Reviews (page 8 of 14)
This wasn’t a a bad album. I know more ZZ Top songs than I thought.
Cool and fun. Enjoyed.
Surprised to see the MTV video era album on this list. Decent album but far from their best.
This album surprised me in that I didn't hate it I am sick of the 80s lowkey... but this was moderately good 3/5 7.64/10
gimme all your lovin- 5 got me under pressure- 5 sharp dressed man- 4 i need you tonight- 4 i got the six- 4 legs- 4 thug- tv dinners- dirty dog- if i could only flag her down- bad girl- i cant sit through this. im not strong enough
Lowkey polished.
Rockt noch auf staubige Art.
Decent. 3/5
Aunque me gustó mucho el album, muchas veces se me hizo dificil distinguir entre canciones ya que era un poco la misma estructura en distinta font. Ya en la segunda mitsd del album me sonaba todo igual. Sería un 3.5 aclaración Tienen suerte que la formula me gusto mucho, a excepcion de la cancion que nombra todas las comidas que se quiere comer mientras ve la tele ? (Alejandro ass move) Favs: Got Me Under, I Need You Tonight, I Got The Six
Qué bien balanceadas voces y guitarras. Entiendo que tiene mucho que ver con que casi todo el disco está remasterizado en 2008 pero igual suena muy bien. Además, ha estado divertido escucharlo, aunque a veces los ritmos e ideas me han parecido repetitivos pero eso es más un problema mío con el género, me pasa incluso con Dire Straits según el día así que... También me escamaron algunas letras y toda la controversia de que un señor no fue acreditado por su trabajo, aunque siendo rock eso les da más aura (?). Me gustaron: Got Me Under Pressure, Dirty Dog
Lige albumcoveret, Eliminator e mid albumnavn med mindre det har ein veldig god bakgrunn. Ellers e albumet litt for gjevnt for min del, men e veldig glad i shap dressed man. Den har eg hørt mye på:) Beste sang: Sharp dressed man
it’s like judas priest but way better
pure classic rock
6/10
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but someone gave Frank Beard a drum machine and threw together a synth chain for Billy and Dusty and made a whole new sound. Yes it’s aged a lot and yes the album is a bit thin outside of its massive hits. But this is still a really amazing reimagining for the Lil’ Old Band from Texas, losing absolutely none of their edge.
Klassisk Rock. Ganske fete. Hadde bare hørt et par sanger fra før. Men starter med et smell. I need you tonight er fet. Overraskende kult.
I find myself getting fatigued of this about 3 songs in. It's not awful I just wish it was an EP. Cut off like the last minute of Sharp Dressed Man, oh my god. I Need You Tonight is AWFUL. Just lotsa noodling around, boring!!! 2.5/5
Generally solid 80s rock without many standouts. Thug probably my favorite
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.
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.
Classic. Rock.
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
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
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.
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
Some bangers but lots of filler
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
Big, commercial hits that rock.
Pure pop money maker
Mid
Não foi incrível, não foi memorável, mas não foi péssimo.
decent album
Lo he escuchado pero ya ni me acuerdo, xreo que no sonaba mal
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”?
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.
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
🕶️
Next time I need to go hyperproductive berserker, this album is up! Oh, and Legs is a perfect rock song.
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
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
Fun but generic
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
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
Fun, if somewhat simple. If that's what you're in the mood for it fits the bill.
Decent
I wasn’t super captivated but can’t say I’d isn’t enjoy it
Another album where the overall sound is nice, but it's too one-note to effectively stretch across an entire album.
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.
Вполне адекватный рок, но я такое не слушаю.
They dont suck, and are popular, but I never cared for that type of music
Day 52 First listen- I've grown out of dad rock unfortunately, a cool album regardless! The riffs were my fav part. (3/5)
A decent listen, just a bit repetitive for my liking
rock. cool
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.
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.
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
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
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.
A rocker! Great album
ZZ TOP on its way through the 80s. More electronic vibes, very danceable.
It was fine.
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.
Classic rock
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.
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 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
A classic.
Loved hearing the hits again, but overall not interesting enough to play again.
And a half
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.
Banging tbf just not my usual cuppa
Hyggeligt basic rock album, men ikke mere end det.
It was ok, but found it a bit samey towards the end
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.
Solid album
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nice rock album with great tunes and awesome guitar riffs.
The highs are very high, the rest is mid
3.5
Great hits with moderate filler
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
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
The Good: legs… The Bad: Not seeing the video’s while listening to the songs… The Ugly: The elimination did not start sooner… Like many of my contemporaries teenage idiot, we really dug ZZ Top when their videos started showing up in the mid ‘80s. Flashy cars. Flashy clothes. Flashy beards… and flashy girls. I don’t care if the lyrics are deemed misogynistic by many, or that the use of synths and drum machines ruined the sound… the singles that launched from this album were hits, and they still sound nice to listen to… The problem is that the album is 11 songs long, and really there are only 3 great songs on it, where the remaining 8 sound a lot like the afore mentioned three… and then there’s Mr. Gibbons guitar soloing, which starts getting on one’s nerves after all a while, as it’s the same trick, over and over… not that it sounds bad, but should be limited to the 3 hits… So, that means that the score of this album should reflect 3 hits out of 11, which equals 2*… should I be nice and make it three?...
Okay album - kind of just a classic, but there arent many memorable moments for me. Like the guitar tone on sharp dressed man. No bad songs though. Another 3/5
Some great stuff here. Overall a good album. 3.5 stars.
My second or third favorite ZZ Top album, still great though
5/10 - it was alright. I see the charm but not my favorite
Good album, real rock & roll. 7.1/10
too glossy, too weirdly crass… i dig their earlier work but this just sounds like a coke-fueled reagan era nightmare for the most part
C'est du vrai rock
C'est quoi ce son 80s kitsch nul ? Moi je croyais que ZZ Top c'était des barbus du Sud profond qui jouent toujours la même chose.
Very strong start, first side is exemplary. Tapers off with 'Thug', the almost-risible bass soloing and synths outro is far too long and meandering. Better when it's bluesier, and TV Dinners gets the album back on track. Three and a half, pushing a four, suspect time has dulled the impact it would've had in 1983, but I still think it would have been better as a straight blues rock album, without the sequencers.
Such icons of the 80s. Some of the lyrics made me blush.
Okay, pretty good rock, not screechy, one pretty good song
more hard rock. (seriously, there are too many of these albums with a similar sound in this list...)
Good standard rock without being miserable (again, Def Leppard). Sing about tv dinners really did it
An interesting album, in that I don't ever actually need to hear any of the big hits off of it, really. They rather saturated both MTV back in the day, and classic rock radio ever after. But they're enduring for a reason, just excellent 80s pop rock. I'm not mad when they come on, you know? The album cuts are... there, I guess. "Thug" is trying to do something. What that is, exactly, I'm not sure, but the bass is wilding out and that's kinda fun. Generally speaking, the 80s were pretty rough for the big, influential acts of the 60s and 70s. I mean, look no further than Jefferson Starship to illustrate the point. With this record, ZZ Top fared a little better than, say, Steve Miller. You can still hear that lil ol band out of Texas under all the glitzy sheen of 80s production, at least. And good for that one lady in "Legs." I assume that's a feel good story of triumph over the adversity of being unable to walk, but now she has legs and knows how to use them?
When he says he just wants someone to do love to I cry evertim
Dirty, raw, sounds full of cheap beer, cigarettes, and STDs. I have no notes. More please.
Not bad, not really my cup of tea but some good tunes on there..
Fun but
The epitome of “it’s fine.” I can see why it’s on this list, I just have a real hard time caring one way or the other about this album. Growing up rural in the 80s/90s, I know I’ve heard the hits on this album a million times. The other songs all sound like something I should have heard, but I can’t place at all; nor can I bring myself to care enough to listen again.
all feels steady and similar, samey. each song starts and then it ends. not necessarily bad; would be good for background music as it’s not diverting, but on the flip side! not really interesting or engaging
I quite like ZZ Top but I did greatly prefer Tres Hombre to this album, even though I was more familiar with the songs on this one. Rating: 3
It's ZZ Top, you know exactly what you're getting. To be clear, that's not a bad thing.
Not eliminating this album
For its time, great blues sound. Listening today, the lyrics aren't great, and songs were wildly overplayed on every rock station growing up.
I'm not sure about this. It's got a a typical dad rock sound. It reminds me a little of ACDC, but has a very different mood.
this is not the best zz top project but it's okay first track drums taken directly from don't bring me down second track bassline is booboo buns but the vocals are tight and the guitar sound is nice third track is sharp dressed man. nuff said fourth track has very nice intro guitar. very good whining sound fifth track is called i got the six. fix this. sixth track is legs reminds me of being a kid and listening to 103.7 good song and very classic guitar riffs seventh track thug is just straight doodoo butt eighth track tv dinners is good if the sauce is not too blue ninth track dirty dog bro barks tenth track same old same old eleventh track functions fine as a closer
Greats are great, the rest is forgetable and very alike.
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