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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Eliminator CD/DVD". A Sharp-Dressed Reissue? Well, Yes and No..., September 16, 2008
Released on LP and Cassette in March 1983 on Warner Brothers, the blues boogie of "Eliminator" was an absolute phenomenon for the Texas trio ZZ Top.
They'd been bubbling under for years - "La Grange" in 1973, "Tush" in 1975 - and a minor hit with "I Thank You" in 1980. But none of it even remotely indicated what would happen in 1983 and 1984. "Eliminator" - one of the best boogie albums ever made - changed everything for them and us - it was little short of absolute global domination.
It was a combination of things - the umpteen tracks that were all single/radio friendly hits, the emergence of rotation MTV, the videos with leggy sexy babes - the fabulous 1933 coupe car - the ZZ TOP keyring flying through the air to the hapless buck trying to be a 'sharp dressed man' - the image of dusty dudes with beards - all of it combined in one heady mix to produce domestic sales in the USA topping 10 million with the same number estimated for the rest of the world. And if you take into account second-hand sales since that heady time 25 years ago and an early issue on CD, you're looking at a "Rumours", a "Purple Rain" and a "Thriller". This September 2008 (delayed release) has it good points and bad though...
Here's the layout first:
Disc 1 (78:27 minutes)
Tracks 1 to 11 are the album REMASTERED in its entirety with the original lengthier mix of "Legs" at 4:34 minutes re-instated for the first time (it was replaced after initial pressings by the shorter single mix of 3:37 minutes)
Tracks 12 to 18 are bonus tracks; 12 is the single mix of "Legs"; 13 to 17 are 5 previously unreleased live tracks (13, 14, 16 and 17 recorded at Castle Donington Festival in Leicestershire in England, while 15 was recorded at The Marquee Club in London - no dates supplied)
Track 18 is the 12" "Dance Mix" of "Legs"
The remastering of the album is FANTASTIC - muscular, in your living room, detailed - all that it should have been these last two and half decades. I've waited years to hear "I Need You Tonight" in this sound quality and it was worth it. But the really bad news is the audio bonus tracks, which are a huge letdown. The live versions have what is laughably called `audio restoration' on them - they sound like rubbish bootleg recordings - someone standing in a field with a microphone held up (Donnington was exactly that - a vast field). The truly awful extended mix of "Legs" was on the box set anyway - unlistenable then and the same now. Worse - there are single edits of "Gimme All Your Lovin" and "Sharp Dressed Man", but maddeningly they're not included here - they should have been - it would have been far more appropriate to a supposed `collector's edition'. Also there's nothing new worth hearing - no outtakes, alternatives, no demos, no new songs - nothing. Really disappointing stuff I'm afraid. The album is great, but the supposed bonuses are awful.
Things fare better on the 2nd disc, an 8-track DVD. First up are the 4 famous videos that broke the album with a worldwide TV audience and their inclusion on this `special edition' is only right and proper - they were such an integral part of the "Eliminator" experience. The prints are clean, but unfortunately blurry in that cheap 1980s kind of a way. They're fun to re-watch, but not much more than that. Things get considerably better with tracks 5 to 8, which are professionally filmed studio performances. They were recorded live in front of a studio audience on 17 November 1983 for one the UK's popular pop programs of the time - "The Tube". The sound and visuals are great and while the vocals are live, I'm fairly sure some tweaking has been done to beef up the sound. Whatever way you look at it - this is primo ZZ TOP and makes up somewhat for the disappointing crap that is tail-ending the Audio CD. Fans will really enjoy these.
The packaging isn't great either - a gatefold digipak with a 20-page booklet. The layers under the see-through trays have no photos of singles - outtakes - they're blank - pretty crappy really. The car's pictured a couple of times, lyrics reproduced, a basic essay on the album - but no real event feel to it - no live shots - no interesting formats pictured - fan stuff left out - it's basic really, when it could have been so much better.
In truth, you'd have to say that if Rhino had just issued the remaster of the album with the single edits and the 12" mix added on at the end - then that would have been so much better. As it is, you're being asked to spend £13 to £16 on a package that smacks of laziness and greed - and worse - leaves you with a bad taste in the mouth - an underwhelming experience that should have been a real celebration of a really great album...
To sum up - fantastic remaster of the album, good stuff on the DVD, but docked a star for the rubbish filler at the end of Disc 1.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Worthy Upgrade, September 22, 2008
This review is only for the original album since I don't care much about bonus tracks or DVDs, but since you brought it up, I will say that the "bonus" live tracks on disc 1 sound homemade. I can't believe they were included here.
Anyway, to the main course: The original CD release, and even the Eliminator material in the gorgeous "Chrome, Smoke, and BBQ" box set just never did anything for me sound wise. Sure, it's great rock 'n' roll, but the digital mastering didn't do it justice. This remastering changes that. The music comes to life with punch, presence, and transparency - and it was done with no noticeable compression. They even resisted the urge to master it too loudly. This is a remaster that both the average CD buyer and the audiophile will be VERY happy with.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Music is Fantastic! Extras, not so, why it's only 4 stars., November 16, 2008
This is a 25th anniversy re-issue of ZZ Top's seminal album, Eliminator. This came out originally my senior year of high school, and with it's combination of music and stylish videos, it was a MAJOR hit at the time. I owned this as a pre-recorded cassette when it was new, and held onto that for a long time. I likely dumped it when I dumped all my old tapes years ago.
But the music has always carried on. It's been cleaned up for this issue, which is a two disc release. The first is the album. The remastering work is really quite good. It sounds great to my ears, and given that I never owned this on CD, it's nice to hear some of the songs that don't get the usual airplay again. Possibly the most well known track from the album "Legs" appears here in it's original form. What I didn't realize is that the version that most people know - the one on the album that most people had was not the original. Apparently the original album version (which is here) was replaced with the slightly different mix for the single/video. Both are here - and I have to say I prefer the single version, the "original" version feels like it is missing something.
There are also some live tracks which don't sound terribly up to snuff recording wise. The second disc has the four videos (Gimme All Your Lovin, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, & TV Dinners) from the classic days, as well as some live concert footage from November 1983.
While this is a double disc, I can't imagine myself listening to the extras more than a couple of times. The album itself - yeah. But the extra live tracks are a snooze, and I've seen the videos more times than I care to remember. :) Still, having said that the actual Eliminator album is fantastic. This could have been a single disc release and been far more streamlined.
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