The ZZ Top Sixpack

The ZZ Top Sixpack is a box set from 1987 that gathers six of the Texas trio's albums in one place: their first five records, plus El Loco from 1981. Degüello, the sixth album, was left out because it was already available on CD by itself. It arrived a few years after Eliminator had given the band a sleeker, more modern sound.

That sound is the reason to seek it out. Apart from El Loco and the live side of Fandango!, every album was remixed with new drums and guitar effects, bringing the early blues-rock records closer to the Eliminator style. Until 2006, these remixes were the only versions of those albums on CD, so for a long time this was how many listeners heard the band's early work. It's an intriguing, and sometimes divisive, alternative to the originals.