Eliminator
ZZ Top
Warner Bros.

This monumentally unfashionable Texas trip released its ninth album in
March 1983 but continued pulling hits off it all through 1984.  Part of the
credit for this unliikely trick must go to director Tim Newman, whose
irresistible videos for "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" turned the band's
cow-pie-plain members into the lovable sum of their shticks: greasy
raincoats, cheap sunglasses and billowing, belly-length beards.  But after
fourteen years together, ZZ Top was making smarter music than ever, too;
masterminded by guitarist Billy Gibbons and manager Bill Ham, Eliminator's
best tracks brought blue-collar boogie into the Eighties with a subtle
infusion of growling synthesizers and electro-slam percussion, while the
band's stage show sidestepped boogie's traditional macho strut in favor of a
less threatening cartoon cuddliness.  ZZ's ascendancy is a triumph of style
over fashion, but this LP stands on its own as one of the great crunch-rock 
records of recent years.  Secret weapon: bassist Dusty Hill's howling-at-the-
moon vocals.  Tres chic.

Rolling Stone Yearbook 1984