Afterburner
by ZZ Top
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ZZ Top bestography
Afterburner is ranked 5th best out of 28 albums by ZZ Top on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by ZZ Top is Eliminator which is ranked number 1163 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,508.
(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 Afterburner on YouTube
Afterburner track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Afterburner rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 73 Music Albums of 1985 | 32/73 | 3 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List Zone 32 America Usa 4 | 50/58 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | All Time Pt 7 | 13/30 | - |
| 2026 |  NoisyBeast | Top Albums of 1985... #201-300 | 93/99 | - |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 18/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | steve397 | Top 7 Music Albums of 1985 | 7/7 | 1 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 69/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | steve397 | Top 94 Music Albums of the 1980s | 93/94 | 0 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum year 1985 | 9/77 | - |
| 2026 |  junodog4 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1985 | 14/20 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 78 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 220 | |||
Afterburner collection
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Afterburner 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 147 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 5 days ago | Exist-en-ciel | 16,568 | 70/100 |
| ! | 09/15/2026 05:15 | LammyTS1 | 1,115 | 59/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2026 17:17 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 |
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 69.4/100, a mean average of 69.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 69.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.
Afterburner favourites
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Afterburner forum mentions
pedro1976 11/14/2024 15:19 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
neilgee 03/09/2024 22:31 in What album are you listening to right now? neilgee 12/23/2023 22:22 in What music video are you watching right now?Afterburner comments
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Jboy56 09/30/2024 13:49 | #305475 | TOP COMMENT
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I think that this album tries to replicate the success of Eliminator by replicating event the song patters so well done, but without much success. The beat is too disco and dull when repeated in most of these songs. The lack of hits is another dilemma with this. Sleeping Bag and Rough Boy are the best songs (Edited)
paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/13/2012 14:22 | #48399 | TOP COMMENT
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Yes, their blues rock watered down into synth rock on Afterburner and there's no great pop song like "legs" or "sharp dressed man", but most of these songs are tight pop songs. The suggestive "sleeping bag" is probably my fav here. (Edited)
Even more contemporary than, eliminator, although they're not messing with the formula too much. Overall, the quality isn't as good as it's predecessor, but, sleeping bag, and, rough boy, are decent modern sounding pop/rock. Completely forgettable, but fun. (Edited)
nocturnaldelight 09/06/2018 18:51 | #220669 | TOP COMMENT
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ZZ Top at the top of their carreer with an energetic sound and top hits like "Sleeping Bag" and "Velcro Fly". The recording sounds heavier than the "Eliminator" album with more blues.
Bork TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/29/2010 19:55 | #11158 | TOP COMMENT
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ZZ Top still had it on this their last great album. They moved over to a poppier sound, sacrificing some of the deep blues, but it works. Best track: Sleeping Bag.
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