Reviews (page 9 of 13)
In terms of the ranking, I'm giving this 3 stars - most of the songs, except for a couple of hits, are just OK tracks to throw into the mix of a classic rock station. It is a sensible entry on the list, though - listening to some deep cuts from a famous classic rock band can be interesting (to be fair, there are other albums here that play the same role). The combination of growly guitars with laid-back riffs is great - it's both upbeat and smooth. The lyrics, which are overly sleazy in an ironic way, are good at creating the atmosphere of a low-key roadside bar. I am worried that with the intended audience being '80s men, many of them might have taken the lyrics to heart more than they should have. Either way, when the lyrics to "I Got the Six" are performed with a straight face and then followed by an average cool guitar riff with no further explanation - that's perfect satire to me.
Guay.
Some great classic ZZ Top tunes on this disc, but far below the standard they set with Tres Hombres...
I'm conflicted when it comes to ZZ Top. Some of their songs are bangers, others are in the class of an 80's beer commercial.
Legs = fire.
I was pleasantly surprised by the first ZZ Top album I got, this one is what I was expecting lol
Feels like a perfect album to soundtrack a night of driving across the desert in a soft top convertible fueled entirely by key-bumps of cocaine. Compressed vocals and mixing is distinctly 80s; a little too tidy for my tastes, but them is the times. ZZ Top has a formula and they really don't stray too far. Hopping, blues-rock with tight, punchy (and super boring) drums, some compressed smoky vocals, and plenty of distorted guitar licks. Clearly the formula works, because in this album alone there are at least 3 hit singles that to this day get radio play. And yet, I can't help but find myself bored by the back half of the album. High Points: Gimme All Your Lovin' is a fantastic way to start an album and I Need You Tonight has a tight groove to the outro jam that had me nodding. Otherwise, pretty forgettable stuff IMO, but I can't justifiably give lower than 3.
Gimme all your lovin is a classic. Not a bad listen. 3 stars
Man I didn't realize how similar ZZ Top songs sound to each other. Couple of legendary hits on this one. TV Dinners was a funny one. I like ZZ Top and figured this would be a 4, but I never really felt like this album deserved that.
Gimme All Your Lovin is such a jam of a classic rock song. This album started off as a high 4 but drifted down to high 3 as it went on.
Nice classic album. Don’t think the themes hold up well.
I liked the guitar a lot. I’ve listened to him before, as I like rock music. When I zone out while driving and listening, they all kind of sound the same. But I liked him! As for the themes, I never listened to the words so…
Some pretty big hits at the beginning and largely forgettable at the end. Gimmie All Your Lovin' and Sharp Dressed Man are staples of dad rock everywhere, and it honestly still sounds pretty good, albiet simple. The best tune on the album is I Need You Tonight, a more somber and mellow track that has some pretty good guitar work amd a nice groove. Then the album dives with such tunes like I Got The Six, TV Dinners, and Bad Girl, which I didn't really care for at all. Average 80s rock overall.
ZZ top is iconic but nothing I would go out of my way to listen to.
Ehh.. repetitive and not that good of lyrics. The two hits (Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Sharp Dressed Man) are fun to listen to, but for the most part this album doesn’t really do anything for me. It’s meh.
Awesome awesome sound to this record. Way more into it than I expected. Side A is some elite stuff, side b not so much but it’s still a fun time. 7/10!?
Great listen
Legs.
I just got a bunch of rocks - Charlie Brown
The album of Gimme All Your Lovin' and Sharp Dressed Man is my 8th album. I must say, every ZZ Top sounds like a ZZ Top song it's both good and bad in my opinion: listening to a ZZ Top album feels like listening to the same song 11 times. ZZ top makes great songs though. The second half of the album felt a bit weirder, with longer instrumental pieces that weren't that hard. I don't think this album is such a classic album and thus deserves 3 stars.
Didn't realize how well I know this album from start to finish (all thanks to a friend). Was never a fan but I gotta say after all these years it wasn't the worst thing. Can hardly believe it but I'm giving it a 3 despite the fact it's pretty much the same song throughout.
Straightforward, four-to-the-floor, groove rock. A Cadillac going 90. Sharp Dressed Man
Middle of the road zz they have better offerings
It was somewhat enjoyable with three songs from my childhood but wouldn’t listen again
Perfect music for bringing your restored classic car to a car show.
Is it weird I have never heard of this band before? "And the 80s bands, oh where did they go," amiright?The coolest guitar ever. Very sexual?? Or maybe that's just an 80s vibe I'm not in on. Love love LOVED "Sharp Dressed Man," although it pales in comparison to The Smith's version if we're strictly talking songs about men wearing clothes. Thought I was really going to like "I Need You Tonight" but then it was like seven minutes long and I got bored. Legs is SO good; my favorite so far. I feel like I don't ususally listen to this type of 80s music so I'm having fun. Added every song to my playlist. 7.8/10
Yep, some solid tunes in there. But not really an album I'd purposely listen to.
Not a massive fan, good and consistent rock. But generally sounded the same. Good noise. Did not have any premium standouts for me.
This is not bad but it's a very standard rock album.
Samey
Not bad, but doesn’t really grab your attention. This becomes pleasantly background music and you can tell that’s not what they’re going for
Interesting. Knew a couple of tracks. Quite liked it, but probably won't rush to buy / download. Solid middle of the road...
This was okay. It was nice to hear some of the songs again. Never listened to the whole album, T.V. Dinners caught me by surprise as I thought it was pretty funny.
Made for 1983 MTV. My 12 year old self enjoyed this a lot more than my 52 year old self. Very schlocky. Probably generous with a 3 rating.
Texas rockers! They’re really good at what they do.
Wasted talent. These guys have all the.makings of guitar gods wasted on bland ribs and repetitive solos. This is like the third best album by possibly a top500 band. No room On the list
Du hard rock efficace, mais qui n'inspire rien de plus en moi. 3,5
Repetitive songs throughout. Some good tunes on there but too safe in the 80s rock genre. 2.5/5
Classic rock. Not blown away, but not bad. The hits from the album deserve to be hits. The rest was more forgettable
Solid
What a fun listen!!! Fun live too.
3.5 stars. I was apprehensive when I saw this title, as "Sharp Dressed Man" is an overplayed song, but it sounds better within he context of the album. Lots of great guitar and well constructed instrumentals. "Thug" has a really good bass line. The lyrics are where this album is lacking. "I Got the Six" sounds great, EXCEPT for the vocals. "Legs" sounds nice, gross lyrics. Why is there a song all about TV Dinners?
Some familiar and catchy tunes but some meh songs in between. A best of would probably be more suitable for me.
Solid 80s rock album, yet o am ambivalent.
It’s southern rock, it’s not going to go anywhere past the realms of easy listening and ‘this-would-be-good-if-played-whilst-driving-down-a-highway-in-texas’ territory. So with the exception of the classic Sharp Dressed Man and the great trivia that the only one in the band without a beard has the surname Beard, it’s not much to write home about.
It's okay. Hugely popular and hugely disappointing for a ZZ Top fan back in 1983. One of the few bands though that was able to incorporate post-punk/new-wave into their mix a little. ZZ Top have some funk and soul baked in that helps this rise above the doldrums of the era. Also, TV Dinners is awesome, you guys just don't get it.
Good album, just a bit corny
Old school rock and roll. Good stuff.
Eliminator has its moments of brilliance, with catchy tracks like Legs and Sharp Dressed Man that are impossible not to groove to. The signature ZZ Top sound is unmistakable, with their gritty blues-rock style shining through. However, some of the songs feel a bit repetitive, lacking the depth and variety found in their best work. The production values are solid, with slick guitar riffs and tight rhythms, but there's a sense of predictability that holds it back from greatness. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 4 STAND OUT TRACK - If Only I Could Flag Her Down
Look at this, what a pair She won't let me touch her there She's so discriminating This is weird, it's time to blow I just heard the rooster crow I guess I'll have to spank my monkey I got this on cassette for my tenth birthday, my first album ever.
Não tinha reparado que "Sharp Dressed Man" tem um som eletrônico no fundo que percorre a música toda, e essa é a pegada do álbum. Aqui o ZZ Top modificou sutilmente seu estilo, com o uso de sintetizadores / sequenciadores e bateria ao estilo Flash Dance, a favor da sonoridade dos anos 80. De qualquer forma não deixa de ser um álbum do ZZ Top: solos e riffs de Guitarra cativantes ao longo da música, letras de tiozão fracas e bregas, e essa cara que poderia estar tocando em um clube de motocicleta no interior. Algumas músicas são cativantes e dão um certo guity pleasure, mas eu definitivamente não recomendaria o álbum inteiro e pularia todas as músicas mais devegar.
The singles here are fantastic, and the band is tight throughout, but those things don't fully sustain the entirety of the album
Anodyne rock that was specifically designed to appeal to a style-obsessed generation. I don't begrudge the band their success. This whole phase of their career was incredibly successful, but at the cost of their soul. Credit to the boys from Texas: they invented a sound that is uniquely, unmistakably "ZZ Top of the 80s". When people joke about this or that thing or concept grown in a lab to appeal to a certain cross-section of people, this album is that joke brought to life.
So so album, a few good songs. Very well known band but I'm just not that into htem.
Blues Rock ochentero... el disco de Stevie Ray de ese año es mejor aunque no tuvo el éxtios del de estos barbudos (casi 20 millones de discos vendieron). La mejor canción, sin duda el clásico Gimme All Your Lovin'. El disco se escucha muy fácil, buena instrumentación aunque se puede hacer algo monótono. Otros discos de 1983: Excelentes debuts de REM, Aztec Camera, Madonna, The The y The Waterboys. Además discazos, en mi opinión, mejores de THE CHAMELEONS - Script of the bridge, Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE - Texas flood, Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones, U2 - War , Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues, New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN - Porcupine, David Bowie - Let's Dance, Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual, Metallica - Kill 'Em All, e incluso Mike Oldfield- Crises, UB40- Labour of Love, Huey Lewis and The News- Sports y The Police - Synchronicity
ok ok ok I can jam to this, a tiny bit
I was expecting to despise this as much as I dislike ACDC, but its actually such a nice surprise. I quite like it. Don't get me wrong, we ain't going over a 3 here, but it's enjoyable. Legs is the highlight, decent
Pretty good Rock Album. Very glamourous, rock and roll for driving in a nice car in the city. A bit homogenous for me but I can see people really getting into it.
What a great classic sound!
My father gave this cassette tape to me for Christmas. He then stole it from me and listened to it endlessly while making nightly dinner. Great album. No lag.
3 Excellent road trip tune as an opening. Stereotypical rock music with not much experimentation. Tame guitar solo on second tune with the same rock and roadtrip sound. Same sound, solo starts off strong but tapers down. General note is that the lyrics are incomprehensible. Now the guitar shines! With a more ballad-like sound and slower rythm. Smooth track. More roadtrip vibes with fuzzy lyrics. Not that it matters because they sound great. Now experimentation starts with a rythmic synth throughout this more 80s track! First song were lyrics are understandable is about a tv dinner. Synth rythm with great guitar is back. Bad girl has great vocals!
A classical driving hardrock album from the 80's.
I’d skipped the first ZZ Top album I got on here, so I didn’t know what to expect going into this. But I was quite pleased with it. 7/10 Top 3: 1: Gimme All Your Lovin’ 2. I Got the Six 3. Sharp Dressed Man
It was kinda fun
Sharp dressed man obv banger,
Love ZZ Top, but this slid too close to electronica.
Guay.
This has always sounded like pure product to me. Ready for commercial consumption but not really for deep enjoyment. Sure its boogie based but it is not something you really shake or swing to... Yes iconic I guess but is it good music? We have to wait until the second to last song to hear one with some shuffle to it.
favourite: tv dinners least favourite: dirty dog TV DINNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE'S NOTHING ELSE TO EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LIKE THE ENCHILADAS AND THE TERIYAKI TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fun album mayb 6-7/10
Encore un album suuuuuper nostalgique à cause de mon daron
many songs on here we have all heard and often feel "over played", but i'll say, even as a 40 year old album, it holds up really well. great riffs, catchy tunes, quality recording. Vocals aren't over the top/abrasive like you would find on many other bands of this vintage. all in all, much more fun to listen to then I expected.
I started off really enjoying this - Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Sharp Dressed Man are both in multiple playlists of mine - but I quite quickly lost interest and enthusiasm; a lot of the songs are very similar and there is little variation of style, sound, or feel. For a relatively short album, this really dragged by the end.
No denying there’s a few tunes on here. But just not for me, I always find this stuff a bit samey. Wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a cheesey 80s action film, which is fine if you’re watching Top Gun, but I wasn’t I was sat at my desk sending emails and looking at spreadsheets. Fun fact: Of the original three members drummer Frank Beard is the only one not to have a beard. Simpsons: Yes
Surprisingly not as boomer rock as I expected which is good, also their beards are cool and Sharp Dressed Man and I got the six are bangers. BUT, having said that, most songs weren't my type. Songs like legs, dirty dog or got me under pressure for example lean way too much into the side of boomer rock that's excessive for my zoomer palate, I get they're good songs (Dirty Dog not so much imo) and I enjoyed listening to them, but it's not what I personally like. The biggest offender of this was If I Could Only Flag Her Down, which deserves to be mentioned separately. That's why, despite liking some of the songs a lot, I decided I'm giving it 3 stars. The best song was Sharp Dressed Man. The worst song was If I Could Only Flag Her Down.
Not terrible. The tracks I liked were purely nostalgia aside from Thug. That was a new and enjoyable one for my ears.
first listen. pretty good, not something i would put on myself tho.
Mg ruido
It was okay
These guys are fun and have some tasty licks, though I wouldn't come back to it.
This album comes out swinging with the first 3 songs, but after "I Need You Tonight" it just left me wanting... more? I was expecting the same or similar levels of quality throughout the album. I wish the rest of the album had the same amount of power and catchiness as the first few songs. By the way, "TV Dinners" is easily one of the songs of all time. Take that for what you will.
Perfectly decent album. Probably won't listen again but was still enjoyable
65/100
Blues based rock. ZZ Top is another band with a distinctive blues/boogie sound -- one they pretty much perfected in the early 70's. Eliminator still has that backbone but with a much more heavily produced, synthesizer-fueled vibe that I like less. Sharp Dressed Man is the best tune on the album, but there are no songs of the caliber of La Grange or Heard It On The X here.
zz top halt haha
Love the crunchy guitar tone. Some classic songs on here. But they all start to blend together after a while. Not crazy about the synch feel in southern rock, takes away from the raw gritty feel.
Not their best by a long shot
Southern Rock by way of European Dance music?? I don't know that I ever would've made that connection without reading about Billy Gibbons talking about it, but a very interesting combo. I don't love that they went behind the bass and drummers back and rerecorded their parts / subbed them in for machines. Easy listening made it their most widely successful album, though I don't know that it is their best
Very good hard rock. Practically a template for the genre.
The album cover gives me big Christine vibes, which weirdly also was released in the same year. The men of 1983 really wanted to have sex with their classic cars. Would be a much better album if they didn’t open their mouths. Some good blues in there but far too much bad pop-rock.
Not typically my kind of music but I liked it enough
I like "La Grange" as much as the next guy, but I'm nowhere near divorced enough to sit here and listen to a full ZZ Top album. Sorry to this man.
Leads off with three well-known hits and a couple more. Most of the rest is noise except for the final track, “Bad Girl,” which seems like a warm up for the later “Tube Steak Boogie.” Other than that track, I wouldn’t go back to any of it as an album; they come up enough on my radio stations.
I’ll probably give it a three. It’s fun enough for what it is, but it’s definitely from a different time. It’s one of those “it’s fine, I guess” albums. Not shitty enough to be a 2, definitely nowhere near a 4.
Sweet guitar sounds and tight songwriting, but also too over-produced for my liking with some truly cringe-worthy lyrics. This is becoming a theme in my reviews.
I Need You Tonight to tell me how much of a Sharp Dressed Man I am after listening to this album.
Good album. Starts off great, but by the end I was over it.
Pentatonic central with a few exceptions. It's formulaic but good fun, not unlike your mum
Oh yeah! It's been a long time since I listened to this album all the way through but I regularly listen to the 5-6 hits on here. "Thug" is really the only song on here that I would never play again.
A very fun great sounding album. Good vocal performance from gibbons and wonderful lead guitar. Front end better than the second. Would surprisingly listen again.
I love getting xx top
Good album, not my favorite ZZ Top album but it’s still good.
It's like a ZZ Top album - some songs are great, but it's much variation...
Big beards and heavy guitar. Felt like I was driving with my dad. Another classic. I've listened to this one a lot before.
Old school, some good riffs sprinkled across. The lyrics did *not* age well.
This band is hard for me to rate. However, neighborhood kids father worshipped them! I remember listening to a tape of them and was wondering why it was worshipped that way!
Wow this was their 8th album? Didn’t realize they put out so much music. Classic album. Fun songs but never really something I seek out to listen to. These songs are everywhere.
Good ol’ hard rock with a touch of southern US sound. Instrumentals were a bit boring
At their height of success in the 80s, ZZ Top were always an entertaining proposition, from the matching chest-length beards of Gibbons and Hill to drummer Frank Beard's (!) lewd explanation for why he chose not to have any facial adornment. (Look it up!!) However, musically, it wasn't for me. The singles on Eliminator are fine, particularly the rather great 'Sharp dressed man' but a whole album of riff-heavy text book rock, all at the same tempo and with the same plodding drum beat is too much to take in one sitting. That probably explains why the standout track for me is 'I need you tonight'. It's the only one where the base and drums are slowed down, leading to a bluesier performance. Overall though, not an album I'll be returning to any time soon.
No estuvo mal.
Sweet. These guys are classic. So down for this album. Very cool album. Knew a couple songs just from the radio.
OK -- this was an inescapable album when I was in high school. Just hit after hit for the masters of Texas Boogie. But I'd basically put about a third of the album completely out of my mind. And hearing it again, I understand why. Side 2 gets very samey (except for the slap bass on "Thug.") Fun to revisit, because Side 1 is all aces. So, stick to the Greatest Hits... Unexpected bangers: I Got the Six, Thug
Yeah, this is a great example of the hits overshadowing the rest of the tracks. This album is fine, but the 3 hit songs are the best of the bunch.
Reminds me alot of KISS, less bluesy elements in this ZZ top album and more high energy/pinch harmonics/strong basslines. Nothing like 'Bad Girl' to finish off the album on International women day..
The album was surprisingly repetitive and I wasn't across anything outside of the 3 singles. I feel like they try and emulate what AC/DC have perfected and end up being 'AC/DC at home'. Side note, 'I Got The Six' is covered by Electric Six and I think the cover is better.
B- Gimme All Your Lovin 3 Got Me Under Pressure 3 Sharp Dressed Man 3 I Need You Tonight 3 I Got The Six 3 Legs 3 Thug 3 TV Dinners 3 Dirty Dog 3 If I Could Only Flag Her Down 3 Bad Girl 3 Classic rock sound. Cool album cover.
Think I'm pretty much repeating what I said the last time we had a zz top album. It's good, and on paper I should really like it, but it just feels like something is missing. I want more oomph. Turn it up to 11. I think la Grange is better than anything on this album, although I recognised some hits here. Not a huge fan of gimme all your lovin. Sharp dressed man was pretty good. Think the best track was "I got the six" 3.5
wow! rocking from top to bottom! Brings me back to days drinking 8-packs of Bud down by 16th street park...
Ok
Favorite Tracks: Gimme All Your Lovin’ Sharp Dressed Man
Too much fuzz, but then, that's why people love them!
Something a man in his late 40’s to 60’s would listen to while driving his cuda. Cool rock, definitely of its time. 2.7
Couple of really fun songs, couple of really stupid songs. I wouldn't say it's a great album at all, but it definitely captures a moment in time from a band with a unique style, warts and all. It's a definite cultural touchstone, but I doubt many would think of it as a great work of art.
Famous band, well known music.
Solid run of the mill hard rock album.
Så for satans langt skæg! Den hårdeste måde at starte et album på, må være ved at lave en evergreen som album åbner. Resten føltes lidt flad med få lyspunkter.
Hard to believe I have never listened to this album before. Of course I've heard half of these songs at least 1300 times *each* - utterly and completely unavoidable if you didn't live in a bubble as an 80s kid (and if you did you were probably given this album). When listening in a contained (headphones) environment and all at once, it really comes through how processed this album was. Not really a criticism - nor an original thought - since it was pretty obvious that you never had to scratch very deep to notice the sequenced-aspect of nearly every one of these songs. i.e. Press play and let the quantized boogie commence. There's very little variety in the "drumming" or bass playing. So it all comes across as quite soulless, even if at its best there are undeniably catchy moments/songs. I mean ... there's a nostalgic essence to this that is undeniable. And the best songs (the singles) are definitely catchy and even memorable, if still shallow (it's only rock and roll). It's just that it becomes tiresome pretty quickly. Side 2 isn't really any good. And it's the autopilot aspect of the actual "performances" that is the primary and huge culprit - even if you're not a big fan of southwest boogie rock (me) in ZZTop's older days you could at least have an appreciation of the semi-organic blues trio aspect of their music. Full credit to them for embracing emerging technology and probably alienating some of their fans, but it ends up not that exciting in total when every song ends up at nearly the same pace, etc. TL;DR: Stick to the big 3 hits and you'll get it; wavering btwn 2 and 3 but if you have this big an impact on pop culture what the hell, bumping it up. 5/10 3 stars.
just okay, didn't knock my socks off. I probably liked it better in the 80's.
You know exactly what you're getting when you listen to a ZZ Top record. And this is THE ZZ Top record.
It's decent, pretty much all you'd need to hear of ZZ Top is on here
Ok
Hits, Hits, Hits laid back altmodisch
Un disco de rock clásico 70/80s.
Feels like an American bar in a 80’s sugary hallmark movie. Biker gang rock, not edgy though.
Fun.
Indeed it is a disco record, merged with boogie-ing Texas blues and submerging some pretty ace axe work. One in no ways resents these guys their success; they seemed as surprised as anyone and also to be having a lot of fun (and money) -- so good on them. But this wasy overplayed (both on an absolute basis and relative to its merits). One believes it was also misunderstood by all camps – the rock purists fearing the onslaught of new wave video acts and the new wave fans who wondered why these beards were being allowed to crash the party. In the end, for all its crispy chuggin', this record just ain't all that. The latter cuts sound tired, as if they can't keep up the charade. The '70s records are more interesting stylistically and more authentic-seeming (as evidenced by the titles of the songs, such as "Jesus Just Left Chicago"), plus funkier and much, much downer-and-dirtier, and the licks aren't tarted up with chart-friendly effects. Here the hotter and grittier of the licks (e.g., "I Need You Tonight") are dressed up with what sounds suspiciously like a drum machine and/or dodgy-shaky synths. In weighing their legacy, the relevant question seems to have become: were they doing it their way (unapologetically unreconstructed) or just seeming to do so in making a big reach for the commercial mainstream? Having lived it in real time, one suspects the latter. How else to explains the tepid and wholly unfortunate "Legs" and "TV Dinners" – not just musically, but the whole packaging? This was a decided dumbing down for the dudes who gave us "LaGrange." Barely a 3, a very charitable one, mainly because of the obnoxious ubiquity.
A couple of bangers and some other fun tracks. Better than expected.
Great for the time the released the album.
Good energy, got a bit bleh towards the end
I think I’m biased because I love the guitar tone here and the blues beat on the drums. But the song lyrics here have aged like milk. The radio hits stand far above the B sides, which all sound exactly the same. This is also the type of album you really enjoy the first few tracks, but then realize the entire album basically sounds the exact same.
Better than expected & different than expected 3/5
Not my jam but better than expected. Different than expected 3/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Some really great songs - lots of good guitar and rocking jams - some misses. I was over it halfway through but finished it out.
“gimme all your lovin, all your hugs and kisses too” can be sung during any song on this album, try it out, overall an entertaining piece, strong 3
A good album, I enjoyed the style of music. Not one I've listened to much before.
good
Decent. What I expected
Blind album, know the hits. I think I liked Tres Hombres more but the album was still a decent listen.
Not bad
Great guitar sounds. The overall sound is not my cup of tea. Some of the songs were recorded well and mastering was sufficient. Others songs the volume and production quality suffered.
Music from this album, for me, should be restricted to a few songs sprinkled throughout a larger rock/80s playlist. This got repetitive and the lyrics (though admittedly incomprehensible to me 80% of the time without looking them up) are just cheesy and cringey as hell. Nostalgic sound of my childhood, but not something I think I'd go back to as a complete listen.
I would have been 9 when this came out and I remember ZZ Top being in high rotation. Loved the car and the film clips. Certainly giving this one some points for nostalgia. Sharp Dressed Man is great, Legs is catchy as and TV Dinners is hilarious.
Growing up in Germany in the 80ies was constantly accompanied by ZZ Top. They first appeared on the radar when they headlined the legendary Rockpalast concert nights in Essen, televised all over Europe. A new style of Blues Rock, celebrated with an unforgiving drive forward. Eliminator then catapulted the band into the MTV area, and you could be sure that every music video delivered. At that time, I was fully into rock myself with my own bands and music startup, and ZZ Top was a band you gratefully stole from, whether it were licks, riffs, titles, stories or sounds. To say it in ABBA's words: Thank you for the music!
There were definitely some bops. Got me under pressure was my favourite. But after a while it got a bit repetitive. Plus, a bit outdated.
most overwhelmingly mid album. the songs all sound the same but low-key i like the sound so i’m giving it 3
That one's so easy to crack. Southern blues-rock / boogie-rock legends go eighties synthetic pop while retaining the basic aspects of their intial sound. And as they do so, they cash in huge checks, thanks to MTV and the likes. On paper at least, the concept of infusing synth-pop sounds into ZZ Top's DNA was promising. And it works for half of this album, with around 5 or 6 tracks that still sound "essential" today (including the stellar four singles, always a great fun to listen to). Unfortunately, the rest of this LP is made out of fillers that are either following that new formula with far less convincing results for those, or rehashing the old blues-rock template for a couple of other tracks, without much conviction compared to ZZ Top's previous efforts in that area... So looking on the bright side, *Eliminator* still marks one of the most commercially sucessful reinventions of a musical act in the last 50 years or so. Which not an easy feat to pull off. Yet artistically speaking, the album is still quite a mixed bag. Too bad. 3/5 for the purposes of this list of "essential albums". Which translates to an 8/10 grade for more general purposes (5 + 3 ; a large part of those three points stemming from the creativity behind the band's reinvention, even if it's not fully convincing in the long run). Number of albums left to review: 337 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 299 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 161 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 212
Fine. It was fine. It's rock and roll of the kind beloved by Americans who also love cars and guns I guess. They can certainly play, and some of the songs are super-catchy, but overall, it felt very derivative and uninspiring.
rabbis rocking out is pretty unique but it's still "gastropub" background music gimme all your lovin' got me under pressure sharp dressed man legs
Endurable
Really really good. I really like it. I wish we had a better rating system. This is like a 3.4. Not a 3.0. But it's missing something to be a 4.
this zz top album is even more unneccesary than the last one. wtf. why is this on the list :/
3.5 stars. Driving fast-paced hard rock infused with blues. It doesn't take itself overly seriously, most notably lyrically. The hits are catchy and fun, "Sharp Dressed Man" being the standout. But the womanizing schtick did get old after a bit.
Where ZZ Top jumps the shark. In order to adopt a “newer” sound, they decide to water down everything interesting about them.
Кажется, мне не нравится хард-рок. Помню, что негативно отнесся к Aerosmith. Здесь так же, скучновато. Плюс голос слабый, раздражает.
Not my style. It was okay for a few minutes, but even though I tried to warm up to it, I couldn't
Fav song: sharp dressed man
Nothing notable.
I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. It scratches the some nostalgia itch for me. Maybe growing up listening to classic rock radio with my dad primed me to enjoy ZZ Top. The riffs and melodies are catchy. It's well-mixed and produced. These guys clearly love the guitar. It's not intellectual rock music, to be sure, but it's great for partying and you can dance to it. It gets a bit samey in the back half. I'd give this a 3.5 if I could.
Three great songs; the others are all just weak clones. The same drums, riffs, licks, fills, etc. It gets kind of boring after a while
The album that introduced ZZ Top to many in my generation via MTV. That Ford Deuce, those beards, the ladies. This album introduced an evolving sound of their blues hard rock moving more into incorporating synthesizers and drum machines. Lots of good grooves and hooks. Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Loving, and Legs may have been the biggest hits, but I liked the groove in TV Dinners the best. Great to listen to this one all the way through.
Such an odd listening experience. The guitars - clearly touted as ZZ Top's signature instrument and defining sound - are distorted in a very processed, controlled way, creating an atmosphere where I feel like I should be headbanging but can't quite hit the groove. The sound is too heavy to qualify as pop rock, but not heavy enough to succeed Zeppelin or other towering contemporaries. The instrumental consistency is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you view albums. It's somewhere in between for me. Many of the tracks sound extremely similar, rendering it good background fodder for a garage hangout. On the other hand, the album has zero flow or order to it, kind of tossing any vestiges of a concept album out the window. That being said, some killer tracks in here. Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin', I Got The Six... in isolation, these are pretty great, possibly 4s or 4.5s. The album experience drops my rating down to a 3.
There's a couple of cracking rock tracks in here, but overall it becomes fatiguing very quickly.
Starts out strong, goes on kinda long.
Thoughts before listening: I love ZZ Top's 70s albums, but I have never listened to this one. They changed their sound a bit in the 80s to become more radio friendly and went hard on the gimmick of their beards...and it worked. I know this album was huge and I'll probably know most of the songs. I'm sure I'll enjoy this, but it's hard to think it's better than an album like Tres Hombres. Review: The hits are definitely poppy, but they're also iconic songs that have been mainstays of classic rock radio throughout my life. Its hard to deny just how catchy this album is while still very much being a blues rock album. I am enjoying listening to this more than I thought I would. Gimme All Your Lovin, Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs are undeniable bangers, and I am also enjoying some of the deeper tracks like Got Me Under Pressure. That being said, the album is very much front loaded with the 2nd half being pretty weak. There are some questionable things here such as Thug's Don Henley vibe meets slap bass breakdowns and too many throwaway songs with dumb lyrics (i.e. TV Dinners and Dirty Dog). Overall though this is a fun listen.
Fun groovy sound
Je suis resté surpris que les deep cuts étaient aussi solide que ça. Je dirais pas que c'est un album que je ferais souvent jouer, mais ce n'est pas un album qui est moitié banger et moitié fillers. Très respectable. 7/10
I liked this album much better than "Tres Hombres," which is also on this list. "Eliminator" grooves more steadily and is pleasant to listen to. Some of the songs like "Legs" and "TV Dinners" are embarrassing, but I really dug the first 4-5 songs. I don't know if I'd want to listen to this entire album again, but I could take half the songs out and put them on a comp, or, at least, it makes me want to maybe try another ZZ Top album...
ZZ Top have never been my jam. Except Tush. That song is awesome.
This album is known for transforming objects with the power of its rocking.
Classic ZZ Top. Knew about half the songs, the other half is basically more of the same. But they’re good at what they do so more of the same isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Meh
i think my moms friend knew these people. joyce was cool so i bet they were too
sharp dressed man does a lot of heavy lifting for this album
ZZ Top is a greatest hits band. Their best stuff is really good, fantastic maybe. Great grooves, makes you feel awesome. The rest....
All the classics. This was fun to listen to while driving on the highway.
this has some real bangers on it
Un album de plus sur lequel les vieux s'excitent alors que tout ce qui sort aujourd'hui est bien mieux.
Ringard au possible, et pourtant mon géniteur en est fan
its alright, just 80s rock fun
mostly like arena rock which i wasn’t really in the mood for in the moment but it’s good obvs
A good album that brought ZZ Top to the notice of a lot of people but they have much better albums
Good rock music, not for me though
Guay.
legs es un temon dios. me dieron ganas de estar en la ruta. siento que capaz no lo disfrute mucho xq llovía y era un dia garrón adentro. quizá con sol y birra/ o birra y noche sería un diez
I'm on a bad run of albums that I have mixed feelings about. From a personal point of view, I would not listen to this album again, but I can't say this book does not deserve to be in the book. ZZ Top has never hit with me very deep. It's all surface-level sounds to me and the droning of the drum machine and steady sound of synthesizers doesn't help me. The songs are not bad! There are hits here and decent album tracks. It's canned blues for me, and while this sound reached out to a wider audience, "Eliminator" is the Eric Claptonification of the ZZ Top sound for me. This needs to be in the book, but it does not need to be on my Spotify playlist.
Solid rock album, classic singles but nothing else of note
The hits are great, other tracks seem.... bland? 3.27
просто рокешник
Not for me. Who is the audience for this?
ZZ Top goes Pop
Mixed feelings about this album. In 1983 it felt like they sold out. But it made them superstars. Well-deserved, just not representative of who they truly were. Good, not great.
Wow, I did not know this was zztops 8th album.... they must have been around a lot longer than I thought. I seriously thought they got started in the 80's. Crazy that all of their songs I can even think of seem to be on this one album. Something that sticks out to me is that the production is very clean, but i'm pretty sure these tracks are remastered because its almost too good. Like most white millennial men, classic rock has a very nostalgic sound because of how often my father listened to it; but gawd damn I could never get him to listen to anything else. This album definitely has bangers on it, but the music in general is just way too simple. I don't think the drums ever leave 4/4. Also I think every single song kinda just..... fades out hmmm I think I should lay out my thoughts on a 5 star rating system: 1 = Absolutely nothing of redemption for this music, I hate it and wonder how it ever garnished a crowd of listeners 2 = I don't like it, but I understand that it may have cultural significance or is actually semi thoughtful constructed music 3 = The average rating, most albums will rest here. I can listen to it but will never find myself going out of the way to find it again. 4 = I like the majority of the album and the believe the artist to be a step above everyone else in music. 5 = Personal bests of the bests. I love the music, it makes me feel emotion, is very engaging and I would add it to my favorites list. I really do hope to find a handful of 5's from doing this list listen!
Every ZZ top song I know is on this album.
Rock background music 😅
Because this album was so ubiquitous and such a prominent feature in eighties MTV culture, I never even knew of the ZZ Top that existed before 1983; the sound from which they departed with "Eliminator".
it sure is zz top.
Legs, Gimmie All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, peak ZZ Top. This is when everyone recognizes the Beards.
It's fine. It's fun. A bit too processed though as the mix is drowned in synths which dilutes the rhythm section a bit too much for my liking. Still, it did extend ZZ Top's career and made them icons so I get why they did it.
Fun
Classic guitar riff rock&roll silly at times and sometimes fun. Does nothing special really and drags in places. Highlights: Gimme Your Lovin, Sharp dressed man and Legs
ZZ Top is the exact sound that pops into your head when you think of pure rock and roll. Some standouts like sharp dressed man of course but while the sound is similar throughout the album it maintains a high quality and that's what rock n roll typically is. 6/10
Quite decent and not as... Mindless? As I expected
Lol, why are track 2 and 3 kinda Shera-coded?? She likes French cuisine and he's got a fat wallet?! Track 6 too? Never begs, and knows how to choose men? Thug Seinfeld Fun, unserious stuff
outside the hits its pretty forgettable, they do most of the heavy lifting. I remember my dad air guitaring Gimme All Your Lovin at a pool hall with my uncles one time so I'll always have it in my brain for that reason.
Decent nostalgia filled tracks which create a sense of fun.
This dude's voice sucks for slow songs, he can't hold a note for shit.
Punchy fun guitar solos
Decent album. Basically contains all of the ZZ Top songs you know. The other tracks are fairly forgettable.
Redelijke rock, lijke paar goeie tusse te zitten. Wel edgy
Classic and nostalgic but man I have never heard such stuff drumming
Less annoying than expected
Great album, nostalgia plays a big part of me loving this album. I do not think this is their best album. It is the album that introduce a lot of teenagers with extra money in their pockets to buy more of their albums and discover some great blues rock.
better than expected
What's amazing is offset by what isn't. Still, a decent album worth a listen.
Hyvää tykittelyä
Not my style Jesus. 5/10 ig
Guitar in "I Need You Tonight" is fab, great album, fun, very 80s.
Four big songs: Gimme All your Lovin' Got Me Under Pressure Sharp Dressed Man Legs. I was 11 years old when this album came out, and I remember drawing that car in my art book.
Great
Solid but not the best from Mr. Top. Billy Gibbons ducks tho
3 great tracks and an album bloated with meh. It's a shame, you out this on and you think "yeah here we go a 5" but it'll wear you down and here we are at 3. Less is more folks.
IMO kind of a weird blend with the blues licks + the almost electronic sounding 80s drums.
ZZ Top is one of those bands I kinda like but only in short bursts. If a random song comes on at an event I can enjoy it but an entire album of ZZ Top is entirely too much ZZ Top. Eliminator has some good riffage, some cool licks. But that's pretty much the entire show here. There is a song on here about eating TV dinners. These guys ain't got much to say... Album is 3.5 for me but since I can't rate it as such I feel better about giving it a 3 than I do a 4.
Could see how it could be enjoyable, just not my style of music.
There are some classics and the album is solid but overall it is a bit too smooth.
it’s a cool idea and it’s interesting to hear they were consciously influenced by depeche mode and omd it just seems like they should have been able to crank out more than 2 or 3 memorable tunes from it
Fun rock, goes a bit guitar solo "rock out, man" at times 3.4
Generic 80ties rock album
Sharp dressed man has an incredible driving beat that gets you involuntarily nodding along. They definitely upped the power for the 80s compared to their older work, and the muscular, sometimes simplified progression of the songs tops into the cock rock world, while still maintaining their Texas Identity. The tunes are always listenable, and some take a few tries to really get into.
Definitely a classic album with songs worth hearing for the sake of music history.
I really want to like this unapologetically shallow rock. It's got great attitude and lovely grooves. Great for background, but what's it all for?
Yv
pretty poor but not dreadful
A little samey and predictable but good solid blues rock anyway
Similar to 'Highway to Hell', I liked this but wouldn't want to go through their back catalogue. Decent, heavy-ish rock. Basically good to listen to for an hour or so.
Solid fun slick rock n roll I enjoyed the first few songs but by the end I realized they all mostly sounded the same
I really wanted to like this album. It’s not as generic as some of the boring rock we’ve had, but still leaves me wanting more.
There's absolutely better
There was some good stuff, there was some skippable stuff but none of it was a bad listen at all.
Better than expected.
Good! I especially liked the instrumentals.
Decently good duck dynasty rock.
Some good songs but the fuzz guitar was not enjoyable. I prefer La Grange era ZZ Top over 80s ZZ Top
Better then expected but not really my kind of music.
This is a fun album. Id you go into it wanting anything more, I believe that you’ll be pretty disappointed. The production, lyrics, vocals, and instrumentals are all basically fine, but this album really shines in the way it makes the listener feel. It’s just a good jam. Is there a lot of range on here? No. Do the two hits have practically the exact same opening? Yes. Did they put their two hits on the same side? Yes. Who cares. We ball. Enjoy yourself. 3/5
Se vain vyöryy eteenpäin. Hyvin vaikea olla nyökyttelemättä mukana. Mietin kuitenkin, onko yksinkertaisuus yksinkertaista vai hyvää (ehkä ekaa tässä tapauksessa, kun sitä on koko levyllinen, vaikka levy onkin sopivan mittainen).
Levy ratsastaa avauskolmikolla (joista kaksi viimeistä arvosanaltaan 5/5) sekä naurettavan tehokkaalla tuotannollaan. Gibbonsin laulun ajaminen efektiryppään lävitse kuulostaa yhtä luonnolliselta kuin hänen kitarasoolonsa. Ja vaikka Legs menee jo selkeästi hyvän maun yli, voiko kukaan väittää, että se poistuisi tietoisuuden piiristä?
#23 : Good Fun. What's not to love about ZZ. Rock solid all the way through. Gimme All Your Lovin'
Liked this more than I thought I would
Promedio 6/10
Lacking in some big hitters, but decent
This album is rather odd in how tight everything is, it's almost like you made the album without playing any instruments at all and perfected this synthpop/hard rock/new wave sound. That being said, the hits are fantastic and catchy as hell, but like another commenter said, the rest of the tracks feel like lesser versions of the hits.
I know these songs but the don’t feel like they are for me.
Decent album with a couple of great songs
How can something that rocks so hard be so boring?
This is a rock and roll album that's fine and kind of dumb.
ZZ Top: Not a fave, but listenable when they come on. Obviously, this record is filled with big hits, but none of them hit my core. The other stuff on the record is just ok. Meh.
Doesn't really do much for me, and sounds pretty dated. It's fine.
zz top, liked!
Une valeur sûre, des guitares assumées, on bat du pied, on hoche la tête. Ce sont des faiseurs d'ambiance
Echt peak boomer dit album. Prima
Nostalgia
Polished sound, a well oiled machine. Not a fan of this kind of rock - lacking emotion. No highlight.
Classic sound, yet I have no specific emotions about it.
meh
first listen pretty generic southern hard rock
Rawk! Liked it more than the last ZZ album
Mehhhh
Pretty good songs about fucking, mixed in with some pretty bad songs about fucking.
I remember seeing Jenna Elfman on a late night show once. The host mentioned that she used to be a backup dancer for ZZ Top and asked if she'd do a little dance. The band leader asked what song they should play, and she replied that it doesn't matter, the dance is basically the same for all of them.
I wish we could give half stars on this.
Todas las canciones son iguales. Las que más me gustaron fueron las que no eran tan iguales.
Good stuff, just some good ol rock and roll
Yee haw Solid 7
Pretty cool. I liked how all of the songs fade out. I bet these guys can jam
Dad rock. Classic for sure but didn’t get me hooked. Heard most of the songs before.
Completely insipid and atavistic. The soundtrack to white boy summer. Pretty good stuff.
Good rock album.
I've said before in reviews, there is absoloutely nothing wrong with ZZ Top. I can recognise they are a great band and what they have achieved. It just never quite tips into great for me.
This album has the typical forward-driving sound of the band which can be quite charming but is rather repititive over a while. I liked to listen to it but rock music really has so much more to offer.
Fun, not really my vibe, but good!
This is really fun. It's quite consistent all the way through - to the point that a lot of it starts to sound the same - but that's mostly fine here. It's probably a bit too poppy to be really good, it's a bit too clean for this kind of music, but a nice way to start the week. 3/5.
Some fun songs, a lot of "filler" feeling songs
Fun and ridiculous, if a bit repetitive. I can’t take ZZ Top seriously. They sound like a parody of themselves.
This is one of those albums you didn’t know you knew so many of the songs to because they’re in so many movies and shows. It’s fun catchy rock but not too special in my opinion
OK - so ZZ Top recreated themselves for thew MTV era with this album. The hits are awesome (Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme Some Lovin') and exposed MTV viewers in the early 80s with some good blues rock bathed in 80s production. But if there is going to be one ZZ Top album on the list (they never made albums without filler), I would go with an early one (like Tres Hombres).
I did not have access to MTV when this came out so I missed it when this band exploded. These songs are catchy blues based rock but I don’t love any of them. I do think that do show off the band’s strength as a “power trio” in the mold of Cream and others.
Totally not what I was expecting. More enjoyable easy listening than hard rock
Singles are decent enough, it’s a bit fluffy after that.
Gimme All Your Lovin and Sharp Dressed Man are super catchy. I love the driving energy of all the tracks, they keep it quick and it makes you want to move. The vocals are probably what I’m most lukewarm on as they feel a bit muddy in the recording compared to the clarity of the guitar and drums, but they are still understandable.
this is a cute record. just the boys having a good time and claiming nothing else. that's why they are such goofy motherfuckers. and legs kinda rocks actually