Eliminator  by ZZ Top

The eighth album of ZZ Top titled Eliminator in 1983 was the album that catapulted their career. While one cannot say that they abandoned their blues/boogie style, their sound was different.

The enormous success (11,000,000 copies sold in the U.S. alone) is attributed to the incorporation of synthesizers and drum machines into their compositions, which gave them the mid-80's sound, MTV promoting the video clips of the Eliminator singles, and finally the rise that hard rock music was beginning to have at that time.

ZZ Top and the Eliminator were a brilliant exception at that time, as many rock stars of the '70s tried to align with the rock standards of the '80s but did not succeed. The Texans probably achieved it and more, since the album left behind Gimmie All Your Lovin’, Legs, and - of course - Sharp Dressed Man to be heard for many years after their release.