| Recycler | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by ZZ Top | ||||
| Released | March 23, 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1989 at Memphis Sound Productions, Memphis | |||
| Genre | Rock, blues rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 39:10 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Bill Ham | |||
| ZZ Top chronology | ||||
|
||||
Recycler is the tenth studio album by American blues rock band ZZ Top, released in 1990.
The band had a cameo in the 1990 movie Back to the Future Part III playing an "old west" version of "Doubleback" along with some local musicians. (The regular version of the song plays over the credits). The music video for "Doubleback" also had clips from the movie and was included on the DVD. The album spawned three hits in the form of "Doubleback" (#1 on the Album Rock Tracks for 5 weeks), "Concrete And Steel" (#1 on the Album Rock Tracks for 4 weeks), and "My Head's In Mississippi" (#1 on the Album Rock Tracks for 6 weeks).
Music videos were also made for "My Head's in Mississippi", "Burger Man" and "Give it Up".
In the UK, it was the band's third album to be certified by the British Phonographic Industry, attaining Silver (60,000 units) in 1990. To date, this is the last studio album to achieve UK certification.
The song "Tell It" marks the first instance of a song in a which a sampled clip of a distinctively-toned saying of the word "fine" is used, which was later featured again on the song "Lizard Life", off Antenna, the band's next album, and even in a performance of the song "Cheap Sunglasses" on the Live from Texas album.
Contents |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
Allmusic gave it 2 stars, by stating: "The continuation of Eliminator's synthesized blues made sense on Afterburner, after it arrived two years since its predecessor. ZZ Top's choice to pursue that direction on Recycler is puzzling, since a full five years separates this from Afterburner."
The album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200, number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and number 27 on the Australian Albums chart.
All songs by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.
Album – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Billboard 200 | 6 |
Singles – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Concrete and Steel" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1990 | "Doubleback" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1990 | "Give It Up" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| 1990 | "My Head's in Mississippi" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1991 | "Decision or Collision" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 14 |
| 1991 | "Give It Up" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 79 |