For the last couple of days I’ve been listening to AC/DC’s latest studio album. Time to share my thoughts about it.
It’s a packed album, 15 songs no less.
While some songs are typical AC/DC, such as Rock N’ Roll Train, most of them are quite different from what you may be used to from the Young brothers. They have matured and breaking out of their box so it seems. All songs are well worked out and well arranged. A lot of effort went into the songs and the recording. Maybe even too polished.
Most of the songs are pretty complex for AC/DC standards. Playing along to this is harder than it seems, it used to be: “Find the A and the rest of the song comes naturally.” There’s more going on than meets the eye.
But there’s even more going on. This album is filled with the sound of the Australian landscape. You can hear the big skies and endless horizons not dissimilar to Australian pop bands like INXS and Men At Work. You’ll find big chords and droning notes that make the songs float above Phil Rudd’s super tight drums. Malcolm has put the Burns trem tailpiece and the floating Space Control bridge back on his Gretsch, giving the guitar it’s original jangle back wich really helps with creating this atmosphere. It’s a relatively mellow album but not as mellow as Stiff Upper Lip wich was an intimate blues album.
Now don’t get me wrong here. This album couldn’t be anything else than an AC/DC album. It’s still a freight train but it’s a freight train traveling through the Australian landscape. Anyone with half a musical ear will say it’s a good album. It gets better every time I hear it. It doesn’t look like this album will bore you out anytime soon. There’s plenty to discover here.
Some highlights:
Rock N’ Roll Train: A classic AC/DC rocker.
Anything Goes: Could have been an old Springsteen song.
Stormy May Day: Angus on slide guitar, finally! Hard ass blues with great vocals.
She Likes Rock N’ Roll: What’s this? Playfull bass riffs. Pretty funky song.
Money Made: A blues song with a ‘running machine’ riff and again, great vocals.
Rock N’ Roll Dream: A ballad of a quality we haven’t heard in a long time. (And I don’t mean just AC/DC.)
