Zz Top – Eliminator

Eliminator is the eighth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top. It was released on March 23, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records, and rose high on the charts in many countries. Four hit singles were released—”Gimme All Your Lovin'” which reached the American Top 40, “Sharp Dressed Man”, “TV Dinners” and their most successful single, “Legs”. Eliminator is ZZ Top’s most commercially successful release, with sales of 11 million and diamond certification in the US.

Since El Loco in 1981, the bandleader, Billy Gibbons, had been moving ZZ Top’s boogie and blues rock style towards the popular new wave style. For Eliminator, he increased the tempo and used more synthesizers and drum machines, producing a “tighter” album with a steady, driving beat. The pre-production engineer Linden Hudson collaborated with Gibbons in Texas on the tempo and songs. The producer Bill Ham and the engineer Terry Manning joined Gibbons in Memphis, Tennessee, to edit the songs, replacing much of the contributions of bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. Ham claimed the album was solely the work of ZZ Top, but in 1986 Hudson won a lawsuit establishing himself as composer of the song “Thug”.

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.

The video for “Legs” earned the band the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group. Rolling Stone named Eliminator number 398 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was listed at number 39 in The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s, and it was also included in Robert Dimery’s book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. A remastered version was released in 2008.