Editing ZZ Top (section)

=== ''Afterburner'' and ''Recycler'' (1985–1991) ===
Despite selling fewer copies than ''Eliminator'', ''[[Afterburner (ZZ Top album)|Afterburner]]'' (1985) became ZZ Top's highest-charting album (number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' chart),<ref name="Afterburner">{{cite web|title= Afterburner – Awards |publisher= AllMusic |access-date= July 28, 2013 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/afterburner-mw0000196478/awards}}</ref> with sales of five million copies.<ref name="riaa"/> All of the singles from ''Afterburner'' were top-40 hits, with "Sleeping Bag" and "Stages" topping the Mainstream Rock chart.<ref name="Afterburner"/> The music video for "[[Velcro Fly]]", their final top-40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, was choreographed by future pop singer [[Paula Abdul]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Paula Abdul – Times Topics |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date= August 5, 2009 |access-date= December 19, 2010 |url= http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/paula_abdul/index.html}}</ref> In 1987, ZZ Top released ''[[The Six Pack (ZZ Top album)|The Six Pack]]'', a collection of their first five albums plus ''El Loco''. The albums were remixed with new drum and guitar effects for a more "contemporary" sound similar to ''Eliminator''.<ref>{{cite web|first= Stephen Thomas |last= Erlewine |title= ZZ Top – Six Pack |website= [[AllMusic]] |access-date= August 22, 2021 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/six-pack-mw0000651365}}</ref>

''[[Recycler (ZZ Top album)|Recycler]]'', released in 1990, was ZZ Top's final studio album with Warner Records and the last of a distinct sonic trilogy in their catalogue, marking a return towards a simpler guitar-driven blues sound with less synthesizer and pop bounce than their previous two albums. This move did not entirely suit the fan base that ''Eliminator'' and ''Afterburner'' had built up, and while ''Recycler'' did achieve platinum status, it never matched the sales of those albums. However, the single "[[My Head's in Mississippi]]" reached number one on the [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks]] chart that year.<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Mainstream Rock: Dec 08, 1990 |magazine= Billboard |date= November 28, 2013 |access-date= July 21, 2019 |url= http://www.billboard.com/biz/charts/1990-12-08/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks}}</ref>