By Clarence Yu
AC/DC fans, it’s time to rock again after eight years.
Angus Young and company are back with the new album “Black Ice,” released last October in the United States. You can find a sample of one of their songs, titled “Rock ‘N Roll Train” here.
Their last release, “Stiff Upper Lip” was in 2000, and was met with their usual commercial success. In between then and now, the band was quite inactive with the exception of jamming onstage with the Rolling Stones in 2003, and releasing several box sets.
“Rock N’ Roll Train,” the lead single off the album, is typical AC/DC: it lifts the hairs off your arm and immediately hypnotizes you with that 4/4 signature rock groove they’ve perfected since their inception in 1973.
“Spoiling For A Fight” sounds a bit like “Moneytalks” off 1990’s Razor’s Edge, but less radio friendly and more ballsy.
Indeed the whole album sounds like they’ve abandoned the commercial path they started taking with producer Bruce Fairbarn (rest in peace) in the 1990’s, in favor of the 1970’s-80s sound perfected by producer Robert “Mutt” Lange (also producer of Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, to name a few). “Stormy MayDay” has Angus Young playing slide guitar, and “Rockin’ All The Way” is a mid-tempo 3-chord rocker reminiscent of all of their mid-tempo 3-chord rockers, except that somehow the magic of the band is that it always makes it sounds fresh and new.
Lead vocalist Brian Johnson is in fine form throughout the album, and, according to a press release, cites Black Ice as “the best they’ve ever done, even better than Back On Black (1980).” I will probably agree on that momentarily. The band never sounds sluggish and the guitars are ruthless.
The Internet is truly wonderful. Hard copy is not yet available in Manila (as of last week), but you can already find them somewhere in the ether.
Wolfgang and Razorback, including the plethora of AC/DC fans in Manila have something to rejoice in, and for those who are tired of contemporary pneumatic avant garde hip rock and alt rock, and want a taste of the real thing, download or buy this as soon as you can. I’m calling the stores everyday.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:53 am
It’s about time. Come December and Wolfgang will be releasing “VIllains”. And Razorback has an album on the works, dubbed by Kevin Roy as an “opera” of some sorts. I’m tired of hearing the same lame and cheesy rock bands over the radio. It really is about time.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hi Max, those are the words that truly honor rock. Thanks for reading and commenting! More power.
Best Regards
Clarence
November 5th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Rock n Roll is here to stay, it never sleeps and if it dies a “natural death” it will resurrect on its own, as we, the die-hard fans of rock, would resist its demise, only death can stop me in listening to rock, and AC/DC (one of my favorite) gives me a lift, that life is to be enjoyed until the dying of the light.FOR THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO ROCK (We salute you). I’m past 50, listening to rock makes me glad to be alive.