Eliminator

Im not sure ZZ top is anyone's favorite band. They are the textbook definition of average rock band

Solid enough boogie rock. But a bit limited and I’m not sure this belongs on a list like this if there’s no Quo. Top were no better than average for me.

Singles are bangers, but it does drop off after that.

Dad rock at its finest - too long for this kind of music though.

3.5

enjoyed, can defo spot the singles, the filler tracks didn't land anywhere near as well, second half of the album was fairly beige - gotta love sharp dressed man though

favorite song: Sharp dressed man. Overall score: 7,4/10

Kind of boring and uninspiring American 80’s rock. Feels mostly like an American AC/DC with the simple drums and main focus on guitar and vocals but just no where near as good. The vocals are significantly worse than a Bon Scott or Brian Johnson and the guitar holds nothing to an Angus or Malcolm Young. It wasn’t bad though just extremely mid and not something I would ever really want to hear again unless it was playing somewhere, the hits are pretty good though I guess especially the first one. Also, the guitar tone was quite weird aswell, it felt like it was muted sometimes and the lyrics were just really generic and pretty awful, not as charming as other in your face rock acts like AC/DC again. Overall, 5/10.

Great guitar tones, catchy hit singles, but ultimately ZZ Top are just boring to me. Repetitive riffs and beats, a lack of songwriting flexibility and creativity, and they just don't seem to have much to say beyond "women hot."

Pretty solid album from the men with the big old beards. Has that sort of badass bluesy/country rock type feel. Really tight-playing band and all the tracks keep that move on. Will say that towards the end a lot of the tracks sounded similar to me, but I liked it overall.

Sick guitars Sick album art Sharp dressed man slaps Not too many standouts

This reminded me a bit of Status Quo , Dad rock. Nothing offence , middle of the road with some catchy melodies.

Pretty bland 80s pop rock that somehow captivated the MTV audience. Despite this and the fact that all the songs sound the same, this album has something about it that I like. Can’t figure out what that is but it is an easy and pleasant listen.

Insert standard 1001 review. ‘The singles are decent enough, but the rest of the album is just less good variations on the same theme’. Personally I just found the blues rock just Ok. The main thing that got me about this album was the very basic drum track. It got more tedious as the album went on. To replace your drummer with a drum machine for a whole album is a bit weird and insulting. I’m assuming the wads of money this album hauled in was the contributing factor to the drummer not quitting.

A huge change for ZZ Top both in sound and in image. Eliminator takes the band’s blues rock and speeds up the tempos, replaces most of the drums with machines, possibly the bass with sequencers too. It’s fun and gave them their biggest hits, helped by a clever series of made for MTV videos featuring the vintage hot rod and sexy girls. It’s very 1980s and not the album I would choose if I choose to put on some ZZ Top. Some of the guitar sounds are excellent (Billy Gibbons loves pinch harmonics…) but the electronics, while not the worst sounding of the decade, leave me a little cold.

Boogie rock'n'roll. ZZ Top will never not be cool. Hard hitting riffs combined with simple and relatable lyrics.

Sure

Some popular songs on this album. All their songs have a similar sound though.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The good songs are good. The rest is whatever.

strong 6

Sonic cliche, but no so horrible.

Yes it’s very obvious and straightforward. That isn’t always fun or interesting, but when it works it really works

nice rock album but nothing that blew my mind. 6,5/10 fav songs : Sharp Dressed Man & TV Dinners

ZZ Top - they make traditional hard rock with their own brand of weirdness. Catchy and 80's.

I think this might be the zenith of indulgent rock. After this it became all too much.

very classic sounding rock. it was nice but i don't think i will go back to it

Nice enough, in parts sounds great but not hugely memorable.

Thought they were more 90's Metallica, how wrong I was lol.

If unapologetic rock is what you're looking for, this will probably fit. It's a bit repetitive, but can get you pumped nonetheless.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Possibly because it reminds me of youth. "Gimme All Your Lovin" "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" were huge back then. The rest or the album shares that slick sound. A sound that is both thoroughly 80's yet completely timeless.

solid dad rock

I love the 80s and I love rock music, which should have made this a perfect match for me and my tastes. Unfortunately, though it's a good record, I found this album to be a bit below my expectations. Certainly, this is ZZ Top's most commercially successful effort and one that appeals to the masses. It didn't hurt that their long beards made for a very original look that was best captured in the MTV video age. But chalking up their success with this record solely to that novelty would diminish what they had accomplished musically with this album. There are undoubtedly a series of catchy hooks on here. Gimme All Your Lovin, Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, and Got Me Under Pressure are all rightfully still played on radio today, which is a testament to their sound and songwriting. I looked up the chart success and this album only made it to #9 on the charts and yet, despite this, they sold 10m+ copies of it. That doesn't happen because of a flash in the pan, it happens because the songs have staying power. That all said, the rest of this album was pretty generic to me. There are a few other good tunes like I Got The Six and Thug (what they do with the bass early in this song is very cool), but then there were songs like TV Dinners which left me asking “what the hell?” That song shouldn't even be a B-side on any record. It was like the label said "we need X number of songs" or "we need it to be long enough" and the band said, "sure, let's throw that one on there." To be honest, I waffled between 3 and 4 starts because the highs are pretty high, but the lows are very low. I even gave this a couple of listens to see if it would impact my thinking either way. I ultimately landed where I did simply because while the hits are great, it is not a complete album for me.

Some good solid rock and roll! Enjoyed it. Nice songs through the entire album. Best song: Sharp Dressed Man

I really liked the classic rock vibe the album has and the witty lyrics. Got bored towards the end.

One of those that reminds of an era. Some classic 80s chart tracks and a certain blues groove. But ultimately a bit throw away and the drum machines sometimes grate with this kind of overlay.

***An ok album

Not as good as I remember it when it came out. Full of hits, but the same sound everywhere. I have listed to mostly older ZZ Top when I listen to an album of theirs and those where great. I think this album was a push to get super popular by the label or something because the sound definitely changed

3/5

They went popular on this one, and probably made piles of money. But their older stuff is so much better.

Regular

There is some cool technical guitar work with synths overlaid (very 80s). But the subject matter/lyrics just have the same ol same ol "lusting after hot woman" theme that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, just live tv dinners do. "Legs" is actually one of the more respectful ones and has my favorite instrumentals.

This was also a bit of fun but nothign really stuck out to me. Maybe I need more sleep.

A fun album to slightly headbang to, but after a couple of songs it sounds too repetitive.

Some more ZZ Top. Good album.

Okay, some great tracks. Not enough for me to rate much higher.

bopping my head...me gusta

The are some classic gems in the album, very classic 80s album.

It was all right

I actually liked this one a lot better than the Tres Hombres album. Also, this is the first instance of a second album by an artist that has already appeared on my 1001 albums generator. I feel like the mastering on this album was significantly better than the previous one. Even if it did feel like it was targeting a more mainstream sound, shoot maybe that's why I liked it more.

Classic redneck rock and roll. It's a bit too corny and simple for my liking, but it's not terrible.

I think I've mentioned this before, but we had the Top Gear cassette in the car when we lived in England. I put it on almost every time I got in the car. One of the first songs on it was "Sharp Dressed Man". This song is ingrained in my body, and I have no choice but to love it. Every other song on this album sounded largely the same to me. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't really pay attention to any of it. I probably won't play any song other than Sharp Dressed Man again. 5/10

OK, very samey throughout but enjoyed. Probably 2.9/5

Feels slightly harsh, but very frontloaded and gets a bit samey by the end. But good driving music and the guitar tones are sumptuous.

MTV era ZZ Top is still a lot of fun. Much less raw than their earlier records, but they still got that boogie going on.

Decent

3/5

It's just not that interesting.

Some great songs but some duds as well that took me out of the great album feeling

Better than I was expecting

Really good but maybe some of the longer guitar bits dragged a bit and the lyrics probably left something to be desired. When the music hit well though, it certainly got you going

Forget corn flakes, have this for breakfast to start your day with some *crunch*. ZZ Top adapted to survive into the 80's, and while I can frown at the lack of authenticity using loops, drum machines, and synthesizers, it's hard to argue with the end result. Don't think too much about it, just enjoy the boogie, blues, and electric sex machines. Those sheepskin guitars will haunt me (in a good way) forever

Strong 3.

The first three tracks of this are what I consider to be the final form of ZZ Top. They are representative of everything they became after this album came out. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on if you like them - those three songs set the tone for the rest of their catalogue, and diminished the more bluesy and Texas style rock influences that they were about before. I do like those songs, and I do like their style, but it's not nearly as interesting as Tres Hombres, which we had on this list earlier. It is at least uniquely ZZ Top. Songs like "I Got the Six" have the same format as the openers but the riffs just don't hit as hard. ZZ Top songs absolutely live and die on the strength of the basic riff and less so the solo, so if either isn't that memorable then the song kinda fades away from memory because they're all just 4/4 drums with a bass player mostly hitting the root notes otherwise. The one outlier is "Thug" which has a heavily produced bassline that I can't tell if it's synthetic or not. Reading about how this album was made makes me think it might be just a synth. It's not that good of a song so I don't care either way, just weird. This was pretty decent as far as 80's rock records go in general and it is an album that sounds like who it is, as odd as that seems. There are a few stinkers on here ("TV Dinners", "If I could only flag her down") but the rest of the tracks are fine and the first tracks are great. I wish I could give it a 3.5 but out of the 11 songs I think I'd only really revisit 4 of them, so 3 it is.

I can feel the wind blowing through my 5-foot-long beard as I tear up the road on my Harley never looking for, but somehow always running into trouble.

True 80’s excess. This album makes me feel like I need to get on my hog and evade law enforcement. Highlights were Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, and Thug.

Sonic Youth love this one therefore so do I. Mostly sucks though. 5 stars.

Not entirely clear who actually played or wrote what on this record. Not quite a Milli Vanilli situation but history doesn’t reflect terribly well on the Texas 3 or maybe it does, stealing a bunch of ideas and calling them your own is a hallmark of the lone star state, let alone rock n roll (and in the case of ZZ Top, this wasn’t the first murky origin story). All that said, damn, what a great sound! It wears over the course of 10 songs and lurches to a halt with the few slower tempo numbers, but on the singles and a few album cuts, it’s a flawless execution. So much so, my band tried imitating the classic ZZ Top sound for some guitar tracks 20 years ago. We just hadn’t cracked the code on the whole wah pedal thing at that point, still associating it with the excesses of U2 and the Beastie Boys.

3.5 82%

There was a time when I was all about some ZZ Top — but that time has come and gone. Eliminator definitely has a few catchy tracks and some iconic synth-guitar grooves, but nothing on here really hits “great” status for me anymore. It’s fun in a nostalgic, radio-hit kind of way, but not something I find myself going back to often. Favorite song: "Sharp Dressed Man"

Sähkökitara ei tälleen surise ja pärise missään muualla. Tässä soi rock n roll enemmän amerikkalaisena kuin mikään muu.

3.5

kind of a rock that is good for driving, but not a restaurant list

Album No. 2 I liked the energy of all the songs, but the lyrics and songs did all seem to be kind of similar, which makes sense for one project I guess. Although TV Dinners was rather different (not sure I liked it that much). I think the lyrics in the album are definitely more fun than introspective and poetic. I've never heard of the artist before so I am happy I had a listen. There were a lot of guitar solos, which I won't say anything positive or negative about. Overall I would rate the album a 3.5 if I could but I'll go with 3 because I's rate more songs as 3 than 4. Favourites: - Gimme All Your Lovin' - Sharp Dressed Man - If I Could Only Flag Her Down

Long songs, some good, some bad, not my genre, classic rock, good guitar

Al die willen bij ZZ Top spelen, moeten mannen met baarden zijn..? Ik lees op Wikipedia (ook ik doe wel eens mijn huiswerk) dat er vier hitsingles van de plaat getrokken zijn, maar ik kende ze niet, eerlijk gezegd. Tja, dan blijft het toch gewoon een potje stevige rock, maar eerder van het supermarkthuismerk, net als The Cult laatst. Er is in dit genre beter gemaakt, dus het cijfer valt niet al te hoog uit.

We klussen vrolijk door en ZZ Top lijkt mij op voorhand wel prima daarbij. Al is het eerste nummer Gimme All Your Loving wel erg jaren '80. Maar goed Sharp Dressed man komt ook nog, en dat gaat toch iets beter op met dat jaren '80 geluid. Dus wat zal de boventoon gaan voeren? Nou dat wordt wel duidelijk. De jaren '80 komen te lang te duidelijk door. Ik ben het album halverwege wel zat. Wellicht ook omdat het kruit al vroeg verschoten is. Ik vraag hier vaak om variatie. Maar bij sommige albums past dat ook weer helemaal niet. Zoals I Need You Tonight mooi illustreert. Misschien heeft de band ook wel de pech na Aerosmith te komen. In de vergelijking valt dit stukken minder uit.

Het eerste dat ik vaak doe, is even de wiki doorlezen. We kennen ZZ Top allemaal van de lange baarden van de twee gitaristen, maar ZZ Top herbergt nog een derde lid, namelijk de drummer. Die heeft als enige geen baard, maar heet dan weer Frank Beard. Ik zal ongetwijfeld niet de eerste zijn die dit opmerkt, ik neem aan dat deze grap 'een baard heeft'. Hihihi hahaha. Genoeg schijtlolligheid, over op de muziek. Die zichzelf ook niet al te serieus neemt, maar wel lekker vrolijke rock n roll is. Met her en der een ballade. De 80s komen hier al een stuk meer naar voren dan op hun vorige albums. Niet dat ik veel van ZZ Top ken, uiteindelijk staan hier hun grote hits op, maar je hoort wel al heel veel drumcomputers en synths. En al die 80s sounds zijn niet per se supergoed gedaan. Of juist misschien iets te goed, het voelt overgeproduceerd. Terwijl de 80s juist ook altijd iets gruizigs horen te hebben voor je idee, iets smerigs. Kijk naar films uit de 80s, met zo'n grauwig filter er over heen, fletse kleuren, scenes uit steden waar het vuilnis op de straten ligt enzo. Al met al is de muziek wel aardig en ben ik op zich wel fan van een pot raggende gitaren, maar ik vind dat dit beter is gedaan door andere 80s glamrock n roll bands. Ik ga niet helemaal raten naar stijl, maar ik zet dit in op een kleine 3.

I supposed there is a reason these guys are more known for their facial hair than their music. It's not bad, and in fact Sharp Dressed Man is a great tune, but it sure isn't great.

Big hits!

Not in my collection and not really on my radar. Found it enjoyable, good solid guitar riffs and solos and the hits (Legs, Sharp dressed Man) were instantly recognisable and had me tapping my feet. If I found an original pressing somewhere I would consider it. But if I analyse why I liked it, for that raw sweaty pub style rock I think the Top did it better on tres hombres. However listening to this made me want to add tres hombres to my collection.

Fine, some classics but hardly a top 1000 album

Honestly kind of enjoyable. ZZ Top w the corniest 80s production kinda murders.

Had to skip I’ve been lingering too long listened to half sorry mid

I remember the hits of this album being played in the 80s. And they are still being played by classic rock radio. This is the heart of 80s guitar rock, and very influential. But I'm bored of it now. Not their earlier stuff, but this particular sound. 3.5/5

I've never sat down and listened to a ZZ Top album, and ya know? I was pleasantly surprised. Not my first choice in music, but it was good!

Funny silly album about beards

good

Pretty mid

Pretty alright

I never listened to a lot of ZZ Top. It's just ok for me.

Fandango or Tres Hombres deserve to be on this list. Eliminator? Meh.

Helt greit.

Another rocker from ZZ Top. A solid album that unfortunately becomes formulaic and repetitive by the end. The guys were great at what they did, but by the end I was glad to move on. Gimme All Your Loving rocks, reminds me of The Santa Clause every time.

80s rock, bit glammy, bit hard, country elements. Bit too Aerosmithy in places for me Best track - TV Dinners/ Sharp Dressed Man

gimme all you lovin' brings back high school/early college memories from cover bands in cheap local bars...I just wish they played sharp dressed man instead...3/5 fun times

Eh

I enjoyed it but it got quite boring

Not that great. Not that terrible, either.

I was expecting old man rock "how how how how" and/or Nascary southern rock. It hits some of that but they're a little more rocking then i expect. Guitar was cool, solos were rocking. It ended up being a bit repetitive, and kind of blended together at times. I liked this better than I expected, but I expected to absolutely hate it. Mid 3s.

It's not bad....just a little repetitive over the length of an album. Radio songs still hold up though. "I got the 6, gimme your 9" would be a great bumper sticker. 3.5, rounding down.

Great fun!

I am copying the review from my previous zz top album: its guitar rock. Nothing that i really found too amazing, but it wasn't unbearable. Never really listened to ZZ Top, a and likely won't listen to ZZ top again

3.5/5. Can’t believe these good ol boys are related to the legend himself, Hank Hill.

Not my favourite thing over all but I definitely liked it. Sharp Dressed Man is as fun as ever, but I think my favourite track might be TV Dinners, as goofy as it is lyrically. The glossy production weighs it down a little, but there are certainly more dated sounding 80s rock records out there.

This sure is some classic rock. Not much else to say about it. The hits are good, but I've heard them too much so I don't really care for them anymore, and everything else is just ok. Mid 3.

This was a...fine album I guess? None of the songs really jumped out at me, even the famous ones like Gimme all your lovin'. I generally like classic rock but I dunno, this didn't really catch me. Not to say it was bad, and considering the influence ZZ Top has for many of my favourite artists, this album deserves to be on the list. The guitars were cool though. 3/5

Did not love, did not hate

Enjoyable for a few songs but the whole album sounds exactly the same and it quickly lost its appeal. Every instrumental part is simple, repetitive and sounds artificial. They definitely bring a lot of energy which helps, but this is not something I want to listen to all the time.

Good but not the best

This is the kind of music I'd be into while drinking in a pub or something. But I don't really have much interest in listening in general.

3.5 To take from my review of the Songs of Leonard Cohen "There are three brilliant songs, one good one, three qualified bummers, and three flaming shits." That probably sums this up pretty good. Still pretty fun in spots and a great 3 piece band that sure fills the sonic space

Solid... But, I'll be real. Me and Texans do not vibe.

Good rock. Still rock.

I am going to be honest I was disappointed to get zztop today, but this album is better than I thought it would be. It's a decent album with some of there main classic songs and they have there sound which is enjoyable in short bursts, but it just gets very repetitive.

To itself now.

You know what you’re going to get with zz top. The hits are good the other filler is so similar to each other it’s hard to tell them apart

Not my favorite, but it has some classics.

Hilarious, classic, fun, and with some filler. At its best it’s great fun. Would go well with some sort of beer rage too though. 3.5

id like to hear a remastered version w no synths. it suffers from bad 80s production.

Pop rock ochentero de calidad con una fundación sólida en el blues clásico que ZZ Top solía hacer en sus comienzos. Un álbum controvertido que marcó la transición del grupo a música de masas con mucha presencia en la MTV. Tanto, que incluso consiguió hacer su música popular entre los adolescentes de la época. Será música comercial y algo manida, pero este rock ochentero cercano al glam siempre ha sido uno de mis placeres culpables. Y más aún cuando se sigue intuyendo algo de delta blues bajo las capas de sobreproducción sintetizada. La guitarra de Billy Gibbons es tan virtuosa como siempre, pero sin excesos de indulgencia, y el resto del grupo no se queda atrás. En cuanto a las letras… mejor vamos a hacer como si no existieran. Lo he disfrutado bastante.

Good album. Even though this was the first ZZ Top album I had heard, I like their older bluesier stuff better. And that TV Dinner song is the worst.

pretty good. i like the 80s take on blues-rock. fav song: legs or i need you tonight (sharp dressed man maybe a bit overplayed). some of the outros felt 5 min long though

When this came out it was huge, MTV obviously gave them the springboard into living rooms who’d never heard of or seen this band before. Check. Post 80s I’d only hear them in a bar or if I flipped on an oldies station. Giving this a 3 for nostalgia.

Sometimes some dumb turn your brain off 80s rock is all you need

decent

pretty ridiculous, fun sometimes with the steel strings

Kinda mid, but not really my kinda rock

i have to say, standing up at my desk while listening to this made me dance quite a bit more than i usually feel inclined to.

Ahaha, I remember this from back in the day. My dad loved those videos. The famous songs are bangers, the rest not so much

Classic ZZ Top here. This album broke it wide open into the MTV era. No way do these guys sell many of this album without MTV. It's good solid guitar rock with blues-influenced riffs. Really tight melodies and simple lyrics. Got a bit repetitive after a bit. 3.33/5 Songs you can't miss: Sharp Dressed Man I Need You Tonight Legs Bad Girl

A parte un paio di canzoni, l'album è piacevole ma non colpisce.

I saw ZZ Top in Texas once at a steak restaurant. They called me fat.

This is peak ZZ Top. Outstanding. But only so much.

I got this right after listening to ACDC and I put it in the same category. I’m not a fan of ZZ Top, I don’t think I can be. There are a couple of really cool songs, some of them actual classics, but the rest is just bloat. Mediocre at best, I’d rather listen to a “greatest hits” or just a few of their tracks.

Meh? Liked a few songs but don’t think I’d come back to it

A few really good songs on here, Sharp Dressed Man is an absolute classic, but I thought it dropped off after Legs and nothing really stood out.

🤟

I don't really have strong feelings about this one either way lol I could take it or leave it

Say what you will about ZZ Top, it's decent 80's blues inspired rock! 3/5

Good. Fun

Found it hard to listen all the way through, not my genre of choice, but I’ve always liked Give Me All Your Lovin’ and Sharp Dressed Man.

1. I should buy a dodge charger 2. I miss the “ah haw haw haw” ZZ Top 3. just a humble song about how suits and money can absolutely get you pussy 4. driving down a David lynch highway to this song 5. I am, once again, asking for a dodge charger 6. you know for all the parts of women’s bodies they’ve mentioned on this album, surprisingly no titties. i know that took restraint but also can’t relate 7. why’s the car on the cover kinda… 8. Billy Gibbons warns of the horrors of processed food in 1983 9. a zz top song called “dirty dog” should be better than this js 10. okay we’re back 11. these dudes are such ass men you gotta respect it

Decent

Subtlety zero, but it is very fun to listen to. Energy wise, it's a hell of an album. Not my favorite flavour of (hard) rock, but I can definitely picture myself listening it very loudly while driving. On the down side, lyrics leave some things to be desire, and the style become slightly boring and repetitive once you've reached the end of the album. I had never listened to ZZ Top before, and it was a rather nice discovery, even if I'm not completely sold as of now.

80s rock

The quality and my interest really petered out towards the end. 2.8.

I think I need some doxycycline and azithromycin after listening to this album. Personal enjoyment: 3 Relevance to this list: 3

On paper I hate a lot of hard rock but this is fun and has a sense of humor so I like it. Not really my thing but I still like it.

Найбільш комерційно успішний альбом ZZ Top, примітною рисою якого є перехід гурту до більш "сучасного" #hardrock - ового звучання. Не втрачаючи при цьому всьому свій #bluesrock - овський шарм. Проте, на мій погляд, він не стільки важливий для самого гурту, скільки для такого явища, як #southernrock в цілому. Для тих хто не в курсі, Southern Rock - це жанр, що зародився на півдні США та в значний мірі покладався на блюз рок до якого додавались елементи кантрі та фолк року. Не без участі Lynyrd Skynyrd, жанр набув популярності у 70-х, але у 80-х його популярність пішла на спад. І саме на Eliminator, ZZ Top, фактично, "перевинайшли" його звучання, та повернули цікавість до подібної музики. Щодо вражень, то цей доволі енергійний хард/блюз рок, просякнутий південним духом Техасу, "заходить" на диво гарно. Проте, це тільки в тому випадку, якщо вам справді подобається блюз роковий гітарний саунд під доволі бадьору ритм-секцію. І якщо вам довподоби звучання таких гуртів як Clutch чи Black Label Society, то вам, щонайменше, буде цікаво повернутись до "першоджерела". Але наскільки б цей альбом не був "важливий", їх більш блюзовий Tres Hombres (1973) мені подобається набагато більше.

Somehow it seems that at least one of the members of ZZ Top sold his soul for commercial success. The songs have very fun hooks, energy, and presence, but in many ways they are unremarkable or at least not clearly the ZZ Top of earlier years. They went from Rock and Roll to Pop and it basically ended them as a band. You may enjoy this album, but it is more of a stop down than a step forward.

kind of annoyed that I enjoyed this. ZZ Top is so boring but also catchy.

Top 3 Songs: 1 - Got Me Under Pressure (2) 2 - Sharped Dressed Man (3) 3 - I Got the Six (5)

3.5

Bluesy rock and big bushy beards. This album contains just about every track I like and are familiar with so to me it’s their greatest hits album. Good for a change when in the mood but not one I’d keep spinning. 3/5 28/1/25

I think we all know the hits on this album... (Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, Gimme All Your Lovin'). They are also the best song. The rest feels a bit like filler is is very samey. I feel like I should give this 2, max, for the quality of the music (with all its clichés) but that's not the point of this music. It was more about having fun and they didn't take themselves too seriously. So an extra point for that.

Just straight up guitar-based blues rock. All of it sounds pretty much the same. Not much vocal melody, plenty of straight-up 4 beat guitar.

sounds like hard rock condensed, not bad not amazing NNN

This album is fun, but I feel like this album is precisely when ZZ Top went from solid guitar driven southern rock to straight up cheesy. Still, enjoyable enough.

This is fun to listen to, but it’s a lot of the same thing

rock para papais carecas e barbudos (com sintetizador). eu num grado de zz top nao, viu. umas musica meio vazia só pra vc ouvir uns solinho meio broxa. não é "inescutável" mas é paia. dito isso, legs é bem legal, até.

епт какое то хард-рок диско получилось

Pretty good. ZZ Top is ever reliable.

Generic MOR Rock, decent enough but feels a bit too clean

Rock n roll, baby. Oh, and cocaine. A bunch of cocaine, too.

17/01/25 It was alright, they had a few good songs. A lot of it sounded the same.

3.6 didn’t like as much as i thought i would. would throw it on in the background but no crazy standouts.

I can't imagine ever _choosing_ to sit down and listen to this, but, for the singles, at least, it's undeniably fun. The deep cuts aren't as strong and it tails off significantly in the second half. Billy Gibbons is a great guitarist though.

3/5

They've got guitars and they know how to use them, just don't ask them to shift out of their comfort gear.

Overall: 6/10 The hits off of this album belong in some sort of hall of fame. Possibly for rock. As for the deeper cuts, those can be put in a box and be forgotten about. Fav Song: Gimme All Your Lovin' Least Fav Song: If I Could Only Flag Her Down

Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: ⬛🚘🔦 Production (2008 Remaster): 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🎸🍼😎 Rating: 🚘🚘(🚘)/5

Not bad. Great singles.

Solid

Generic

Favorite track: Sharp dressed man other picks: gimme all your loving, legs

A couple of jams, but ultimately just sounds the same after a while

How dare you start with Gimmie All Your Lovin' then be so mid! Favourite track: Gimmie All Your Lovin'.

4 estrelas

I had low expectations, but this is dumb rock fun.

The singles slap but the other songs are pretty pedestrian

didnt hate it i guess

Not my style and songs sounded much the same. Cool though, no doubt.

EVERY lady is crazy about a sharp dressed man? EVERY one?? Doubt.

While this definitely holds stronger than Tres Hombres, it still ultimately feels generic enough for me to not care for it that much. Very 80's rock. And not in a good way. There was a lot of enjoyable moments and instrumentals on here, but ZZ Top really just doesn't have anything outside of the "generic garage rock" appeasement. It was a very average listen, but nothing offended me here. This album is the kind of shit you'd hear blaring from the site radio at an exhaust mod shop. Still, better than Top 40 hits or if you're unlucky enough to find the worlds gayest exhaust fitter who happens to be listening to Radiohead.

Having now listened to ZZ Top’s too ‘best’ albums I can comfortably say they are overrated bluesrock for old men who like hot rods and day drinking. I’m not going to say that this is BAD music per say, more that outside the big hits their music is forgettable and samey. Seriously name a ZZ Top track outside the hits that you would go out of your way to listen to.

A very fun album, and one you have only heard two songs from. Reading about this album, it marked a huge shift in ZZ Top's sound and also their appeal. Moving from their blues-y sound like on Tres Hombres, into the coveted space of "songs that play on the PA of fishing/camping/auto stores". I don't think that the band here were trying to create anything groundbreaking, I think they wanted to have fun playing music and wanted their audience to have fun as well. And that's exactly what this album is. The two hits here are good, I have probably heard them both one too many times and on repeat listens of this album I found myself skipping Gimme All Your Lovin' as I am mentally transported to being 12 years old at TimeZone, returning to the skeeball machine because I did not get enough tickets to buy a sticky hand. The line 'Clean shirt, new shoes' will never not be funny to me as the defining features of a Sharp Dressed Man. This album is frontloaded as fuck, not saying the second half is bad per se but certainly not as memorable. Before listening I had a suspicion that I would walk away from this only having enjoyed the hits, but I was pleasantly surprised with Thug which has an absolutely killer bassline and I found myself replaying it more than a few times. If/when I open a hobby store that caters to middle aged men, I know what I will be putting on the shop radio. Highlights: Sharp Dressed Man, I Need You Tonight, Legs, Thug

Ehh. I mean, it's ZZ Top, speaks for itself.

Honestly, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I vaguely knew of ZZ Top before listening to this, including a couple of the hits here. But what's interesting is their trajectory, incorporating synths and new wave elements into their music. (They cited Depeche Mode as an influence???) The 80s are here, let pop rule. I was shocked that I knew "Legs", since I figured it was by one of the plethora of new wave one-hit wonder bands, but it was these tres hombres all along! The guitars sound great, nice and crunchy. I find the album does drag a bit at times, but the better songs manage to split it up. Fav tracks: Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, Legs

Solid rock. Good hooks, great solos and even a massive bass solo. Don’t mind it one bit

Living in Texas in the 80's, I swear I heard this one too many times. But f*ckall, it is good fun. Not my favorite but perfectly representative of 1983.

Decently fun cock rock from the 80s. I still like “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs”, just not as much as I did as a kid.

Guys being dudes type of album. Something to put on when you feel like vibing to some fun electric guitar and gruff vocals. Nothing stands out too much, but a fun listen nonetheless.

Solid rock n roll

Sharp dressed man is sending me back to my Duck Dynasty obsession 3/5

11/21/24. ZZ Top adapted to the 80s very well - kept their style and swagger while also embracing new sounds. Enjoyable album.

Was fun. Enjoyed the music and bits of silliness but couldnt get over the incessant horniness behind 90% of the songs. Guitar in most songs was the stand out. Really cool

Very MTV era vibes

Started strong. Relentless rhythm section and some fine synths. It became samey samey towards the end by which time I was, frankly, bored.

This felt very similar to “Tres Hombres” to me. One undeniable hit in “Sharp Dressed Man”, and the rest is good. Very easy to listen to and I like the style, but there wasn’t enough variety or “wow” factor for me to bump it up to a 4.

Good album! 3 out of 5 because of some good hits on the first have of the album. I also appreciate the length.

The hits being frontloaded on this album bring it down from a four to a three. The front half has three of the biggest hits ZZ Top has ever released and then the second half is mostly forgettable generic southern rock. Overall, I did still like this album, just can’t get behind anything above a three.

Some great tracks

This is a fun album, but not much more than that. I’m fine with it, but it’s not an album that I really like.

Jag letar aldrig upp dom men när jag hör dom så vill jag lyssna på dom i en bil som låter BRÖÖÖÖÖÖT!

this was very silly. perhaps even a bit too silly

not my thing, though Gimme All Your Lovin isn't bad. "Legs" survives despite ridiculous lyrics. I've heard a lot worse.

I got the six is bangin

see previous review I guess?

Classic rock type album. Not the best but definitely not the worst.

This is so annoying because this album starts out so strong with its catchy hooks and instrumentals that managed to itch the right part of my brain, and then those things remained constant throughout the entirety of the album. But not in a way that makes an album cohesive but in a way that all the songs start to sound the same as there’s only some many ways guys can sing about wanting to have sex with girls (and weirdly enough TV dinners). In other words this album starts strong and then plateaus with both the instruments and the lyrics starting to become repetitive, making 45 minutes start to feel longer then it is in actuality.

"Eliminator" is the eighth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top. Bandleader, guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons had become a big fan of new wave artists Depeche Mode and OMD and wanted to take his blues-rock band in that direction. On this album, he increased the tempo and used more synthesizers and drum machines. Most of the album was written by Gibbons and pre-production engineer Linden Hudson. Bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard complete the band formally. Other key musicians during the recording included Hudson (synths) and Terry Manning (electronic drums and bass and drum machine). It worked commercially reaching #3 in the UK and #9 in the US and became their best selling album. The first single "Gimme All Your Lovin'" opens the album with an electronic drum beat which goes to a guitar jam. Weird synth noises in the background. Layered guitars and a guitar solo. Highly produced. Yes, this was what Gibbons was looking for. The pace quickens on "Got Me Under Pressure." An electronic bass. A growling guitar. She's got him under pressure. And then there's "Sharp Dressed Men." Hello MTV. A great guitar riff carries this song. I think there's a mixture of electronic and real drums. I give up at this point trying to figure that out. Nice vocal additions. Side two blasts off with "Legs." Layered and slick. They get the groove going. Another great guitar riff and solo by Gibbons. Oh, I did like the video. Mid-80's synth-rock at finest (that can be very good or very bad depending on...) They slow down the pace a bit and bring a more bluesy guitar in "TV Dinner." 80's-sounding synth keys giving this more a new wave sound. He's getting sick eating those tv dinners. Well,well, well, this is a highly produced album with a very clean guutar sound. I gave up after awhile trying to figure if the instruments were real or electronic; it doesn't matter, Gibbons got the slick, highly produced and successful album he was looking for. Oh, there are very catchy riffs and the hit songs are still fun to listen to. They took full advantage of the MTV video era to successfully establish their image. Hey, what's not to like about an album with songs about girls and tv dinners. Well, actually, the synthesized beats and production got kind of old for me in the end. But, the hit songs still sounded cheesy and good to me. I think everyone reading this knows where they stand on mid-80's ZZ Top.

Some classics, but mostly meh

It has some hits on it, but those hits are pretty overplayed. As a whole it is cohesive and let's me know who they are and what kind of music they are. Lead singer has a unique and interesting voice. There is also something hard about them, but also kind of mellow which is a bit of a change.

The hits on this album are so overplayed, it's hard to get excited about them. Got Me Under Pressure and Thug were my favorites.

like the songs but they’re all very much the same vibe. repetitive but real cool !

Had Pottential at first but got repetative quite quickly

The start of Eliminator was strong, with some truly standout tracks at the beginning. However, as the album progressed, both the lyrics and instrumentals started to feel less engaging and a bit repetitive.

Solid dad rock 🤘

The hits and the style are undeniable. But MAN is the filler bad. Great opening and these dudes had some guitar tone, big sound, Texas vibe. Could have used a lyricist.

Solid rock and roll. Sharp Dressed Man stood out to me, but the rest just kind of faded into the background as I listened. Nothing really made it pop.

Not a big ZZ Top fan but haven't heard these songs in a while, so it was a fun listen. I think the music videos are more memorial than the songs themselves.

Il y a des albums qui sont des monuments, et puis il y a des albums qui sont des panneaux publicitaires. "Eliminator" de ZZ Top, c’est un peu les deux. Un panneau publicitaire pour un monument, ou l’inverse, je ne sais plus trop. Ce qui est certain, c'est qu'en 1983, ce disque a débarqué avec la subtilité d'un semi-remorque lancé à pleine vitesse sur une route déserte du Texas, écrasant tout sur son passage. Et au volant, trois barbus hilares qui venaient de signer un pacte, non pas avec le diable, mais avec un type bien plus redoutable : le directeur des programmes de MTV. Pour comprendre le choc "Eliminator", il faut se souvenir de ce qu'était ZZ Top avant. Un trio texan pur jus, gras, poussiéreux, sentant la bière tiède et l'huile de vidange. Des albums comme "Tres Hombres" ou Degüello" étaient des merveilles de boogie-blues crasseux, joués avec un feeling incroyable et une nonchalance de mecs qui savent qu'ils n'ont rien à prouver. Billy Gibbons était déjà un dieu de la six-cordes, mais un dieu pour initiés, un prophète prêchant dans le désert des disquaires indépendants et des rades enfumés. Et puis, paf 1983, le monde découvre la Ford '33 rouge, le porte-clés qui tourne tout seul, les filles aux jambes interminables et, surtout, ce son. Ce putain de son. Ce mélange improbable entre le riff boogie le plus primaire qui soit et la froideur métronomique des synthétiseurs et des boîtes à rythmes LinnDrum. C'était comme si on avait forcé John Lee Hooker à faire un featuring avec Kraftwerk après une soirée trop arrosée. Sur le papier, ça avait tout du sacrilège, de la trahison pure et simple. Dans les faits, c'était une formule magique. Une formule pour vendre des millions de disques et devenir des icônes planétaires. Et c'est bien là que le bât blesse, et que ma note ne décollera pas au-dessus d'un modeste 3 sur 5. "Eliminator" n'est pas un grand album, c'est une compilation de singles monstrueusement efficaces. C'est une machine de guerre commerciale pensée pour une nouvelle ère, celle du clip vidéo roi. Soyons honnêtes, le succès stratosphérique de ce disque est indissociable de son matraquage visuel. Les clips de "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man" et "Legs" formaient un feuilleton absurde et génial, une sorte de version rock'n'roll de L'Homme qui valait trois milliards où le super-héros était un bolide rouge. Sans ces images, est-ce que les morceaux auraient eu le même impact ? J'en doute fortement. Parce que musicalement, quand on gratte un peu le vernis rutilant de la production, on sent le malaise. La batterie, autrefois puissante et organique de Frank Beard, est ici souvent remplacée ou doublée par une programmation d'une raideur cadavérique. Les synthés de Dusty Hill, bien que discrets, ajoutent une couche de plastique qui lisse toutes les aspérités. On est passé du cuir élimé au skaï bon marché. Heureusement, il reste la guitare de Billy Gibbons. Le Révérend a beau être noyé sous des tonnes de réverb et de chorus typiques des années 80, il parvient encore à balancer des soli d'une classe folle. Il est le dernier rempart, le gardien du temple blues qui refuse de se rendre complètement face à l'envahisseur synthétique. Alors, pourquoi ce n'est pas une bouse infâme non plus ? Pourquoi un 3 sur 5 et pas un zéro pointé ? Parce qu'il faut être sacrément bouché pour ne pas reconnaître l'efficacité redoutable de ces chansons. "Gimme All Your Lovin'" est un rouleau compresseur. "Sharp Dressed Man" est l'hymne ultime du type qui s'est fait beau pour aller boire des coups. "Legs" a un groove tellement con qu'il en devient génial. C'est du boogie rock pour les nuls, simplifié à l'extrême, calibré pour les stades et les autoroutes. C'est de la musique qui ne demande aucun effort, qui s'écoute le coude à la portière et qui donne envie de taper du pied. Et parfois, ça fait du bien. Le problème, c'est que ça s'arrête là. Le reste de l'album oscille entre le sympathique ("Got Me Under Pressure"), le dispensable ("I Need You Tonight") et le carrément paresseux ("Thug"). On sent qu'ils ont trouvé une formule et qu'ils l'ont essorée jusqu'à la dernière goutte. L'album manque cruellement de la profondeur, de la chaleur et de la crasse qui faisaient le charme de leurs précédentes productions. C'est un album propre, trop propre. Un album qui a été passé au Kärcher. Dans le grand carnet de bord des 1001 albums, "Eliminator" a une place particulière. C'est le disque qui a transformé un groupe culte en phénomène de foire, c'est le symbole d'une décennie où l'image a souvent pris le pas sur la musique. C'est un album que l'on doit écouter, non pas pour sa valeur artistique intrinsèque, mais pour comprendre comment un groupe a pu, avec une recette simple mais diablement bien exécutée, conquérir le monde. C'est une leçon de marketing, une étude de cas. Pour moi, le vrai ZZ Top, le grand, le sublime, est mort un peu avant, ou a survécu péniblement après. "Eliminator", c'est juste un bon album de boogie rock, un excellent produit de son temps, mais un album de ZZ Top tout juste passable. C'est l'album qui leur a permis de s'acheter des plus grosses voitures, mais qui a laissé une partie de leur âme sur le bord de la route. Un album à écouter en bagnole, de préférence une rouge, avec des filles qui font de l'auto-stop. Cliché ? Oui. Comme cet album, en fait.

This album definitely benefited by it's exposure on MTV and radio ate it up the hits with me wondering at the time, what's the big deal? Such a generic sounding hard rock band that almost (well, did) became a joke with the twin long beards and spinning guitars. Visually stunning (uh, not really) and the music is catchy and infectious, but if you dig deeper into the other songs on the album, it rings hollow and seems repetitive, pumping out the same formula over and over. I admit I've probably nodded my head to their music at sporting events or in the car, but this is non-creative commercial music for the masses, that is best listened to with your brain turned off.

6/10. ZZ Top were never really my thing. Relistening to this album its full of some really admirable guitar playing, but I can't really say its gonna stick with me.

A whole album of classic ZZ Top. They're good.

:0

Gimme All Your Lovin' and Sharp Dressed Man are great, I've always liked those songs. The driving guitars / synths and steady drums are kind of addictive. I think I've heard Legs, but I never sought it out. I actively disliked I Got the Six and TV Dinners, and the rest were okay. Love their sound, but yeesh, the lyrics.

I obviously know all the hits from this album already. Was interesting reading the backstory and knowing that pretty much all the drums and bass were replaced by electronic drums and synths, it's really obvious now that I'm listening for it. Pretty awesome guitar work throughout. The deep cuts for the most part are deep cuts for a reason, not bad but nothing that stands out really.

It was good, i expected more bluesy style rock but this was more of an early MTV highlights reel

Good rock album got a little repetitive

Pretty fun 80s pop rock. Not massively my thing really but a good vibe. Favourite tracks: Gimme All Your Lovin', Got Me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man, TV Dinners.

Honestly, ZZ Top isn't really my sound. This album is loaded with iconic songs though, and I appreciate their style.

Middle-aged divorced male power-fantasy where the women are wild, guitar solos go hard and the TV dinners don't taste depressing.

dad rock, but solid

MTV would not have been as good without ZZ Top.

good but very repetitive

Decent.

Basically most of ZZ Top's big hits on this one. Sure, they were massive. But I've just never been a huge fan of ZZ Top's biggest hits even though I probably know them all by heart at this point having heard them a million times...

Hillbilly energy.

Not totally ruined by the 80's mixing, but partly

Honestly what is the deal with these guys… they’re kinda hilarious. I thought Tres Hombres was a really slick crystallization of their chill yet unserious vibe, and I got some of that outta this (and probably more laughs) but it’s not as good… Christine ass cover also..

The only thing keeping this above a 2 is the Weird Al soundalike “TV Dinners”

better than i expected!

I went into this album knowing a few songs. After listening to the whole thing- I think ZZ Top definitely established a signature sound and had some strong hits. But the songs did start to get a little one-note for me. Also a lot of the sex/drugs/rock and roll vibe that got old. The hits are definitely catchy though and thr instrumentation is skilled and stylized Overall- a decent rock albun

ZZ Top is always fun

Fun enough to tap your foot along to, but gets a bit repetitive by the end.

I like this album. I like ZZ Top. But I almost never think of them.

Not as good as their earlier stuff. La Grange was top tier for me. Still, the first few tracks were quite good.

fágaðri en fyrri platan. vantar aðeins þennan húkkera hráleika en smá texas-sjarmi. veit ekki með framhaldið.

I didn't have high hopes for this, but it was better than expected. The problem is that the whole A-side is stellar, and then everything TV Dinners on is pretty mid. I'd pick it up used at the record store though. 3.5/5

Solid

Wow, the riffs and top songs here are iconic. Really a groove to the whole album even if it's not really my thing overall.

Fun to listen to, and there is clear talent on display. However, they have a similar issue that AC/DC have, which is that every song sounds the same.

A classic album, but there's not a lot of meat here. There's a few enduring hits, but the tracks that support and surround them are fairly lackluster.

Liked the vibe, wouldn't actively listen though

Some hits at the top of the album. Got repetitive after that

Pretty slick, ZZ Top is super cool

A few hits I recognized and jammed to but not my fav.

ZZ Top. Saw them in 1986. Loved it. They introduce synths to the blues. A New York or Chicago band, let alone a Sydney or Melbourne or London blues band, would have been laughed off as pretentious wankers. ZZ Top are - or were - the real thing. This is probably the last really great album they did. Guns, cars and girls. What more do you need? I’ll be honest. This type of thing tends to bore me now. But they do it very well.

This album has some real strong songs on it - Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs. However, outside of these, the remainder of the album is kind of forgettable for me.

These boys had an aesthetic that was their own, musically and all less interesting trappings eg cars and beards and two steps. Memphis shit! (Ardent studios). Cool recording history - Ol Billy Gibs got into bpm drum machines and moog bass etc. Kinda left the other boys hanging. Songs are tight, well produced, best is Sharp Dressed Man. High 3, almost four for effort, but the other songs aren't as good, and La Grange, and maybe tush are their best.

Didn’t leave much of an impression actually, apart from sharp dressed man and give me all your lovin

Very solid album, but I don't think it crosses into "great" territory.

Mmm

Well, here we are. In my previous review of Tres Hombres I mentioned I wasn’t a fan of the 80’s ZZ Top and now that this album has come around I stand by that statement. It’s all just a little dated and cringy. Even the songs that are supposed to be the back bone of the album, the singles just sound a little embarrassing. Not a fan, much preferred Tres Hombres.

miren, resulta que zz top no es sólo La Grange.

Had listened to a good few songs off this album but never the full album didn’t think I was gonna like it since I haven’t been into ZZ top in the last bit but honestly was quite good and I jived with most of not almost all of the album

I think I like ZZ Top, but I have never listened to a whole album, and listen to their hits very infrequently, maybe when I'm drunk and nostalgic, listening to 'classic rock hits from my youth' (I'm thinking Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, etc.) Now that I've gone start to finish on a ZZ Top album I can sincerely say, their hits are ok. And they can firmly stay where they were, in my nostalgic and beer fuelled memory, dusted off now and again to scratch an itch until someone else in my home asks what the hell I'm listening to, and can I put something else on. Then I put on La Grange (not on this album, but a far better song) before acquiescing. I'll give it three badass and bearded stars for old times' sake.

3.5/5

chirurgic metal with beards

Hmmm there's some 80s party girls referenced in this album who are now grandmothers. Some decent moments but it reeks of rock bitch fury from 80s. Hasn't aged week 5/10

This is the type of music some boomer would joke about being dangerous when driving because it makes you go fast

That album was some o.k. blues rock. Better than being forced to listed to racist clapton. Not too bad. 3/5

6/10 This one reminded me a bit of Status Quo, make of that what you like. But more proggy and much more proggy than expected. Basic leery bluesy rock music with some good choruses and seedy lyrics. They had clearly listened to Pink Floyd and taken the lesson that longer guitar solos = better. I disagree. Best: Sharp Dressed Man

Good

A bunch of classic rocking tunes in the first half, followed by a few fillers but ends strong. Really good fun for the most part. Mainly, i just want to drive the Eliminator Coupe. 3.5

This one is full of classic rock staples, so I was familiar with many of the songs on it. And it's a pretty good, cohesive record. But I've never been a huge fan of ZZ Top's style. All in all, I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

ZZ Top is like the AC/DC of Blues Rock. Very proficient at what they do, but they often stay in their lane, and because of that, they rarely exceed my expectations. At first I was gonna give this album a 4, but... it's no more than a 3 or 3.5/5. It's good at exactly what it is, nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah it's just classic isn't it! Perfect classic rock songs. I have to say with these ones they do kind of blur into each other quite a bit. But I appreciate it. Recognised a few

Well it's good stuff, proper classic rock. Kind of all sounds the same but it's good fun right

Con más de una década de carrera a la espalda, ZZ Top editó en 1983 Eliminator, culminando su giro estilístico desde el clásico boogie-blues a una mezcla en la que sintentizadores y efectos electrónicos impulsan la guitarra de Gibbons en grandes éxitos como "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs", "Sharp Dressed Man", "Got Me Under Pressure" y "TV Dinners" (ayudados, eso sí, por vídeos musicales en la MTV). Blues-rock de nueva ola y sonido irresistible que, sin embargo, con el paso de los años suena algo acartonado. No obstante, es un disco que hay que escuchar y, si te llama el ritmo, bailar.

Esencijalni 80s hard rock album.

HL: “Gimme All Your Lovin” "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs", "I Need You Tonight" At least we’ll always have the 1st half of Eliminator I’ve heard the singles (not “Tv Dinners”, thank goodness) many, many times growing up on BOB FM; they were one of my entry points into 80s rock culture, along with The Cars, Guns n’ Roses and the legendary Weird Al. It’s clear after the halfway point that it doesn’t really get better than those singles, though I appreciate “Thug” & “I Need You Tonight” for being the outliers in a pretty homogenous-sounding record. 3.5

This album can not be fully appreciated without the accompanying music videos. This album and the rise of MTV were in lock step in the early 80s. The album is great as is but the music video revolution helped sell some units.

At first this was pretty unenjoyable. All the Radio Regulars don’t do anything Tyfor me. But a couple of tunes are excellent, especially “I Need You Tonight”. With its funky bass bit, “Thug” is also fun.

I was honestly shocked that two ZZ Top albums made it onto this list. Not because they aren’t a good band, but because…I mean, come on - you’ve heard one ZZ Top album, you’ve pretty much heard them all. And that’s kind of how I felt about this one. Sure I picked out more Standout Tracks than I might for some albums I regard better than this one, but that doesn’t mean it’s great. It’s good. It serves its purpose of being a ZZ Top album. Nothing mind blowing, nothing groundbreaking, just some cool, motorcycle rock and roll that kicks some ass. It’s fun, it’s energetic, it’s made to kick back and be listened to. Or to drive to. The band is talented, even if the vocals leave a little to be desired at times. Anyway, I would’ve picked this ZZ Top album over the other one, but hey I guess I got them both. I’m whelmed. Three stars. Standout Tracks: Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, I Need You Tonight,

Driving music. Not appropriate to listen to whilst reading the sad bit of a book. Going to rank this one on personal basis - 3.25

Kept waiting for La Grange as a Sharp Dressed Man. Beautiful guitars in here.

Classic dad rock

I've never heard a whole zz top album. Awee this makes me think of ZZ :( RIP I didn't listen to the whole thing but I will give it a 3

6/10

Horny swamp rock, with some peculiarly synthetic, chrome-plated sheen. Moderately diverting and a bit enigmatic. What are they hiding?

Classic

This was fine. Almost the whole album sounds like Sharp Dressed Man, the song I'm most familiar with, it's all quite unadventurous, but pleasant enough to listen to.

I dunno man. This is good pop music. Great at times. But I can't help but feel that something was lost in the transition to glossy pop. Maybe a little bit of magic got squeezed out with the heavily processed guitar. For what it is and what it's trying to be it's a damn fun time. But I know ZZ Top can make better music. 7/10 she got legs that haunt the radio for 40 years.

No surprises here, kind of formulaic, though that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. I wouldn't search it out and don't intend on listening to it again, but I probably wouldn't skip it if it came up in a shuffle either. It's music shaped.

Some great songs. Gimme all your loving, sharp dressed man, Legs

Solid classic rock...but a bit repetitive at times.

Not sure I ever owned this one, but I'm familiar with all the songs. A strange love child of honky tonk and 80's synths. About half the songs here are made more memorable with the drum machine treatment, but the rest would probably be better served in a more traditional bluesy style. The lyrics are raunchier than I remember... Interesting for what is essentially a pop album. "You gotta make it hot Like a boomerang, I need a repeat"

Probably would have given this a 4 back in the day, but it hasn’t held up so well. Still love the older ZZ Top catalog though!