ZZ Top: Eliminator : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Eliminator makes ZZ Top's last album, El Loco, sound positively mellow as it harks back to the single-minded, burn-rubber days of the band's biggest successes. One could do a lot worse: drummer Frank Beard slams away as tight, hard and potent as a kicking mule, bassist Dusty Hill accompanies Beard with the kind of dirty thunks that'll loosen your back teeth, and guitarist Billy Gibbons roars through a repertoire of blues- and Hendrix-influenced licks as sharp and flashy as a pimp's wardrobe.

Lyrically, the songs tell a simple story: a guy fuels up with the right food ("TV Dinners"), clothes ("Sharp Dressed Man"), car (constant references, including the album title) and attitude ("Gimme All Your Lovin'"), and heads out into the Houston night to flag down a fast woman. The next day, unfortunately, he finds out she's a shade too fast ("Bad Girl") and starts calling her names ("Dirty Dog"). Of course, one could ask for more variety, or for a more enlightened approach to courtship; one could also say it worked better in 1974 than in 1983. But when songs like "Bad Girls" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'" kick in, complaints like those start sounding pretty wimpy. Hey, bud, let's party.