Released 10 years after Tres Hombres, Eliminator saw something of a rennaissance for ZZ Top. The band went on hiatus in 1978 during which time Gibbons and Hill grew their beards out to give the now distinctive look which, along with the spinning guitars, and the “Eliminator” Ford coupe became part of the band’s iconography going forwards and would grant them a cameo in Back To The Future III towards the end of the decade.
The music is tighter and slicker, utilising some synths that are mostly subtle, with drummer Dave Beard working with a click track to drive the circa 120bpm songs at a fast and steady pace. The notable tracks from this album are Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin’, and Legs, all tracks that visually work well with the presence of the red-lipsticked, long-legged women ubiquitous to videos of the time (possessing the “legs” of the song of that name”).
The synths come more to the fore towards the back half of the album, especially TV Dinners and Thug with their slower, heavier beats. I Need You Tonight, is a slower number that feels like it ought to be played while one of the Eighties movie Kellys (LeBrock or McGillis) pouts seductively under neon light while Gibbons sings about a woman he wants to “do love to”.
And that’s about the lyrical extent of the songs – cars and girls. But, you know, why not? Sometimes you need an album that has few pretensions and just gets with being itself unapologetically. This is an album that I used to own, but got a bit bored of it – the tracks do become a little samey after a while. Each individual single is still a great bit of fun Eighties-updated swamp rock; collectively, there isn’t a lot of variety.
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