Afterburner is the ninth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1985.

Although critics' response to the album was lukewarm, Afterburner was a commercial success, eventually going platinum five times and launching one hit single: "Sleeping Bag" which peaked at number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, equaling the peak of their previous single "Legs".

[3] It was the first ZZ Top record since Rio Grande Mud without involvement from longtime engineer Terry Manning.

Sometimes they can trick you into thinking they're a little flashier than usual, but they're still a lil' ol' blues band from Texas, kicking out blues-rockers.

Rolling Stone said "Afterburner may simply represent a transitional phase in this gifted eccentric's development as well as a tricky period in ZZ Top's continuing evolution from bell-bottom-blues band to sharp-dressed pop machine.