ZZ TOP Eliminator VG+ 1983 Warner Bros 1ST PRESSING BOB LUDWIG MONARCH Legs

$

25

Vinyl:  VG+ Play Graded. Sounds Great!  Side 1 song 4 has a  barely feelable mark that causes an occasional repeating tick sound on and off for less than a minute, but it's in the background, it doesn't overwhelm the sound.  There are some other marks that don't affect the sound quality...This is a party record, friend, Turn It Up!!!  Warner Brothers Labels are Clean and Bright.  This is the audiophile acclaimed 1983 Warner Brothers 23774-1 1st Pressing, Mastered by the Master Mastering Engineer, Robert Ludwig at Masterdisk of NYC and Pressed at Monarch Records Mfg. Corp., of Los Angeles, CA!!!  Listen for the signature sound of Monarch, silkier vocals and fatter bottom end!!!  ZZ Top is the first and last name in Texas Boogie and this is one of their greatest albums, big on Monster hits and a generous heaping of incredible Power Boogie that should be on every Classic Rock station the world over!   Here, they actually manage to keep their cred with an unpredictably successful addition of synth-sounds on top of the Monster Texas Boogie...To paraphrase one of their finest songs:  they're Bad and they're Nationwide!...  Crucial!  allmusic gives it 4 1/2 stars!!  

See Review Below!
In the Dead Wax:  Matrices, etched.  Etched on side 1:  a dude with a cowboy hat.  Also, on both sides:  RL  MASTERDISK and the glyph for Monarch  ((Mastered by Robert Ludwig at Masterdisk, NYC and pressed at Monarch Records Mfg. Corp., Los Angeles, CA))   Complete Dead Wax information cheerfully provided upon request.

Cover: VG+ (see photos)   Includes the custom illustration Inner Sleeve.   Nice high gloss on cover.  Front and back of cover artwork and text are rich, clear and bright, with some small creases.   Seams, corners  and spine are solid and clean, with some wear.  No splits.  No writing.  Spine print is crystal clear.
Goldmine Standards.   I play grade every album that I sell on eBay as I have found you can't rate an LP accurately by just visually inspecting an album.  I wipe the dust off of every cover with clean, unscented baby wipes.  I professionally clean the vinyl.

U.S. Shipping:  $4.99 Media Mail.  50 cents additional shipping per additional album, when the shipment is combined.   If you wish to take advantage of my COMBINED SHIPPING deal, simply select your records by clicking on "ADD TO CART" on the main listing page.  Do this for all of your selections and then go to your cart to checkout.  Your combined shipping discount will be computed automatically.  Free domestic shipping if you spend $100 or more!  

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS!  EBAY'S PLATFORM DOESN'T ACCOMMODATE FOR COMBINED SHIPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS---BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!!---I CAN COMBINE SHIP FOR YOU AND MINIMIZE SHIPPING COSTS!!!  TELL ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WANT TO BUY, AND I WILL WEIGH THEM AND THE SHIPPING BOX TOGETHER AND THEN I WILL CREATE A "LOT OF 2..." OR "LOT OF 3...", OR "LOT OF 4...", ETC WITH THE ITEMS YOU WANT, AND CREATE A LISTING WITH THE EXACT WEIGHT OF YOUR LOT.   THIS WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY!!!  IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THIS, SEND ME A MESSAGE TELLING ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.  OR, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
I ship internationally through EBay's Global Shipping Program.  Check to be sure that they ship to your country. Feel free to ask any questions and happy shopping! 
Once you're satisfied with your purchase, please leave positive feedback and I will do the same for you.  If you're unsatisfied, please let me know so we can resolve it.  I do not give partial refunds.  Take a look at my previous feedback and buy with confidence.  Check my other items this week, check back often &  CLICK ON "SAVE THIS SELLER" at the top of my listings page to be notified of New Listings as I will be adding more Rare items in the coming weeks!  Thanks!

Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album? 
First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm. 

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.  

 On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.    

Eliminator Review

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

ZZ Top had reached the top of the charts before, but that didn't make their sudden popularity in 1983 any more predictable. It wasn't that they were just popular -- they were hip, for God's sake, since they were one of the only AOR favorites to figure out to harness the stylish, synthesized grooves of new wave, and then figure out how to sell it on MTV. Of course, it helped that they had songs that deserved to be hits. With "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs," they had their greatest set of singles since the heady days of Tres Hombres, and the songs that surrounded them weren't bad either -- they would have been singles on El Loco, as a matter of fact. The songs alone would have made Eliminator one of ZZ Top's three greatest albums, but their embrace of synths and sequencers made it a blockbuster hit, since it was the sound of the times. Years later, the sound of the times winds up sounding a bit stiff. It's still an excellent ZZ Top album, one of their best, yet it sounds like a mechanized ZZ Top thanks to the unflaggingly accurate grooves. Then again, that's part of the album's charm -- this is new wave blues-rock, glossed up for the video, looking as good as the omnipresent convertible on the cover and sounding as irresistible as Reaganomics. Not the sort the old-school fans or blues-rock purists will love, but ZZ Top never sounded as much like a band of its time as they did here.