By Clarence Yu

AC/DC is like comfort music to me. With their latest release, Black Ice, these seemingly unstoppable and stubborn rockers just refuse to quit. Why should they? The music they’ve created over the past 35 years seems timeless and you can always be sure of satisfaction. And they know it.

Produced by Brendan O’ Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), Black Ice is also a return to the sound reminiscent of the band’s previous studio efforts, Highway To Hell (1979) and Back In Black (1980), with renowned producer Robert “Mutt” Lange (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain).

Whether this is a conscious effort or not, the results are decidedly for the better. The various producers the band have chosen over their previous releases either gave this signature sound a slightly more commercial feel (the late Bruce Fairbairn with 1990’s The Razor’s Edge), or a less radio friendly, harder edged twist (Rick Rubin, with 1995’s Ballbreaker). Of course, the challenge with each producer is to try to capture the legendary bands’ sound as they envision it, so credit is due to Brendan O’ Brien, who rises above the pack.

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