Locked? Yes, cocked? Fuck yeah, rocked? Not yet, but we will be! Hello and welcome to the second part of our AC/DC marathon! My name is Em and I had to take a quick break after the first part, listening to boomer rock for too long can do bad things to your hairline, but that's past now. I've got a can of Rogaine, boomer juice and nothin' to lose, let's rock! For those unaware, this is part two of an ongoing series to chart each and every AC/DC album, so if you wanna start from the top, then I'll include a link for those wanting to learn where this band started. Right here!
Last we left off, the year was 1978, and we begin our tour with
Powerage. Now, aside from the fact that on the cover it looks like a
certain orange man, this record didn't really do it for me. Now, I don't
know if that's a hot take or anything, I don't quite care, but compared
to the record preceding it, this wasn't a very interesting endeavour.
If you like bluesier rock and roll then this is a fine piece, but
personally it's not really for me. I've always been a more Guns And
Roses, Ghost and CCR guy, the blues ain't my jig, but there were still a
few songs I could appreciate. The opening song,
"Rock And Roll
Damnation", as well as
"Riff Raff",
"Kicked In The Teeth" and
"Up To My
Neck In You" are all good songs, but I feel it's something closer to
High Voltage than D4C or Let There Be Rock. It's fine, but not for me,
4.5/10.
After this though... Oh fuck.
1979's Highway To Hell, you already know what the opening song is, you already know it's killer. Fucking hell, do I even need to give you my opinion here? Well, regardless of it's godly status, I'll do it anyway. Highway to hell is... Well, it's highway to fucking hell, would boomer rock be the same without it? God no! But, it's a far better album than simply it's title track, the second track on the record,
"Girls Got Rhythm" is another classic bit of rock and roll, as well as songs like
"If You Want Blood",
"Shot Down In Flames",
"Walk All Over You" and the sweet and slow album ending track
"Night Prowler". If there was ever an album to show off all aspects of AC/DC's early years, it'd be Highway. Sadly though, this was the last work done by the original group, before the tragic and strangely unclear death of Bon Scott. Godspeed ya Scottie bam, you'll be missed. However, the boys soldier on into the 1980s, with
Brian Johnson taking up vocal responsibilities from this point forward, to this very day. I rate Highway To Hell, a solid 7/10.
But now, as the bells toll in on the album opener, it's time for Back In Black, the fucking pinnacle of AC/DC in the minds of the many, and they're god-damn fucking right. Brian Johnson's voice is a change from the last 5 albums, but we're gonna get used to this new voice, and this opening of "Hell's Bells" is the perfect opener to his career, though I'd say that his voice doesn't quite fit in it. After that transfer of powers though, this album is smooth sailing through guitar riffs and some of the finest boomer rock known to man. When you've got songs like "Back In Black" , "You Shook Me All Night Long" , "Shoot To Thrill" , "Shake A Leg". The album ender "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" is a bit of a damp squib to end the album off on, not the same kind of pseudo-hard rock that you'd get out of some of the earlier albums, but hey... This is Back In Black we're talking about, you can't say you like rock if you can't see why this album is a killer, 9/10. A point deducted for a lack of the speed demon in me who wanted another Girls Got Rhythm, but we'll live. But now, my friends, I must return to the darkness. Join us next year when I tackle another 3 albums, from "For Those About To Rock" to "Fly On The Wall".
I must apologize before I close this post out, gang, I took way longer on this than I had anticipated. With the intensity of college work and other outside forces, it's been hard to dedicate time to PRPM, so I hope you can understand if things take a bit more time, but rest assured that I will be back, with more from Disq Driver! As always, I've included a playlist of my favourite tracks from this
trio of royal records, hopefully my choices won't have me crucified.
This is Em of PRPM signing off, thank you for reading!
[Bon Scott > Brian Johnson, no contest] - Em.
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