ZZ Top – Eliminator [Red Vinyl LP]

ZZ Top – Eliminator [Red Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Limited Edition, Red Vinyl
• Catalogue Number: R1 23774
• Barcode: 081227943196
• Genre: Hard Rock / Blues Rock / Southern Rock
• Label: Warner Records
• Originally Released: 23 March 1983
• Reissue Released: 2019
• Vinyl Colour: Opaque Red
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

Eliminator is ZZ Top's eighth studio album and one of the most commercially and culturally impactful rock records ever made. Released on 23 March 1983 on Warner Bros. Records, it became the band's only RIAA Diamond-certified album with domestic US sales of over 10 million copies — a staggering achievement that placed them among the elite of the decade.

The album was a radical reinvention. Recorded in Tennessee during 1982 and produced by the band's long-time manager Bill Ham, Eliminator saw Billy Gibbons deliberately dragging ZZ Top's fuzz-soaked Texas blues boogie into the synthesiser-driven world of new wave. Influenced by acts such as Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Gibbons introduced drum machines, sequencers and synthesisers alongside his razor-sharp guitar work — creating a sound that was simultaneously of its era and completely unique to the band.

The results were spectacular. "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" all became massive international hits, their iconic MTV videos — featuring the legendary red 1933 Ford coupe and a rotating cast of leggy models — in constant rotation throughout 1983 and beyond. "Legs" earned the band the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video. The album spent over a year on the charts and produced five singles in total.

Beyond the hits, the album holds up superbly — "Got Me Under Pressure" is a relentless, punishing highlight, "TV Dinners" is gloriously eccentric, and "Bad Girl" closes the record with a swaggering cool. Ranked at number 398 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and number 39 in The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s, Eliminator is an essential record in any collection.

This limited edition pressing is on opaque red vinyl, remastered from the 2004 remaster, and was originally released as part of the annual Rocktober campaign.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Gimme All Your Lovin'
2. Got Me Under Pressure
3. Sharp Dressed Man
4. I Need You Tonight
5. I Got the Six

Side B

1. Legs
2. Thug
3. TV Dinners
4. Dirty Dog
5. If I Could Only Flag Her Down
6. Bad Girl

Credits

• Billy Gibbons – Guitar, Vocals
• Dusty Hill – Bass, Vocals
• Frank Beard – Drums
• Bill Ham – Producer
• Terry Manning – Engineer
• Label – Warner Records