ZZTop Eliminator: How did you feel about it when it first came out?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Danny, Sep 13, 2008.

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  1. Danny

    Danny Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Even though I was a ZZTop fan, by way of my brother. I still felt kind of strange when Eliminator came out and the videos were all over MTV.

    What is this strange jealous feeling we get when a band or artist we love becomes way more popular and famous seemingly overnight?

    I eventually got around to getting the album via the RCA Music Club a year or so after it's release and fell in love with "I Need You Tonight". And eventually the rest of the album, which sounded way better coming out of the stereo than the TV speaker.

    What was your reaction to Eliminator upon it's release?
     
  2. ManFromCouv

    ManFromCouv Employee #3541

    I was 18 and just getting ready to graduate high-school, so naturally we ate it up. After a few months I realized it was a sham record full of synth-crap and insincerity. The video push just added to my dislike of the whole thing. And years later to find out that it was mostly a one-man show with Billy Gibbons doing most everything by himself, well....not my idea of a good record. Liked it at first, though.
     
  3. woody

    woody Forum Resident

    Location:
    charleston, sc

    ditto, right down to the age, too.
     
  4. Harry Krishner

    Harry Krishner Forum Resident

    I was 13, and it was cool. Hell, that car and those chicks...very cool.

    Now, the stand out track from that album for me is " I Need You Tonight".
    Nice blues tune, IMO.
     
    Exile On My Street likes this.
  5. Matt I

    Matt I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    I didn't care for it, how does a band go from Tres Hombres to Fandango to Deguello to El Loco to... that. It was so different but not in a good way. I've never owned it and I don't see any reason to change that fact. Come to think of it, I don't own anything after El Loco.
     
  6. marty34

    marty34 Forum Resident

    Location:
    ssm, on, canada
    Awesome, awesome, awesome. I was 12 when it really hit. I was shocked that these

    guys who were clearly older than my father played rock'n'roll that was faster and louder

    than he prefered. This album truly introduced me to heavy blues rock and it's been a

    long enjoyable trip.

    And a big thank you to the thread starter, I am currently spinning Eliminator for the first

    time in years. What a great record.
     
  7. Harry Krishner

    Harry Krishner Forum Resident

    It's funny cause as I type this, they're playing 'Legs' on Q107 Toronto...go figure.
     
  8. ManFromCouv

    ManFromCouv Employee #3541

    Woody, if you need any future posts typed out, let me know. My rates are very reasonable. ;)
     
    John Fell likes this.
  9. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    That and "TV Dinners" are great blues tunes.
     
    gramfan and clhboa like this.
  10. woody

    woody Forum Resident

    Location:
    charleston, sc
    good to know as i can't typwe worth crip.
     
  11. Harry Krishner

    Harry Krishner Forum Resident

    I carn't spel eethur!
     
  12. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    I thought Eliminator was great when it came out. The videos including the cars and the great looking chicks sure made watching MTV enjoyable in those days. I still enjoy listening to it quite a bit today especially on vinyl. I wish I could hear the tunes without all the synths though. I also felt the following albums were too similar and I eventually lost interest in the group.
     
    Aftermath likes this.
  13. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    And to think one of those girls went on to be one of the Real Housewives of Orange County. :laugh:
     
  14. Chad Etchison

    Chad Etchison New Member

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I was fifteen and getting into punk and post punk music styles, I thought they were absolutely horrible, a pastiche of everything I hated.

    The videos did nothing but add insult to injury.

    Fifteen years later I discovered ZZ Top for the first time and realized what an amazing band they really are. I had the opportunity to be backstage directly behind Billy at several shows due to being friends with their opener.

    I have now decided that Eliminator is a fine record; not on par with their seminal recordings but a fine radio record regardless. It's everything after Eliminator that I avoid.
     
  15. Harry Krishner

    Harry Krishner Forum Resident

    I'm no doubt, too dumb for this but.......

    ........really?
     
  16. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Yep, Jeana Keough
     
  17. I didn't really care for 'Gimme All Your Lovin', or 'Sharp Dressed Man'. The videos with the cool car, and hot chicks were nice to look at, but I didn't care for the songs themselves. It wasn't until I heard 'Got Me Under Pressure', and 'Legs' that I got into the album.

    All matters of how it was made, aside, it's still one of my favorites from it's time period.
     
  18. Harry Krishner

    Harry Krishner Forum Resident

    well..how do you like that. :righton:
     
  19. This was really my introduction to the group, coming out as it did when I was about 12, and I thought it was pretty cool. I liked the whole package - the hi-tech boogie sound, the videos, the girls, the car...heck, I even wanted the keychain even though a set of wheels was still a few years off for me.

    I still like it OK, but more from a nostalgic perspective as it does sound kinda dated.
     
  20. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    What he said. :D
     
  21. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    I didn't care for the turn that ZZ Top took with Eliminator.
    Even though it probably was a great career move, I didn't then and still don't care for it.

    I have the LP and can't remember the last time it's been played. Tres Hombre's and Deguello get played a few times a year.
     
  22. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Loved it, and I bought the CD as well...
     
  23. NIKE SQ 460

    NIKE SQ 460 Just Do It...Daily!

    Location:
    westCOAST
    tv dinners!

    ...was 23 when it came out and instantly dug it. the whole album. even loved it better than zz's previous albums. (yep, you read that right)

    man, i played the s**t out of thug - still do to this day. i was never into mtv so fortunately legs didn't wear me out because of over exposure.

    the whole album has a vibe that i just love. the synths were in perfect harmony with the blusey, funked out groove of the whole thing.

    one of my top ten albums of all time.
     

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  24. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Being a huge ZZ Top fan since about 1974 when Fandango came out - my first let down was hearing El Loco.

    Background: I had all their stuff up through Tejas (1976) and then came a three year period (1977-79) during which punk and new wave started becoming more popular and ZZ Top didn't have an album. So when Duguello came out, and it was still fairly true to their earlier sound (a little slicker though, couple of silly songs) I was relieved.

    Enter their first '80's album: El Loco. I had no idea this was coming. I played it a lot hoping it'd sink in, and at moments enjoyed it.... but its part time frat boy / potty/ garbage humor never allowed me to properly warm up to it as much. I simply could not believe the band that brought Brown Sugar, Just Got Back From Baby's, Bar-B-Q, Master Of Sparks, Blue Jean Blues, Snappy Kakkie, Avalon Hideaway, or I Thank You was singing the likes of Pearl Necklace & Party On The Patio.

    Finally, Eliminator. A bit too '80's sounding for me, but as I listened to it, found I liked it. Lots of great chops and a good power level. The videos I could live without but they sure beat most of what was on MTV. And 'I Need You Tonight' was awesome. So....it grew on me and now I think its a great album. While it doesn't hold up to their 70's work, it still stands on it own as one of the better 80's album, with an 80's sound that I can crank up and enjoy.
     
  25. ralphie

    ralphie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lawrence, KS
    Hated it then and hate it now. Gimme the first 5 albums and a little bit of "Deguello" and I'm done.
     
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