Afterburner / Eliminator

Packaged in a crummy slipcase are two individual titles that every hardcore ZZ Top fan either owns or has. Warner Music in the U.K. must have had boatloads of copies of Afterburner sitting on the shelf and this was one way they could conceive of getting rid of them -- by packaging them with the band's most successful album (and the peak of their creativity). In the good old vinyl days, labels would just cut out a title that didn't sell and push them off on a distributor that would deep discount them to record stores, department stores, and even five and dime joints. In any case, it's hard to imagine anyone who is old enough to remember these records in the first place not having them already. The Warner U.K. versions have no bonus material, but they are remastered and superior in sound. But here's a hint: for less money you can snag a perfectly fine edition of Eliminator and forget Afterburner altogether. ~ Thom Jurek|