ZZ Top Shows Some “Legs” Again w/Expanded Eliminator Reissuehttp://harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=12151Fred Mills
January 16, 2008
It was the album—or maybe it was the saucy, legs-and-all videos, who can say?—that gave ZZ Top a second lease on life. “That little ol’ band from Texas” with the big sound shifted gears in 1983 with the trio’s eighth studio album,
Eliminator. Creating a new sound, the band subversively co-opted the humming synthesizers of new wave and fused them to its trademark hot-rodded blues boogie. The album roared into the MTV age powered by a trio of smash radio singles and iconic videos that helped make those sharp-dressed men—Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard—international superstars.
Eliminator also holds the rare distinction of being among the first group of albums to be awarded diamond certification by the RIAA for sales of 10 million copies. Now comes a 25th anniversary edition from Warner Bros., due March 25.
Eliminator: Collector’s Edition includes bonus tracks and previously unreleased live tracks, as well as those videos featuring the album’s singles and rare live performances.
From the label:
The CD contains a remastered version of the album’s first pressing, including the rare original album version of the Top 10 smash “Legs,” which was replaced on subsequent pressings with a single version that had been edited for radio. Along with the hit singles “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man,” the disc also features seven bonus tracks. Five are previously unreleased live performances of songs from
Eliminator. The live tracks include “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “TV Dinners,” and “Got Me Under Pressure,” all recorded at Castle Donington in England as well as “I Got The Six,” recorded at The Marquee Club in London. The bonus tracks feature both the single and 12” dance remix versions of “Legs.” The deluxe packaging also features rare photos and extensive liner notes from longtime band publicist and confidant Bob Merlis.
One of the biggest albums of the ’80s,
Eliminator was also responsible for creating some of the decade’s most memorable videos by mixing hot rods and hot bods. The DVD includes iconic videos for “Legs,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man.” Known collectively as “The Eliminator Trilogy,” all three videos were directed by Tim Newman and all starred the ’33 Ford three window coupe, with the ZZ pinstriping down the side, and a trio of leggy beauties. Also included is the rarely seen video for “TV Dinners,” which starred a ZZ TOP-loving claymation alien named Zelt. In addition to the videos, the DVD portion includes five performances originally broadcast in England on the popular music television program The Tube. The songs includes “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Tube Snake Boogie,” a song that originally appeared on the band’s 1981 album,
El Loco.
ELIMINATOR (COLLECTOR’S EDITION) TRACK LISTING:
1. “Gimme All Your Lovin’”
2. “Got Me Under Pressure”
3. “Sharp Dressed Man”
4. “I Need You Tonight”
5. “I Got The Six”
6. “Legs” – Original Album Version
7. “Thug”
8. “TV Dinners”
9. “Dirty Dog”
10. “If I Could Only Flag Her Down”
11. “Bad Girl”
Bonus Tracks
12. “Legs” – Single Version
13. “Gimme All Your Lovin” – Live*
14. “Got Me Under Pressure” – Live*
15. “Sharp Dressed Man – Live*
16. “I Got The Six” – Live*
17. “TV Dinners” – Live*
18. “Legs” – Dance Mix
DVD
The Videos
1. “Gimme All Your Lovin’”
2. “Sharp Dressed Man”
3. “Legs”
4. “TV Dinners”
Live On The Tube – 11/17/83
5. “Got Me Under Pressure”
6. “Gimme All Your Lovin’”
7. “Sharp Dressed Man”
8. “Tube Snake Boogie”
* previously unreleased
Amazon gives NO info on the content.
