Eliminator (album)

Eliminator is the eighth studio album by the Texas rock band ZZ Top. It was released on March 23, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records. Recorded in Tennessee during 1982, the album was produced by the band's manager Bill Ham and peaked at the top of the charts in many countries. "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Got Me Under Pressure", "Sharp Dressed Man", "TV Dinners", and "Legs" were released as singles. A Diamond certified album, Eliminator is ZZ Top's most commercially successful release, with sales of over 10 million copies in the United States alone.

Eliminator
Studio album by
ZZ Top
ReleasedMarch 23, 1983
Recorded1982
StudioArdent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre
Length44:28
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerBill Ham
ZZ Top chronology
El Loco
(1981)		 Eliminator
(1983)		 Afterburner
(1985)
Singles from Eliminator
  1. "Gimme All Your Lovin'"
    Released: April 1983
  2. "Got Me Under Pressure"
    Released: May 1983
  3. "Sharp Dressed Man"
    Released: July 1983
  4. "TV Dinners"
    Released: December 1983
  5. "Legs"
    Released: May 1984

The band wanted to expand on the synthesizer sound of their 1981 album El Loco. Influenced by new wave, Eliminator′s tracks were recorded with a combination of the synthesizer, drum machine and sequencer. The album used music videos as successful promotional tools — the videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" received regular rotation on MTV and helped the band gain popularity with a teenage fan base. A customized 1933 Ford coupe, depicted on the album cover, could be seen in the videos. Following Eliminator′s release, ZZ Top embarked on a worldwide concert tour.

Often considered ZZ Top's most popular release, the record was ranked at number 398 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[5] and was listed at number 39 in The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s.

After the success of "Legs", Eliminator was reissued with the song's edited single remix replacing the original version. The single remix was also used on many CD pressings. CDs manufactured in Germany by Record Service Alsdorf still used the original album mix. In 2008, Eliminator was remastered and reissued, with the addition of bonus tracks and a DVD containing music videos and live performances. The original version of "Legs" was included, while the single mix of the song remained on the album as a bonus track.

Album cover
"Eliminator" coupe

In 1976, Billy Gibbons met with Don Thelen of Buffalo Motor Cars in Paramount, California and Ronnie Jones of Hand Crafted Metal with some help from Sid Blackard, to build a customized 1933 Ford coupe. The car was built with a Corvette-style engine fabricated by Hand Crafted Metal. It was finished in 1983 and called the Eliminator. The car has become recognizable for its red finish and graphics, and is in several of the band's music videos, plus appearances in television, movies, auto shows, and charity events.

Recording

The first draft of the Eliminator album (recorded in Frank Beard's house in a suburb of Houston) was discussed in a December 1996 article in Texas Monthly magazine: "[Engineer] Linden Hudson and Gibbons conceived, wrote, and recorded what amounted to a rough draft of an album before the band had set foot inside the final studio."[6] Then in 1982, Billy Gibbons began work on the final draft of Eliminator with Terry Manning at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The specifics of the project were further described in a book by David Sinclair of the Times Of London: "Linden Hudson, the engineer/producer who lived at Frank Beard's house had drawn their attention to the possibilities of the new recording technologies and specifically to the charms of the programmed drum machine."[7] Hill and Beard have album credits but did not attend most of the recording sessions, as they had been mostly replaced by technology. The final album consists almost completely of Billy Gibbons accompanied by electronically synthesized bass and drums. This is corroborated by several books, including Sharp Dressed Men written by the band's stage manager David Blayney.[8] The liner notes on the album credit Bill Hamm as producer and Terry Manning as final recording engineer.

Gibbons used a Dean Z electric guitar. Engineer Terry Manning recalled that the guitar was "very resonant", always on the verge of feedback, and difficult to keep in tune. The amplifier used was a Legend Rock 'n' Roll combo amplifier, a 50-watt hybrid amp with a single 12-inch Celestion speaker.

Disputed writing credits

There is some dispute as to the writing credits for Eliminator. According to David Blayney, former stage manager of 15 years with ZZ Top, in his book, Sharp Dressed Men,[8] sound engineer Linden Hudson co-wrote much of the material on the album as a live-in high-tech music teacher to Beard and Gibbons. Despite continued denials by the band, it settled a three-year legal battle with Hudson, paying him $600,000 after he proved he held the copyright to the song "Thug".[6] Additionally, Blayney wrote about an example of how the album project had unfolded. The example described Linden Hudson's involvement in the writing (and demo recording) of the song "Got Me Under Pressure". According to Blayney, Gibbons and Hudson wrote the whole song and recorded a demo all in one afternoon without the involvement of Hill or Beard. Hudson created the bass on a synthesizer, created drums on a drum machine and helped Gibbons write the lyrics; Gibbons performed the guitars and vocals. Deborah Frost, writer for Rolling Stone magazine, described in her book ZZ Top—Bad and Worldwide how Hudson researched popular song tempos, then presented Gibbons with the results of his studies. Linden's data suggested that 120 beats per minute was the most popular tempo in the rock music market at that time. Gibbons decided to record most of the Eliminator album at that tempo.[9] Blayney also claims in his book that Gibbons had made promises to Linden Hudson about rewards down the road, but Hudson never received any credit whatsoever and had to fight for any monetary gain.

Promotion and release
The guitars used in the "Legs" music video, shown in 2007 at the former Dallas Hard Rock Cafe.

Eliminator was released worldwide on March 23, 1983. The name of the album derives from a term for winning a drag race. The front cover is an illustration of the Eliminator coupe by Tom Hunnicutt. Three of five singles appeared in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Gimme All Your Lovin'", released in April 1983, went to the number two position.

In 1983, ZZ Top made several music videos in California. "Gimme All Your Lovin'" was filmed at a gas station in Littlerock, while "Sharp Dressed Man" was filmed at night on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. "Legs" took place at a restaurant and shoe salon in Newhall, California; Gibbons and Hill had custom Dean Z guitars made with authentic sheepskin covering the body and tuners, as well as a unit to make the guitars spin in a complete circle. With Tim Newman as director, the "Legs" video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video in 1984. The Eliminator coupe, along with three Playboy models, made an appearance in the videos.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Robert ChristgauB+[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]

Reviewing the album in Record, Samuel Graham expressed mixed feelings about its adherence to the familiar ZZ Top motifs. While he found it a relief that the band had not veered down a commercially driven route, he remarked that the album's failure to stretch out from established stylistics made it over-familiar and lacking in variety compared to the band's last three albums. He praised the tracks "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs", "Thug", and "I Need You Tonight", but concluded "we've heard most of this before. Eliminator, then, will probably satisfy ZZ Top's boogie chillin' faithful. But it's a lateral move at a time when Gibbons, Hill and Beard could be stepping forward."[13]

In 2000 it was voted number 355 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[14]

In 2005, Eliminator was listed in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[15]

Electric Six covered the song "I Got the Six" on their cover-album Mimicry and Memories (2015).[16]

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard unless otherwise noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Gimme All Your Lovin'"3:59
2."Got Me Under Pressure"4:00
3."Sharp Dressed Man"4:13
4."I Need You Tonight"6:14
5."I Got the Six"2:52
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Legs"4:35
2."Thug (Gibbons, Hill, Beard, Linden Hudson)"4:17
3."TV Dinners"3:50
4."Dirty Dog"4:05
5."If I Could Only Flag Her Down"3:40
6."Bad Girl"3:16

Collector's Edition
No.TitleLength
12."Legs" (Single Version)3:33
13."Gimme All Your Lovin" (Live)4:46
14."Sharp Dressed Man" (Live)4:47
15."I Got the Six" (Live)3:05
16."TV Dinners" (Live)4:11
17."Got Me Under Pressure" (Live)4:04
18."Legs" (Dance Mix)7:48

Personnel

ZZ Top

Production

Charts and certifications

See also

References
  1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Eliminator - ZZ Top | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  2. Prown, Pete; Newquist, HP (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 91. ISBN 9780793540426.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Allmusic review". Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. "ZZ Top".
  5. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  6. Joe Nick Patoski. "Still ZZ After All These Years". Texas Monthly.
  7. Sinclair, David (1986). Tres Hombres - The Story Of ZZ Top. London: Virgin. p. 76. ISBN 0-86369-167-6.
  8. Blayney, David (1994). Sharp Dressed Men. New York: Hyperion. pp. 196–203. ISBN 0-7868-8005-8.
  9. Frost, Deborah (1985). ZZ Top - Bad And Worldwide. New York: Rolling Stone Press / Macmillan. p. 115. ISBN 0-02-002950-0.
  10. "Consumer Guide Reviews: Eliminator". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  11. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "ZZ Top". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 907–8. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  13. Graham, Samuel (June 1983). "Eliminator review". Record. 2 (8): 28.
  14. Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 139. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  15. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 105. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. "Final track listing for Mimicry and Memories". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  17. ^ Blayney, David (1994). Sharp Dressed Men. New York: Hyperion. pp. 196–203. ISBN 0-7868-8005-8.
  18. ^ Deborah Frost (1985). ZZ Top - Bad and Worldwide. New York: Rolling Stone Press. ISBN 0020029500.
  19. David Sinclair (1986). Tres Hombres: The Story of ZZ Top. 95 pages. Virgin Books, 1986, ISBN 0-86369-167-6.
  20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 348. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – ZZ Top – Eliminator" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  22. "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  25. "Norwegiancharts.com – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  26. "Charts.nz – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  27. "ZZ Top | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  28. "ZZ Top Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  29. "ZZ Top – Billboard 200 Albums (Year end)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  30. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1984". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  31. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
  32. "Austrian album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  33. "Canadian album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Music Canada.
  34. "ZZ Top" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  35. "French album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  36. "Les Albums Double Platine" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  37. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (ZZ Top; 'Eliminator')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  38. "New Zealand album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  39. "British album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Eliminator in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  40. "American album certifications – ZZ Top – Eliminator". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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