have incredible guitar and cool grooves.
A bit too dad rock for my tastes. Sick riffs and all, but there's really not much substance past that. Sick album cover tho Standouts: I Need You Tonight • Legs
Solid album that is really fun and I can't think of anything else that sounds like it. However it is a bit one note and once you notice the trick of the quick tempo and pounding guitar it makes my head hurt and has me ready for the album to end.
Just a bunch of fun, slightly-cheesy rock music, it does lose some steam in the second half but it's overall satisfying to listen to Who doesn't like fun
bar room sound
One of the more successful reinventions of a reasonably popular blues rock band into a pop rock format, with several very memorable hits. There’s still about half the album I think of as filler, but I’m not mad about it
Really, those videos?
Varied tracks that retain their signature sound. Favorite tracks: Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin’
A very nice surprise. It's the essence of ZZ Top. But, after the middle, starts to get a little repetitive.
80's soft rock - didn't mind it.
Reminds me of dad
Вполне адекватный рок, но я такое не слушаю.
They dont suck, and are popular, but I never cared for that type of music
4.3
Heard some songs from it. Their hit songs are ok and it's a well produced album. But the problem is that the rest of the songs sound like one long song. No variety 2/5
Day 52 First listen- I've grown out of dad rock unfortunately, a cool album regardless! The riffs were my fav part. (3/5)
Brilliant, landmark album.
Solidly 4 stars
Nyt on kovaa kamaa!
Bändi otti sekvensserit käyttöön, soundi heitti kuperkeikkaa ja tällä levyllä toimii. Myöhemmillä menee överiksi
Kova levy! Useampi hitti eksynyt levylle. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
No nyt oli kyllä klassikko! Tämän voisi jopa ostaa levyhyllyyn.
Feels like rock n roll
A decent listen, just a bit repetitive for my liking
Amazing, classic album. I've heard a lot of the songs before and loved them, but even the one's I'd never heard before were really good.
Great album, easy to listen to with some great hits.
When listening to this all I could think of was The Black Keys. It's not a bad thing...not a great thing.
Iconic album and sound. Standouts: Gimme All Your Lovin', Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, TV Dinners, Got Me Under Pressure. 5/5
Fun, if overly commercialized, album. Blues-flavored pop that cannot be played live. I can’t help myself - I like it despite the “Modern Music” aspects.
My love for ZZ Top runs longer than their beards. I may have been a young’un when this album came out, but you can bet I was rocking out to it (while not understanding most of the lyrics, thankfully)! I distinctly remember watching the Legs video on MTV and thinking how cool their fuzzy white guitars were. This album was a nice nip of nostalgia and a reminder of why I love these guys. The rhythms, vocals, and their overall style still holds up for me decades later.
Przyjemny, ale chyba nie mój vibe, znowu nie ogarnęłam kiedy się zapętlił
rock. cool
The epitome of classic rock
Kann man hören.
Takes me straight back to early 80s, Mtv, and guilty urges from the Legs video. Still a solid rock album that is perfect beer and darts music. Ten years ago it probably would've given it 4. Now it just sounds like rock. Great rock, but just rock nonetheless.
This is some major dad rock.
This album is very 80s, although it didn't age as badly as a lot of the synth heavy albums of this era. It's hard to believe that this is the same band that did Tres Hombres. Very different albums, but both good. In fact, I can pretty much copy my Tres Hombres review for this one: the hits are great, excellent even, but the rest just seems a little repetitive and a touch robotic. There is just too much filler to give it a 5.
Perfectly enjoyable, nothing that offensive or bad. ZZ Top might be American AC/DC. Nothing wrong with that, but it's the parallel I'm noticing.
Kind of underwhelming. Some classic singles though
ZZ Top are not pushing the genre to any strange new places, but everybody's a little crazy for a Sharp Dressed Man. True to form it's classic, unpretentious, slightly-goofy 80s rock that knows what it wants to be and delivers it, even if it's pretty forgettable. Fav tracks: Sharp Dressed Man, I Need You Tonight
had a good time listening to this!
You get the feeling like you would drive on the route 66 while listening to this album.
Trochę zbyt agresywne, nie lubimy z Olą takich gitar
Ehh
The album is a classic and a fine line successfully straddled between blues rock and synth, proving that Gibson Lee Pauls and MiniMoogs could peacefully coexist on the same record. But my favorite memory associated with this album still remains the incident in 1984 when Black Flag invaded the DJ booth at a club they were playing in London and made the DJ play this album from beginning to end before they’d even go onstage and play.
Meh
This is my 2nd ever ZZ Top album. The difference between this and Tres Hombres is stark. Not necessarily bad, but very, very different. The sound is now ultra processed, and while the grooves are still there, everything seems more sterile. I think that costs a lot of charm, but on the other hand it makes the album sound a lot younger than 40 years old.
This was my first ever ZZ Top album! I guess I thought ZZ Top was more heavy metal. This wasn’t bad to listen to.
Meh. It was some zz top.
Great hard driving rock and roll. Hard knuckle sound of bass, guitar and drums. Best tracks ..Gimme all your loving .. Sharp dressed man .. Legs
Я походу хейтер ZZ Top. Супер одноманітно до нудоти
Pretty good, feel like this is the US version of Status Quo, mindless rock you don't need to think about (although musically more interesting)
As far as '70s bands adapting to the'80s goes, ZZ Top do a pretty good job on Eliminator. There are4 kind of highs and lows here, but the highs are pretty damn good, and the overall experience is pretty enjoyable, especially since this sounds like it could have been a mess. Putting the " '80s " paint on ZZ Top's kind of blues-y Texas hard rock honestly sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it is handled with a lot of grace on Eliminator. The band retains their energy, and it still sounds like they're having fun, and the song-writing appeal of ZZ Top's older stuff is still there, just re-contextualized with some synths and drum machines. Got Me Under Pressure is built around a killer riff, Sharp Dressed Man is a killer single, and I Got The Six is just a great hard rockin' tune. Legs kind of uses the synths as a driving rhythm component, to great success, and for as weird as Thug is with it's odd synth line and slap bass, it's a lot of fun. Songs like these are a lot of the high points here. On the other hand, I think I Need You Tonight is a little over-long (although the solo is good). Also TV Dinners sounds *fine* and I think it's going for like a new middle-American blues thing, but I think the lyrics just sound really stupid in the modern world. Dirty Dog and If I Could Flag Her Down are also kind of whatever to me. Although we end on Bad Girl, which is a pretty good song. This is a little un-even, but I'd say it's largely successful, against all odds. I had some fun!
Definitely a high-energy rock album. I liked "Gimme all your lovin", "sharp dressed man", and "Legs". I can see this as an inspiration to many rock bands after the them.
c’est très honnête, mais j’ai pas l’intention de renouveler l’expérience
Bra, lätt att lyssna på typ 4/10 låtarna smälte inte ihop till en lång låt
the okayest dad rock
I would put Tres Hombres on my 1001 list before Eliminator but this would be a close second. This album has them embracing drum machines and synth drenched ear candy while keeping their Texas shuffle blues style making for an interesting mix that always feels akin to Van Halen’s 1984 sonically. From top to bottom this is a fun record with some killer guitar work and catchy vocals. Happy to revisit and it’s an easy 4 for me.
These guys fuck! Especially, their beards. Ultimate dad rock. Just constant driving rhythm and guitar riffs. Kind of like AC/DC, but the singer doesn't sound like he needs to take a shit. This would actually make really good jazzersise music. It makes me want to snort some blow. ZZ Top is tolerable for a song or two every once in a while, but a whole album is too much for me. I think it's just the same drums and constant guitar leads. I get it. It's a 3 from me.
I was pretty impressed with this. These guys managed to take blues rock, add some electro/synth feel to some parts, and the. make it danceable. At times there's even some heavy metal/hard rock touch to the guitar tone that sounds similar to Van Halen. The singing is great also. What a unique combination of things coming together on one album.
Compared to Tres Hombres, since it's the other ZZ Top album on this list, they've moved to a more "modern" hard rock sound by making it faster, as opposed to the slower Bluesy stuff, whilst still incorporating some Blues element. I think I prefer it this way. Overall a very good album. That first three album run is sensational. High 4
A rocker! Great album
ZZ TOP on its way through the 80s. More electronic vibes, very danceable.
Snazzy guitars
First half of the album was full of the hits/bangers. Started to drag a bit for the last few songs. Overall enjoyable and fun.
It was like listening to 45 minutes straight of Sharp Dressed Man but not as good.
Good
Ugh, absolute crap. Corny, derivative, boring.
Lekkere stevige rock, catchy
It was fine.
I know this one very well. It's been awhile since i've listened front to back though. Lets GO! Classic blues rock at its finest. No time for more thoughts on this but I really dig this. 4.2/5
Commercialized and watered down but the solos save this from 1 star. The songs that aren't hits are a drag. Tres Hombres was a much better blues record.
Turgid and unimaginative rock.
A beast of a boogie album. It's the sound of old men finally owning a colour telly, and opening up new possibilities. It's hard not get caught up in the groove.
1.5 stars Growing up in the 90s I thought ZZ Top was always a joke and never considered cool. I had no idea they were so big in the 80s. Hearing Tres Hombres for the first time I thought “ok there’s some good bluesy rock here.” So I had some hope that another record on this list might be a hidden gem. I was familiar with most of the singles from this album, and did not particularly care for them. They all just sounded generic and boring. Reading that they intentionally wrote songs at a higher BPM because those were more popular seems obvious now. Having listened to Rio last week which came out around the same time, these songs all sound like “Hungry Like the Wolf” with bluesy riffs added in and less interesting vocals. And I mean all of the songs: they essentially used the same formula for all of them and kept it going. The only saving grace is that the bluesy riffs and competent vocal pieces make it not entirely dreadful to listen to, even if zoning out is inevitable. Pass.
Needs more love
Want
dnf, if you just listen to the sound it feels very standard rock, nothing special but not bad, but ugh the lyricssss I am not a fan. I don’t think I’d get on well with these people, at least at the time it was written. Ik women and sex is a huge theme in music but this just feels icky
Fun album. I can dig.
Classic rock
Nothing notable
Sharp Dressed Man is the highlight on an otherwise standard 80s rock album.
Rockin, if I could only flag her down and bad girl are great.
Finally, something I recognize! Give Me All Your Lovin' is a song I heard frequently in the radio. It has this very snappy feel to it. Energetic, but classy. First album I would actually want to relisten c:
Familiar from when I was young. It has something recognizable and familiar to it, but outside the hit(s) I was never a ZZ Top fan. It is fun to hear the music though and not just focus on the cars and big beards like I did when I was a kid.
New wave for boomers? Nice guitars but a little to polished for me. I need more grit.
Eliminator was a trip. There was a significant drop in quality with the songs that got airplay and the songs that didn’t. Non radio songs were straight out of a Texas bar. The radio songs were superstar material.
An experiment that could have so easily gone wrong, combine sleazy Texas bar blues with the New Wave doing of the early 80s. It could have dated quickly or felt like selling out. The bearded boys pulled it off. I think it was the melding of the most complimentary aspects of both together. The tracks that didn't become the massive singles are still solid ZZ Top. Billy Gibbons' guitar blisters through the whole album, mesmerizing and lyrical.
Couple big hits, not my favorite classic rock feel.
The guitar is really fun. I don’t think I’ll seek it out, or listen outside of the hits I already know. Definitely nothing lyrically to grab me.
Not sure if I like it. That's my first ZZ top album and I don't think that's my type of music - I don't want to listen to any more of that. It's fine, the riffs are cool, but get very repetitive very quickly. Not sure if I like the lyrics - they are a bit off-putting to me but that's alright. It's not bad just not for me. Favourite track - "Sharp Dressed Man". I'm mixed between 2 and 3 so picking the lower grade.
Not as heavy on the synth as the big singles would lead you to believe.
It's an album you listen on repeat for one month and then never listen to it again.
ZZ TOP IZZ ZZTUPID FUN
"Sharp Dressed Man" is better than about 80% of the classic rock songs released in the first half of the 80's and it's still the worst song on this album. Five stars.
A classic.
Another mid white man rock album….
0.9/bro this was just annoying
Loved hearing the hits again, but overall not interesting enough to play again.
And a half
Very interesting album though it sounded too samey at certain points
Bit of 80’s AOR rock, quite enjoyable. Good driving music, gave this a listen on the way to work in the car
Mouais je sais pas trop. C’était pas nul mais pas ouf non plus
Classic American rock. Some solid guitar work on this. 3/5
Ok
Partí feliz de escuchar algo así un viernes en la mañana. Pero se volvió monótono y más de lo mismo bien rápido.
Really mediocre hard rock for conservative dads who beat their wives 5/10 Favourite: Sharp Dressed Man Least Favourite: Tv Dinners
I really liked the start of this, catchy, on the beat, straight up good old fashioned American rock 4/5
Banging tbf just not my usual cuppa
Meh
tv dinners is actually crazy. want to give 1 star because of that
I played the hell out of this in 1984. I think I had the vinyl! Put the needle down and wait for the drums of "Gimme All Your Lovin'" to blast the walls down. Hasn't lost its fastball after... 40 years?! Jesus. Hail the Texas Kings.
Hyggeligt basic rock album, men ikke mere end det.
It was ok, but found it a bit samey towards the end
the pre-packed, oven-ready, homogenised, airbrushed, bland version of rock and roll for which the 80's must answer for
Really only know this from the music videos and the car featured in those. Music is totally forgettable.
Classic Rock & Roll
Being so sleek, tight, and bluesy makes it enjoyable, but too slick and banal for it to rise to the level of something meaningful.
Much better than expected. It tailed of a little but started superbly. The 70s spaces and clear melodies are still there which elevated it from other 80s rock
Solid album
It does not get much better. Classic rock guitar playing heroes that will live on forever. ZZ will never be eliminated.
rock cervezaaaa
This wasn't an unpleasant listen, but definitely did not stand-out at all. The only song which I could see myself listening on multiple occasions would be "Sharp Dressed Man". The remaining songs, I would never actively seek out, however they are also not off-putting enough to turn them off if they were to play accidentally. As the album was largely made up of these songs, this will receive a 2.5/5 and be bumped to a 3.
80s dad rock. I have friends that enjoy this (born late 80's/early 90s). I never have and probably never will. 4 songs in and I'm bored already. At least Throbbing Gristle kept my attention. Usually pretty good at separating the artist from the art but they didn't credit Linden Hudson on a bunch of stuff and they stole a full song which was proven in court so that directly impacts the art. Due to lack of personal enjoyment and the lack of credit given on song writing this was going to get a 1.5...then TV Dinners came on. Jesus wept. 1/5.
Loved it in the 80s a little too blues for me now
meh
ZZ Top caught lightning in a bottle with Eliminator--multiple top 40 hits, 10 million copies sold in the US, and MTV awards. But it wasn't easy getting there, as it was a breakthrough more than a decade in the making--this was ZZ Top's 8th album in 12 years. They had some prior success with albums and tours and top songs "Just Got Paid," "La Grange" and "Tush," but it was Eliminator and MTV videos that put ZZ Top in front of a broader audience. They experimented with their sound style compared to prior albums, but being together for so long made their sound tight. Eliminator rocks! Full, heavy driving bass & drums, blues-influenced tracks, fun lyrics, grizzled-voice harmonies, and great solos, this album has it all! I never get tired of listening to these tracks. Definitely in my road-trip rotation!
Probably half of this album is on their greatest hits, that says something, I guess. The album tracks were probably as good as the hits, but at least two of the hits start out exactly the same ("Legs" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'"). That's... weird. "TV Dinners" is a very outdated song, I doubt the next generation (Gen Z) will even know what they are. Hill's songs that he sang were... okay. Probably their best album, it was at least the most familiar. Top tracks: "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Got Me Under Pressure", "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs", "If I Could Only Flag Her Down"
Love this album, but it has a few more tracks that I don't really remember. Definite 4, thinking about a 5. I can't believe Apple Music put some edited version of Legs on it - complete shite and nothing compared to the classic version everyone knows. Other classics are Gimme All Your Lovin, Got Me Under Pressure, and Sharp Dressed Man. TV Dinners is a single I've never heard of, though it's decent. Other songs that I didn't know before that are even better are I Got the Six, Dirty Dog, and Bad Girl. What saddens me a bit is that this album probably made the list for its combination of blues rock with synth, which in itself can be fine. But the sound was sped up in the studio to the point where these guys can't really play it live, and that sounds fake to me. I Need You Tonight is one song that doesn't sound sped up and more in line with their earlier deeper blues work - but it's not as good as the rest. But the rest of the unknowns that I really enjoyed are clearly studio enhanced. I can't give this album a 5 due to its lack of authenticity (same as I would knock a new album for autotune overuse).
The good: Some serious classic tracks on this album - Gimme All Your Loving, Got Me Under Pressure (questionable lyrics, though - "She likes cocaine / and flipping out with Great Danes"? I don't want to know), Sharp Dressed Man (great song with a fantastic slide guitar solo), and Legs. The bad: Despite those classic tracks, the album doesn't hold up, primarily because it's ridiculously repetitive. Almost every song has the same driving beat, similar vocal lines (usually with cheesy lyrics), and a guitar solo (but, credit where credit's due, we're talking great guitar solos). Now don't get me wrong, the album rocks, but the repetition and cheesy lyrics (particularly bad examples: I Got the Six, TV Dinners, Dirty Dog) leave me with no interest to hear it again, and that's a 3.
Is there a limited number of riffs? Maybe. Do I care? No, I love this album. It’s a 5 5.0/5.0 Best Song: Legs
Holy shit, this shit sucks. Perhaps on the list because it represents a point on time where we almost lost the thread? Representative of a generation of "artists" who were charged by the music industry to remove the soul from music? I'm just glad that rock survived this music that belongs in my forgotten ashtray. WTF? I 100% did not need to hear this album before I died. Never again. This is even worse than I remembered when it was part of the soundscape of my youth. Kudos to me for actually making it through the torture to get to the end of this excrement. Kudos to you of you actually find this music interesting, but why?
Well this is a lot of fun in a dumb kind of way
Some great classic hits! Good background just getting stuff done around the house or garage music.
Listened to it from around 1PM to 2PM nothing really memorable on the album tho it was interesting to find music to put to the „girls, girls , girls“ label. Decent I think but not really standing out in terms of a rock album
Classic ZZ. Simple but catchy. Basic lyrics and structures.
One of my dad's favorite albums. We used to sit and play chess together and he would throw this on
Was real good. Think the album has held up through the ages (unlike the Legs video that has not really held up - though was probably super influential at the time).
This was fun and easy to listen to also “Sharp Dressed Man” is a classic
I prefer their early stuff but this is the what made them famous and rich. 3.5
Riffs, just loads of mint riffs. 8/10
Look, it’s technically very good. These guys are great musicians. It’s just boring. I’ve heard this music so many times. Boomer rock is not what I’m here for.
Good listening.
Nice rock album with great tunes and awesome guitar riffs.
I lovei it the album, is the kind of musci that I used like
Some recognizable songs that are decent, but boy this is really one note. Nothing ever progresses in each song. Also the drums man. The drums are AWFUL. The hats sound like shit. If the point of Ford commercial music like this is to be hell yea brother epic, then it should actually try to be a little more epic
I knew and loved the hits. But, this is a really fun album all throughout.
ZZ Top has its own signature blues rock sound with the tiniest hint of electronica that blends without confusing its identity.
The highs are very high, the rest is mid
The hits rock and the tweeners get the job done
3.5
Great hits with moderate filler
Never put together that this was their "blues mixed with 80s electronic" album. Cool that it influenced van halen 1984 and modern bands like the black keys. Too many bops to rate any less
First half of the album is amazing, second half is very generic. Still think the first half can carry this to 4 stars though.
Bluesy rock. It's solid, but not a lot of surprises here.
Starts strong but runs out of steam. Classic material on side 1 but side two is mostly forgettable
Boring, the same song over and over
Sounds like every other album ever
Man this list is very rock heavy so far… I’m hoping for more varied genres further down the line. Anyway, 90s kids like me have 80s pop culture forced down our throats our entire lives, and I, for one, absolutely guzzled it up. This album is so much fun. I love New Wave; it always makes me feel like I’m living in Back To The Future. The opening 2 tracks are my favourite, but the whole thing is so enjoyable and listenable. I have a feeling this will be one I revisit over and over.
Honestly just great fun! All the tracks were enjoyable and was just a fun time dancing around my room!
Chugging kind of hard clipping overdrive is the predominant tone. Several hits on the album including Gimme All Your Lovin’, Got Me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs. Lyrically pretty shallow material. Feels like a cross between southern rock and Van Halen tonally. 80’s upped with synths and big reverb. Otherwise, very bluesy and a bit repetitive. Other notable songs include I Need You Tonight.
OK
Tää tuli kuunneltua juur autossa. Ehtaa kasaria! 3/5