New Zealand album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved November 20, 2019. a b c d e Manning, Terry (February 14, 2005). "The Big ZZ Top Thread". ProSoundWeb. p.2 . Retrieved September 1, 2021. And having been a latchkey kid during part of that period, it’s highly relatable, although I preferred the twenty-year-old salisbury “steak.”

Apple, Steve (September 13, 1973). "ZZ Top: Tres Hombres". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Linden was quite an influential, inspirational figure,” Gibbons admits. “He was right there with us when some of the material was developed and brought forward some production techniques that were then valuable. I still treasure the moments that he and I spent together. There was quite a bit of time that the two of us sat behind a mixing console discussing new ways to go about making popular music.” Dirty Dog is a great song with a tone and overall style that is borrowed from Legs. While plagiarism is bad, in and of itself, self-plagiarism in music ensures an identifiable sound signature.

Catalog

ZZ Top’s response was to embrace the synthesizer more, just in a less experimental way, instead utilizing it in songs that were more straightforward. The challenge being could they incorporate the rhythms of synth pop while keeping it recognizably the work of a little ol’ band from Texas. Gibbons told Louder, ““Linden was quite an influential, inspirational figure. He was right there with us when some of the material was developed and brought forward some production techniques that were then valuable. I still treasure the moments that he and I spent together. There was quite a bit of time that the two of us sat behind a mixing console discussing new ways to go about making popular music.” a b Hlavaty, Craig (March 22, 2018). "How ZZ Top's 'Eliminator' became one of the best-selling albums of all time". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved September 3, 2021. It is not an insult to call Eliminator formulaic. If the formula works, what’s bad about it? Coca-Cola and AC/DC are both formula-driven products, and everybody’s fine with ‘em. The problem – and it’s a very slight one, granted – is that Flag is a little too formulaic for its own good. Like most of the album, it’s got ‘The People’s Tempo’ (120 bpm, incidentally), the slithery synthesized guitar sounds, the cardboard drums, and the girls-and-cars-are-interchangeable lyrics. It’s all there, but there’s nothing special about it. It’s a little too on the nose. No one’s gonna turn Flag off, but it’s probably not anybody’s favourite, either. Hudson collaborated on the album tempo with Gibbons, and he co-wrote several songs. The band's longtime stage manager, David Blayney, wrote about the collaboration in 1994 in his book, Sharp Dressed Men. [11] The demo version of the album that was prepared for Memphis was largely the product of Gibbons and Hudson. [4] On "I Got the Six", Hudson helped write the lyrics, and on "Dirty Dog" he originated the shouted phrase, "Hey! Get that dog outta my yard!", which was exactly duplicated and replaced in Memphis. He added special effects to "Dirty Dog" and "TV Dinners", and the pulsing synthesizer effect on "Legs" was his invention. He helped compose and arrange "Got Me Under Pressure", including playing the synth bass line and programming the drum machine. [11] [26]

Each video featured a Cinderella-story vignette in which an earnest but unfairly downtrodden teen is swept away and "saved" by the arrival of beautiful girls in the Eliminator. The members of ZZ Top granted the protagonist a magical set of keys with a stylized ZZ key chain, and the hot rod appeared as a magical fantasy object. Whilst I admit to only having heard El Loco from out of ZZ Top's early albums, I fail to see how Eliminator could be considered a radical change in direction or why loyal fans should be so vociferous in their condemnation. Okay, the odd synthesiser has sneaked into the mix, the singles and videos were played to vomit-inducing levels on every music programme in the world and the band found themselves permeated into the mainstream, but is all that really worth getting your knee-length beard in a knot over? If compromises have been made, the result is a high-class exhibition of Texas boogie suffused with sex and booze and….T.V. Dinners. It was the album which put ZZ Top on my map and, if the band were in the business to make money, Eliminator was the licence for the band to print their own. The only downer I can think of was the videos were on such high rotation I eventually suffered from total burnout and had to hide the album away for fear of mental breakdown. Billy Gibbons – guitar, harmonica, vocals, bass guitar, keyboard bass, synthesizers, production, arrangements [22] [24] Billy Gibbons stated in an interview in August 2011 that a new album had been recorded, with initial recording taking place in Malibu, California, before moving to Houston, but was still unnamed and had yet to be mixed and mastered. [39] Gibbons said that the expected release date was sometime in March or April 2012 but, later, a late summer or early fall release date was announced. [39] The album was subsequently released on September 11, 2012. [40]After close on a year’s recording and then fine-tuning, Eliminator (a term for winning a drag race), was released on March 23, 1983. Suitably revved-up and high-octane, it was also appropriately wrapped in a cover depicting a racing-red 1933 Ford coupe with a Corvette engine that had been custom-built for Gibbons out in California. Using the car as a prop for the band had allowed the guitarist to write off the cost of it against tax. It also took a lead role in the medium through which Eliminator would explode as a genuine phenomenon. A true hot rod enthusiast, Gibbons owns a number of amazing vehicles, but Eliminator was his first well-known and most famous hot rod to-date. Also party to these gatherings was an associate of the band and Beard’s house guest, Linden Hudson, a former DJ, an aspiring songwriter and a sound engineer. Hudson had built Beard’s studio in lieu of paying him rent, and previously had done uncredited pre-production work on El Loco. He stepped into the same role again now, working in particular with Gibbons.

VH1 to Premiere ZZ Top "Storytellers" " (Press release). AHN. June 10, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011 . Retrieved December 18, 2010. ZZ Top Raw live album and new tour announced | Louder". Loudersound.com. March 8, 2022 . Retrieved August 2, 2022. Katsilometes, John (April 20, 2020). "Billy Gibbons says ZZ Top 'cooking up' new album". Las Vegas Review-Journal . Retrieved May 9, 2020. Before you even listen to the music, the artwork for Eliminator will amaze and looks simply fantastic on display or in the hand. However, I have always been perplexed by the coloured box within the artwork itself. Initially, I had thought it was an indicator guide for other formats that were simply left in the final artwork, but that isn't the case as the reformatting, of even the cassette version, crop tighter into the artwork. It is an absolute mystery. If you have any thoughts regarding this interesting design decision, I'd love to hear from you. Top Selling Albums of 1985 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand . Retrieved February 3, 2022.Thug is a solid tune and despite not being one of my favourite songs on the album, I would miss it if it wasn’t on Eliminator. Image credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images & Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival) When Legs popped, everything went kind of fast and furious,” says Hill. “As Billy likes to say, some people put on a false beard as a disguise, but we couldn’t do that. Frank pretty much stopped hanging with me, because I would draw crowds wherever I went. But you can either enjoy a thing like that or let it eat you up. We decided to enjoy it. And it was a hell of a ride.” Miller, Jim (July 3, 1975). "ZZ Top: Fandango!". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Music videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" received regular rotation on MTV and helped ZZ Top gain popularity with a younger base. A customized 1933 Ford coupe, depicted on the album cover, appeared in the videos. Following Eliminator 's release, ZZ Top embarked on a worldwide concert tour.