![]() The video marks the end of the "Eliminator" vehicle featured in the videos from the Eliminator album (although its supposed destruction happens off-screen) and introduces the space shuttle from Afterburner.Īctors Heather Langenkamp ( A Nightmare on Elm Street) and John Dye ( Touched by an Angel) appear as the female and male leads. After being assisted in their escape by the band members, the ZZ Top video girls and the Eliminator vehicle, the thieves are eventually arrested. In the form of a story narrative, two thieves break into a house to recover a sack of money, but are thwarted by a young woman living in the house who runs off with the sack, meeting a young man who accompanies her on the run. Track listing 7" single Ī music video directed by Steve Barron was made to promote the song. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, a first for the band. However, unlike "Legs", it also reached No. The song was released as a single in 1985 and became their most successful single, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, equaling the peak of their previous single " Legs". All this means that Afterburner is merely a product of its time - the only record ZZ Top could have made at the time, but it hardly exists out of that time.Cash Box said that the song is a "high tech workout which makes good use of drum machines and Fairlight effects as well as the 'lil ole band from Texas' innate soul." ![]() Apart from the chugging "Sleeping Bag," not even the singles sound like ZZ Top (though "Dipping Low (In the Lap of Luxury" is a blatant "Gimme All Your Lovin'" rewrite): the terrific post-new wave rocker "Stages" is the poppiest thing they ever cut, the ballad "Rough Boy" is far removed from slow blues, and the full-fledged synth dance of "Velcro Fly" is a true mind-bender. As an artifact of that time, Afterburner is pretty good - never has a hard rock album sounded so artificial, nor has a nominal blues-rock album sounded so devoid of blues. That's all just a sign of the times, when even hard rock bands had to sound as slick as synth pop, complete with clanging DX-7s and cavernous drums. So, Afterburner, their most synthetic album, will not please most ZZ Top fans, even if it did go platinum several time over and reached number four. And blues-rock just doesn't kick when it's synthesized, even if ZZ Top's grooves always bordered on robotic. Sometimes they can trick you into thinking they're a little flashier than usual, but they're still a lil' ol' blues band from Texas, kicking out blues-rockers. Problem is, no matter how much you dress ZZ Top up, they're still ZZ Top. If you look at things that way, then Afterburner, ZZ Top's follow-up to their blockbuster Eliminator, makes sense - they're just giving the people more of what they want. While you're at it, you might visualize how space age this all is by turning your signature car into a space shuttle. And if you were praised for being visionary because you played all your blues grooves to a slightly sequenced beat, you'd probably be tempted to not just continue in that direction, but to tighten the sequencer and graft on synthesizers, since it'll all signal how futuristic you are. Review The source of ZZ Tops appeal was never any secret to the beer drinkers and hell raisers who worshiped them the instant the band began to boogie fifteen years ago. Items below may differ depending on the release. Well, if you just had your biggest hit ever, you'd probably try to replicate it, too. Sleeping Bag : 4:02: A2 : Stages : 3:32: A3 : Woke Up With Wood : 3:45: A4 : Rough Boy : 4:50: A5 : Cant Stop Rockin.
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