The Six Pack is a box set released in 1987 by the American rock band ZZ Top. It comprises their first five albums, plus their seventh album, El Loco (1981). All the albums except El Loco and the live side of Fandango! were remixed with new drums and guitar effects for a more "contemporary" sound, similar to ZZ Top's eighth album, Eliminator (1983).[1] Until 2006, these remixes were the only versions of the albums available on CD.[citation needed] British musician and producer Alan Parsons had also remixed his first 1976 Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination in the same manner to achieve the same sound, which was also released in 1987. The band's sixth album Degüello (1979) was not included as it was already available on CD individually.
Reviewing The Six Pack for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "If Six Pack just delivered the original albums, it'd be a good investment, but the studio tinkering makes this a disaster."[2]
The Six Pack remixes were also used on the individual CD releases of the albums and all following compilations of the band (except the CD release of 1977's The Best of ZZ Top) for the next few years. Original mixes were first remastered for the box set Chrome, Smoke & BBQ, and its companion compilation release Rancho Texicano.
In 2006, the original mixes of Tres Hombres and Fandango! were released on CD. Some tracks from the remaining three albums were unavailable digitally in their original versions until 2013 when the albums were re-released on CD with the original mixes restored.[2] All more recent compilations used original mixes.
