El Loco
by ZZ Top
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ZZ Top bestography
El Loco is ranked 10th best out of 28 albums by ZZ Top on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by ZZ Top is Eliminator which is ranked number 1156 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,516.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to El Loco on YouTube
El Loco track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
El Loco rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | stevengnz | Top 98 Music Albums of 1981 | 64/98 | 2 |
| 2026 | mikepen | Top 100 Music Albums of 1981 | 86/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | mrmcrook | Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 | 16/23 | 2 |
| 2026 | Top 41 Music Albums of 1981 | 26/41 | 2 | |
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | 1981 2ND 100 | 92/100 | - |
| 2026 | Top 79 Music Albums of 1981 | 37/79 | 3 | |
| 2026 | Top 72 Music Albums of 1981 | 58/72 | 1 | |
| 2026 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1981 | 55/100 | 2 | |
| 2026 | 1980s, #301-400 | 53/100 | - | |
| 2025 | MasterOfPuppets | Top 21 Music Albums of 1981 | 20/21 | 0 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 37 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 63 | |||
El Loco collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 33 members
El Loco ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 62 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago | Johnnyo | 9,944 | 77/100 |
| ! | 08/02/2026 04:35 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,671 | 70/100 |
| ! | 10/03/2025 20:47 | MasterOfPuppets | 845 | 83/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 71.4/100, a mean average of 70.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.
El Loco favourites
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El Loco forum mentions
El Loco comments
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Two hits and lots of filler. While this album has fallen by the wayside, it does signify the beginning of the transition from cool blues boogie to slick 80s MTV fare.
This must be their weakest record. With Leila as a real low point.
Pearl Necklace and Tube Snake Bookie are good, the rest not so much. I prefer the 70s version of ZZ Top.
After their classic 70s blues-rock but before their MTV run, El Loco is largely forgotten but a very solid album. Pearl Necklace and Tube Snake Boogie are still airplay staples to this day, and Leila was a chart hit and one of the prettiest tracks they've ever done. The weirdness is turned up to 11 in the second half of the album, and I love every minute of it.
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