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DISCID=8108ce0a,8b08d00a,8f08ce0a
DTITLE=ZZ Top / Afterburner (Japanese Pressing)
DYEAR=1985
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=Sleeping Bag
TTITLE1=Stages
TTITLE2=Woke Up With Wood
TTITLE3=Rough Boy
TTITLE4=Can't Stop Rockin'
TTITLE5=Planet Of Women
TTITLE6=I Got The Message
TTITLE7=Velcro Fly
TTITLE8=Dipping Low (In The Lap Of Luxury)
TTITLE9=Delirious
EXTD=Afterburner (Japanese Pressing)\n1985 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.\n
EXTD=\nOriginally Released 1985\nCD Edition Released 1985\n\nAMG EXPER
EXTD=T REVIEW: Well, if you just had your biggest hit ever, you'd prob
EXTD=ably try to replicate it, too. And if you were praised for being 
EXTD=visionary because you played all your blues grooves to a slightly
EXTD= sequenced beat, you'd probably be tempted to not just continue i
EXTD=n that direction, but to tighten the sequencer and graft on synth
EXTD=esizers, since it'll all signal how futuristic you are. While you
EXTD='re at it, you might visualize how space age this all is by turni
EXTD=ng your signature car into a space shuttle. If you look at things
EXTD= that way, then Afterburner, ZZ Top's follow-up to their blockbus
EXTD=ter Eliminator, makes sense -- they're just giving the people mor
EXTD=e of what they want. Problem is, no matter how much you dress ZZ 
EXTD=Top up, they're still ZZ Top. Sometimes they can trick you into t
EXTD=hinking they're a little flashier than usual, but they're still a
EXTD= lil' ol' blues band from Texas, kicking out blues-rockers. And b
EXTD=lues-rock just doesn't kick when it's synthesized, even if ZZ Top
EXTD='s grooves always bordered on robotic. So, Afterburner, their mos
EXTD=t synthetic album, will not please most ZZ Top fans, even if it d
EXTD=id go platinum several time over and reached number four. That's 
EXTD=all just a sign of the times, when even hard rock bands had to so
EXTD=und as slick as synth pop, complete with clanging DX-7s and caver
EXTD=nous drums. As an artifact of that time, Afterburner is pretty go
EXTD=od -- never has a hard rock album sounded so artificial, nor has 
EXTD=a nominal blues-rock album sounded so devoid of blues. Apart from
EXTD= the chugging "Sleeping Bag," not even the singles sound like ZZ 
EXTD=Top (though "Dipping Low (In the Lap of Luxury" is a blatant "Gim
EXTD=me All Your Lovin'" rewrite): the terrific post-new wave rocker "
EXTD=Stages" is the poppiest thing they ever cut, the ballad "Rough Bo
EXTD=y" is far removed from slow blues, and the full-fledged synth dan
EXTD=ce of "Velcro Fly" is a true mind-bender. All this means that Aft
EXTD=erburner is merely a product of its time -- the only record ZZ To
EXTD=p could have made at the time, but it hardly exists out of that t
EXTD=ime.  -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nM
EXTD=onster Sequel, February 19, 2007\nReviewer: therosen "therosen" (
EXTD=New York, NY United States)\nAfterburner, the sequel to ZZ Top's 
EXTD=pop-breakout Eliminator, is a solid album in it's own right. It c
EXTD=ombines ZZ-Topish humor (Woke up with Wood), instant additions to
EXTD= ZZ's classic lists (Planet of Women & Sleeping Bag), songs that 
EXTD=take a while to grow on you (Rough Boy) and even a failed attempt
EXTD= to start a dance craze (the Velcro Fly). \n\nIt's not the bluesi
EXTD=est they have, not the poppest, and certainly not the best, but i
EXTD=t's still a great album.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAn 80s Cl
EXTD=assic That Hasn't Aged Well, October 22, 2004\nReviewer: Andre Le
EXTD=Blanc (North Dakota)\nI was in junior high when this album came o
EXTD=ut, and I played my cassette copy to death back then. I thought t
EXTD=he song "Stages" was the coolest song I had ever heard. I recentl
EXTD=y bought the CD after not listening to the album in over 10 years
EXTD=. As much as I loved it in 1985, the music has not aged well at a
EXTD=ll. The heavy synthesized sound that was great back then sounds u
EXTD=ninteresting and bland today. However, the CD does bring back a l
EXTD=ot of memories. If you grew up during the 80s and want to return 
EXTD=to those days (at least in spirit), go ahead and pick this up. Ot
EXTD=herwise, don't bother.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOut of this
EXTD= World, March 29, 2003\nReviewer: Jerry Fry (Freeman, MO USA)\nNo
EXTD=w Eliminators are flying into outer space. That's cool but what h
EXTD=appened? ZZ Top became more marketable in the '80s and raked in a
EXTD= lot of jack. The space rock boogie was a good gimmick. It sold w
EXTD=ell, these guys threw away their razors and dipped low in the lap
EXTD= of luxury. But this is exactly the kind of "Stages" a band goes 
EXTD=through. No longer a hungry band and it sounds like it. "Rough Bo
EXTD=y" got played constantly and the video wasn't bad but this isn't 
EXTD=the ZZ Top I like to remember. Somehow it seemed like this wasn't
EXTD= a bad direction for them to go. But that's where it ended. The f
EXTD=ollowing album I believe was "Recycler" and that's pretty much wh
EXTD=at I did with it.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe third star i
EXTD=s for having the [courage] to make this album., July 14, 2002\nRe
EXTD=viewer: Erik K (Albuquerque, NM.)\nIn the discography of ZZ Top, 
EXTD=this is where things got truly wierd. ZZ Top may not be considere
EXTD=d one of the top groundbreaking rock and roll acts in a historica
EXTD=l sense, but Billy Gibbons IS considered one of the great rock an
EXTD=d roll guitarists. This album is where his playing went from it's
EXTD= bluesy best to his bland-est. He apparently stopped thinking of 
EXTD=open Texas plains and empty highways and put himself on the creat
EXTD=ive equivalent of an MTV space shuttle launchpad. There IS still 
EXTD=an obvious connection here, re; "Houston we have reached ZZ orbit
EXTD=" or something to that effect, especially considering the success
EXTD= of Eliminator (remember, in the Reagan era, the space shuttle, M
EXTD=TV and rap music were new..). But the music of Afterburner, altho
EXTD=ugh entertaining, is mostly a lamentable soft-core foray into dan
EXTD=ce/techno style electronic rhythms and hip/hoppy stuff (hip/hoppy
EXTD=..was he any relation to Trigger?). The hard-core, don't [care] W
EXTD=HAT yall' think individualism of past ZZ releases is watered down
EXTD= so much that the only people ZZ [angered] with this album were t
EXTD=heir fan base. For crying out loud, Frank Beard, one of the best 
EXTD=drummers in Rock and Roll, was largely replaced by digital drum m
EXTD=achines to make this album. Now, I am a believer in artistic free
EXTD=dom, and in creative pursuits change is sometimes neccessary and 
EXTD=a healthy thing. But when the result is something as limpid as "V
EXTD=elcro Fly", one has to wonder.\n\nROLLING STONE REVIEW\nThe sourc
EXTD=e of ZZ Top's appeal was never any secret to the beer drinkers an
EXTD=d hell raisers who worshiped them the instant the band began to b
EXTD=oogie fifteen years ago. Since then there have been classic stunt
EXTD=s (the 1976 tour featuring livestock and snakes) and classic lick
EXTD=s ("Tush" and "LaGrange"). But it took their last (and ninth) alb
EXTD=um, Eliminator, to turn the li'l' ol' trio from Texas into everyb
EXTD=ody's guilty pleasure.\n\nTheir new LP, Afterburner, has enough o
EXTD=omph, wacky rhythms and super guitar to satisfy at least half of 
EXTD=the more than 5 million customers who bought Eliminator. But whil
EXTD=e ZZ's hot rod can make this trip, it doesn't ride really well on
EXTD= Afterburner's Autobabn.\n\nTop Top Billy Gibbons has sacrificed 
EXTD=the chemistry -- and, tragically, the heart -- of the band to tec
EXTD=hnology. The synthesizers and drum machines that helped modernize
EXTD= a Cream-vintage power trio and subtly reinforced Eliminator's tr
EXTD=acks have now apparently replaced bassist Dusty Hill and drummer 
EXTD=Frank Beard. Gibbons' electronic toys may give him few arguments,
EXTD= note-for-note perfection and tremendous flexibility (for example
EXTD=, in reshuffling ZZ's traditional beat into radical syncopations 
EXTD=like the wild intro to "Sleeping Bag"). But this is music that sh
EXTD=ould feel as if it's being made by men, not machines.\n\nAfterbur
EXTD=ner's fake drums sound thin, and the keyboards are just plain tac
EXTD=ky. They frequently overwhelm material that is otherwise rather n
EXTD=ice. "Rough Boy" (only the second ballad ZZ has ever recorded), s
EXTD=wollen with inarticulate longing, might be more moving with a str
EXTD=ipped-down arrangement. The same goes for "Stages," a more upbeat
EXTD= love song that's also a departure from ZZ's typically goofy lyri
EXTD=cs and raunchy humor. Coming from a single man who's played one-n
EXTD=ight stands since his teens, "Stages, keep on changing/Stages, re
EXTD=arranging love" is a knowing assessment of romance on the run. No
EXTD=t only would the yucky synthesizers be better off piped into a sh
EXTD=opping mall (or onto a Journey album), but Gibbons' bluesworn voi
EXTD=ce is so mechanically treated that its emotional impact is deaden
EXTD=ed.\n\nHe doesn't suffer as badly as Dusty Hill, though. One of t
EXTD=he highlights of ZZ concerts is the way Gibbons and Hill almost f
EXTD=inish one another's sentences; here Gibbons has kept all of the l
EXTD=eads to himself. Hill, a great rave-and-shouter in the Little Ric
EXTD=hard tradition, makes two cameo appearances, on "Delirious" and "
EXTD=Can't Stop Rockin'." But he sounds distant and dispirited -- as i
EXTD=f Randy Bachman had telephoned in his vocals for him.\n\nAmid all
EXTD= this machine-made music, "Velcro Fly" is strikingly alive. Not o
EXTD=nly does Gibbons' manic buzz constantly remind you of why he ente
EXTD=red the guitar players' pantheon eons ago, but this is the rate c
EXTD=ut where you hear something like the gut thump of a real bass, wh
EXTD=ile the totally demented instrumental break sounds like Prince ta
EXTD=king "My Sharona" and bouncing it off the walls. The lyrics may b
EXTD=e a little too out there (they're in the same gonzo mode as "Chea
EXTD=p Sunglasses" and "TV Dinners") to make this a bid for the single
EXTD=s charts, however.\n\nThe chuggy tempo and high, happy harmonies 
EXTD=of "Dipping Low" and "I Got the Message" are directly patterned o
EXTD=n "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Sharp Dressed Man." "Can't Stop Ro
EXTD=ckin'" is an obvious set closer or encore, but it's a little too 
EXTD=ordinary ("I can't stop rockin' baby, 'til I lose my mind") for a
EXTD= band of this stature to include on a studio album now. Less ordi
EXTD=nary is "Woke Up with Wood," perhaps the most incendiary rocker o
EXTD=n Afterburner. Unfortunately, it's yet another addition to the li
EXTD=st of dirty jokes that have long been the band's stock in trade. 
EXTD=ZZ's catalog probably describes as many sex acts ("Tube Snake Boo
EXTD=gie," "I Got the Six," "Pearl Necklace") as Masters and Johnson's
EXTD=. But where early songs like "Tush" and "LaGrange" were rites of 
EXTD=passage, and "Pearl Necklace" might possibly be interpreted as an
EXTD= invitation to a shopping spree, "Woke Up with Wood" is just sill
EXTD=y. Could it be time for ZZ Top to grow up?\n\nGibbons may have mo
EXTD=ved into the Eighties with all of the latest gimmicks and equipme
EXTD=nt, but his consciousness is stuck in the Dark Ages. "Planet of W
EXTD=omen" will undoubtedly appeal to boys of all ages, and lines like
EXTD= "Send a straitjacket, something in a shade of gray" are good for
EXTD= a few giggles. But what's really so funny about a narrator who c
EXTD=omplains he can't make it with every woman he sees and confesses 
EXTD=he can't distinguish between a "diamond" of a woman and a "hole i
EXTD=n the ground"?\n\nThe band has other questions to consider. How a
EXTD=re they going to perform this material? Afterburner uses so many 
EXTD=synthesizers they may have to rely even more heavily on prerecord
EXTD=ed tapes than they did on the Eliminator tour. Maybe the plan is 
EXTD=to turn into cartoons we'll see only on video and, word has it, f
EXTD=ilm. And if Gibbons is so itchy to stretch beyond the trio format
EXTD= and the technical limitations of his partners, why doesn't he go
EXTD= solo? Then again, Afterburner may simply represent a transitiona
EXTD=l phase in this gifted eccentric's development as well as a trick
EXTD=y period in ZZ Top's continuing evolution from bell-bottom-blues 
EXTD=band to sharp-dressed pop machine. (RS 462 - Dec 5, 1985) -- DEBO
EXTD=RAH FROST
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