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For its glorious first four minutes and two seconds, ZZ Top<\/a>‘s\u00a0Afterburner<\/em><\/a>\u00a0achieves the impossible: flying higher than its big brother\u00a0Eliminator<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n For another three and a half, the Texas trio at least match the heights of the highly daring 1983 album which made them superstars. After that? Things get a bit dicey. Perhaps like Icarus, the band flew a bit too close to the sun.<\/p>\n After being rewarded so richly for boldly revamping their Tex-Mex blues rock with synths and programmed drums on Eliminator<\/em>\u00a0hits such as “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs,” ZZ Top understandably dove deeper into technology on their 1985 follow-up.<\/p>\n Afterburner<\/em>‘s dazzling album opener “Sleeping Bag” pushes all the new toys even further to the front, even adding hip hop-style scratches to the mix. It’s an audacious case of doubling down on a winning bet, and it pays off handsomely.<\/p>\n Read More: ZZ Top Went Behind Their Producer’s Back to Finish ‘Afterburner’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The next song, “Stages,” is nearly as good, adding a new level of unabashed pop catchiness to the formula. Unfortunately, after that opening one-two punch the fresh ideas start to arrive less frequently.<\/p>\n A sense of formula-following creeps in on tracks such “Woke Up With Wood,” “Planet of Women,” “Dipping Low (In the Lap of Luxury)” and the ultra-peppy “I Got the Message.”<\/p>\n Your mileage may vary wildly on the album’s showcase ballad, “Rough Boy.” The guitar solos are, of course, gorgeous and unassailable. It might also be one of Billy Gibbons<\/a>‘ finest pure vocal moments. But does the icy, keyboard-dominated backing track sound too much like Invisible Touch<\/a><\/em>-era Genesis<\/a>, or worse, late ’80s Rod Stewart<\/a>?<\/p>\n There’s still plenty to enjoy here.\u00a0Dusty HIll<\/a>‘s vocals and some particularly rip-roaring guitar riffs add much-needed grit to the tracks “Can’t Stop Rockin'” and “Delirous,” and the drum-heavy “Velcro Fly” shows the band admirably trying out some new dance floor-friendly moves.<\/p>\n But after an opening volley that made it seem like topping the lightning in a bottle magic of\u00a0Eliminator<\/em> was an actual possibility, Afterburner<\/em>\u00a0understandably falls a bit short of new ideas and inspiration.<\/p>\n This downward trend would continue on ZZ Top’s next album, 1990’s unfortunately aptly named Recycler<\/a><\/em>, after which the trio would bring more organic elements back into their sound.<\/p>\n From the first album to ‘La Futura,’ we check out the Little ‘ol Band From Texas’ studio records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRanking Every ZZ Top Album<\/h2>\n