ZZ Top are celebrating the anniversary of their landmark 1983 album Eliminator with the release of a special Collector’s Edition which features a re-mastered version of the album’s original pressing. This includes the rare album mix of ‘Legs’ which was later replaced with a single version edited for radio.
The new CD/DVD package also features seven bonus tracks and previously unreleased live performances of songs from Eliminator. Rare live tracks include ‘Sharp Dressed Man’, ‘TV Dinners’ and ‘Got Me Under Pressure’ (all recorded at Castle Donnington, England) and ‘I Got The Six’ (recorded at The Marquee Club, London). Also included are the single version and 12″ dance remix of ‘Legs’.
The deluxe packaging also features rare photos and extensive liner notes.
The ZZ Top trio of Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard broke new ground in 1983 when they released Eliminator as their eighth studio album. They created a completely new sound by combining the pulsating synthesizers of New Wave with four-to-the-floor disco beats and the band’s traditional Texan boogie blues.
Eliminator went on to become one of the biggest albums of the 1980s and has sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone over the past 25 years.
Eliminator also helped to mark the dawning of the MTV age with a series of smash hit singles which resulted in some of the decade’s most memorable music videos. The Collector’s Edition DVD includes the iconic videos for ‘Legs’, ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ – each of which starred the band’s trademark cherry-red 1933 Ford coupe hot rod (with the customised ‘ZZ’ stripe down the side), and a trio of leggy supermodels.
ZZ Top are expected to start recording a new album with producer Rick Rubin later this year. According to some reports, though, the band intend to return to the style of their classic 1973 hit ‘La Grange’, rather than the pop-friendly Eliminator sound of the 1980s.
Bassist Dusty Hill recently admitted that it’s difficult to explain why the original members of ZZ Top are still together after nearly 40 years. “We just really enjoy playing together,” he said. “Being a three piece, maybe it’s easier. You only have two other guys, musically, and everything else to contend with and work with.”
He added: “The three of us were brought up – even though we didn’t know each other in our early lives – on the same type of music, same type of environment. There’s a lot of sameness there. We’re like three peas in a pod.”
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