ZZ Top
Eliminator

THE REVIEW

"Eliminator" is the eighth studio album by the Texan trio ZZ Top, and their most known and appreciated work. Curiously, it was also the first album since their debut not to have a clear reference to Spanish culture in the title.

The main feature of the album is the successful combination of classic blues-rock sounds with a distinctive synthesizer sound that made ZZ Top's music much more mainstream than it had ever been and consequently catapulted the trio to the top of the charts worldwide.

"Gimme all your lovin" kicks things off: after a simple but effective drum intro, you're pulled into a gritty mid-tempo with perfect rhythm and a catchy chorus that leaves no escape and will shake the charts and even televisions, given that a nice video with lots of eye candy was made for the song (which will become a bit of ZZ Top's trademark). The second track "got me under pressure" slightly increases the pace and also the "dose" of synthesizers; not a masterpiece, but still an enjoyable song. "Sharp dressed man" is instead one of the highlights of the album, with that iconic riff that immerses you so much in the song that you don't realize that in reality, the song is simple, linear, I would dare say almost "predictable." The album reaches its peak with a slow ballad "I need you tonight" and here it gets serious: beautiful melody throughout the 6-minute flow, inspired singing, and a masterful performance by Gibbons who plays with a truly immense blues feeling; splendid, in particular, the instrumental tail of the piece, all under the responsibility of his guitar.

From here on, the album will noticeably decline, although with various interesting ideas here and there: "Legs" was conceived to break the charts (and so it will) but quickly tires, perhaps due to an overuse of synthesizers; the same goes for "TV dinners"; "Thug" instead stands apart from the previous ones due to its strange rhythm entirely played on percussion and bass and because the piece is almost entirely instrumental; "Dirty dog" is a filler although it features a nice solo by Gibbons; "If I could only flag her down" I consider one of the best due to its lively progression supported by nice riffs and apt solos by the usual great Gibbons. The album closes with "Bad girl", a deliberately bold song that, however, doesn't quite fit with the album's atmosphere.

Anyway, "Eliminator" is a perfectly successful album, entertaining but also of certain depth with the trio definitely at their best, I would dare say a stroke of genius never repeated again.