Post by Erik Rupp on Aug 18, 2009 12:50:42 GMT -5
AC/DC - Black Ice (2008)
For a band that was very prolific from the mid 70's up to the mid 80's AC/DC's relative inactivity from 2000 to 2008 certainly seemed unusual. Reports would surface periodically indicating that the band was writing songs for a new album, only to lead to nothing.
Finally, in 2007 word came out that the band actually was preparing for a new album. The album was to be produced by famed producer Brendan O'Brien and released in 2008. The final mix was handled by veteran engineer Mike Fraser, and the album was released on October, 17, 2008.
The question that most fans had was simply this, "Is it worth the wait?" With a common second question coming up - "Is it as good as Highway To Hell or Back In Black?"
The answer to the first question was generally a resounding, "Yes," while the answer to the 2nd wasn't quite so resounding, nor was it as affirmative.
So how good is Black Ice?
It's good. Darned good, even if not quite up to the standard set in their heyday of 1974-1983. It IS, however, far better than it's two predecessors, Ballbreaker (1995) and Stiff Upper Lip (2000).
On Black Ice Angus and Malcolm again handle the songwriting duties themselves with no input from lead vocalist Brian Johnson. This is an unusual arrangement, and it is one that has been in place since 1990's The Razor's Edge. Considering that Johnson wrote most of the vocal melodies and lyrics for two of AC/DC's most successful albums (Back In Black and For Those About To Rock) not allowing him to co-write the songs just seems odd. His songwriting contributions on Back In Black were nothing short of spectacular, and his work on For Those About To Rock, Flick of the Switch, Fly on the Wall, and Blow Up Your Video was all solid, with some occasionally great melodies and hooks.
What prompted the change? Who knows. The band's albums in recent years have suffered for it, though, and Black Ice is no exception. Fortunately, however, it suffers from the lack of Johnson's co-songwriting contributions MUCH less so than the previous two albums.
There is nothing on this album that is as weak as some of the material on Ballbreaker or Stiff Upper Lip, and some of the songs are as strong as the best material on The Razor's Edge and Blow Up Your Video.
Black Ice opens up with, "Rock and Roll Train," a song that sounds like a cross between their 70's material and the songs on Blow Up Your Video. It was the lead single, and with good reason. It's pure AC/DC. Jangly, slightly distored chords, vocals dripping with attitude, and a solid chorus, it instantly better than almost all of the songs on their two previous albums.
The band slows things down from there. While, "Rock and Roll Train," was a good mid-tempo song, they take things down to a slow groove on, "Skies On Fire." "Skies," has a killer staccato riff in the verse that gives way to a chorus that would not have been out of place on either Blow Up Your Video or The Razor's Edge.
They then up the tempo to a, "Fast mid-tempo," pace with, "Big Jack," a song with a cool verse not unlike that on, "Who Made Who." Unfortunately, while the chorus isn't bad, it's nothing special. It's generic AC/DC. AC/DC songwriting 101. Brian Johnson's contributions might have brought a better chorus here. Then again, maybe not - but we'll never know.
"Anything Goes," with AC/DC. Well, not really, but on this song they move eerily close to a Pop Rock style, not unlike the harder edged Bryan Adams material of the early and mid 80's. It's a solid album cut, but nothing to write home about. Things change quite a bit on the next song, though.
"War Machine," is not a cover of the 1982 KISS classic, but it is a song that is arguably on a par with that track. With a throbbing bass & bass drum opening with some lighter, jangly guitar lines sparsely played over the intro this song sounds more like 1970's era AC/DC than most of the material from the Brian Johnson era. The verse has that old school AC/DC groove with bass player Cliff Williams laying down eighth notes over Phil Rudd's solid, unwavering groove, then giving way to a chorus that builds to the strong chorus.
"Smash 'N' Grab," is another AC/DC 101 song, with nothing particularly special to make this slower grooved song stand out, but, "Spoilin' For A Fight," is much better. "Spoilin'," again uses the, "Who Made Who," type of verse, giving way to a hanging chord kind of verse and a catchy as hell chorus played with power and flair.
AC/DC goes back to the 70's again for, "Wheels," but this time adding some Alice Cooper Band stylings to the chorus. It's not a great track, but this upper mid-tempo song is different enough from the rest of the album to be a valuable break from what some people may have seen (or, more accurately, heard) as the, "Business as usual," nature of the preceding songs. The chorus is catchy, and the song is a real grower as it sounds better on repeated listening.
From there the band moves into a slow blues grind with, "Decibel," a song that owes as much to 1970's era ZZ Top as it does their own material from that era. This is a strong song with some great licks and solid, whiskey soaked vocal melodies. "Decibel," would come across as a strong album cut on just about any of AC/DC's albums, and it sounds particularly good here.
Slide guitar. It was effective when used on Flick of the Switch, and it's effective here. (Kind of makes you wonder why they haven't used it more.) In this case they use on, "Stormy May Day," another slow, Blues influenced song that is very effective and is another album highlight.
The tempo moves back up (but still not to an uptempo pace) on, "She Likes Rock and Roll," another song with some good staccato riffing in the verse. That verse leads, unfortunately, to a powerful but mediocre chorus. This is one of the choruses on the album that, again, may leave some people wondering what Brian Johnson could have come up with, and if a chorus written by Johnson would have been an improvement over what we've got here.
Mediocre. AC/DC 101. Same old same old. Another slow groove song. "Money Made." Not bad, but nothing special. 'Nuff said.
After two songs that either could have used a rewritten chorus (the former) or would have just been better off left off the album (the latter), AC/DC really takes things down a notch on, "Rock and Roll Dream." This song starts off fairly mellow, before exploding into the chorus (with some of the busier drumming you'll ever hear from Phil Rudd leading into that chorus - it ain't much, but it's a brief burst of sticks hitting toms). This (yet again) isn't a great song, but as a change of pace song, and a song with some fantastic dynamics it works very well as an album cut. "Rock and Roll Dream," has elements that sound a bit like some of Aerosmith's more dynamic, moody material from the 70's. Not bad at all.
AC/DC closes out the album with, "Rocking All the Way," and the title track. "Rocking All the Way," is another upper mid-tempo songs with a solid, but unspectacular chorus, and the title track is another somewhat ZZ Top flavored song. "Black Ice," has that mid-tempo pace, and has Phil Rudd getting slightly busier than usual in the bridge. The chorus on this one, however, is better than average for the album, so the album closes out on a strong note.
The one thing glaringly absent on Black Ice is the inclusion of a couple UPtempo tracks. There isn't one song that could be described as a fast burst of energy. The album suffers as a result. The Australian band Airbourne have picked up the slack, however, as heard on their album Runnin' Wild. They play that same Blues influenced, whiskey soaked, high energy Australian Bar Rock that AC/DC does, but they have the energy that AC/DC misses on Black Ice. Both bands put out good albums in the 2007/2008 time frame, but Runnin' Wild has more energy and enthusiasm than does Black Ice.
Still, Black Ice is a huge improvement over their two previous albums, so that's a good thing. Bottom line? Black Ice is solid, and has some really good (and nearly great) songs on it. It also has a couple mediocre (at best) songs that they may have been better off leaving off the album. Any time a band puts out a 15 track album there is the risk of including mediocre or, "Filler," tracks, and with Black Ice AC/DC proved to be no exception.
3.75/5
For a band that was very prolific from the mid 70's up to the mid 80's AC/DC's relative inactivity from 2000 to 2008 certainly seemed unusual. Reports would surface periodically indicating that the band was writing songs for a new album, only to lead to nothing.
Finally, in 2007 word came out that the band actually was preparing for a new album. The album was to be produced by famed producer Brendan O'Brien and released in 2008. The final mix was handled by veteran engineer Mike Fraser, and the album was released on October, 17, 2008.
The question that most fans had was simply this, "Is it worth the wait?" With a common second question coming up - "Is it as good as Highway To Hell or Back In Black?"
The answer to the first question was generally a resounding, "Yes," while the answer to the 2nd wasn't quite so resounding, nor was it as affirmative.
So how good is Black Ice?
It's good. Darned good, even if not quite up to the standard set in their heyday of 1974-1983. It IS, however, far better than it's two predecessors, Ballbreaker (1995) and Stiff Upper Lip (2000).
On Black Ice Angus and Malcolm again handle the songwriting duties themselves with no input from lead vocalist Brian Johnson. This is an unusual arrangement, and it is one that has been in place since 1990's The Razor's Edge. Considering that Johnson wrote most of the vocal melodies and lyrics for two of AC/DC's most successful albums (Back In Black and For Those About To Rock) not allowing him to co-write the songs just seems odd. His songwriting contributions on Back In Black were nothing short of spectacular, and his work on For Those About To Rock, Flick of the Switch, Fly on the Wall, and Blow Up Your Video was all solid, with some occasionally great melodies and hooks.
What prompted the change? Who knows. The band's albums in recent years have suffered for it, though, and Black Ice is no exception. Fortunately, however, it suffers from the lack of Johnson's co-songwriting contributions MUCH less so than the previous two albums.
There is nothing on this album that is as weak as some of the material on Ballbreaker or Stiff Upper Lip, and some of the songs are as strong as the best material on The Razor's Edge and Blow Up Your Video.
Black Ice opens up with, "Rock and Roll Train," a song that sounds like a cross between their 70's material and the songs on Blow Up Your Video. It was the lead single, and with good reason. It's pure AC/DC. Jangly, slightly distored chords, vocals dripping with attitude, and a solid chorus, it instantly better than almost all of the songs on their two previous albums.
The band slows things down from there. While, "Rock and Roll Train," was a good mid-tempo song, they take things down to a slow groove on, "Skies On Fire." "Skies," has a killer staccato riff in the verse that gives way to a chorus that would not have been out of place on either Blow Up Your Video or The Razor's Edge.
They then up the tempo to a, "Fast mid-tempo," pace with, "Big Jack," a song with a cool verse not unlike that on, "Who Made Who." Unfortunately, while the chorus isn't bad, it's nothing special. It's generic AC/DC. AC/DC songwriting 101. Brian Johnson's contributions might have brought a better chorus here. Then again, maybe not - but we'll never know.
"Anything Goes," with AC/DC. Well, not really, but on this song they move eerily close to a Pop Rock style, not unlike the harder edged Bryan Adams material of the early and mid 80's. It's a solid album cut, but nothing to write home about. Things change quite a bit on the next song, though.
"War Machine," is not a cover of the 1982 KISS classic, but it is a song that is arguably on a par with that track. With a throbbing bass & bass drum opening with some lighter, jangly guitar lines sparsely played over the intro this song sounds more like 1970's era AC/DC than most of the material from the Brian Johnson era. The verse has that old school AC/DC groove with bass player Cliff Williams laying down eighth notes over Phil Rudd's solid, unwavering groove, then giving way to a chorus that builds to the strong chorus.
"Smash 'N' Grab," is another AC/DC 101 song, with nothing particularly special to make this slower grooved song stand out, but, "Spoilin' For A Fight," is much better. "Spoilin'," again uses the, "Who Made Who," type of verse, giving way to a hanging chord kind of verse and a catchy as hell chorus played with power and flair.
AC/DC goes back to the 70's again for, "Wheels," but this time adding some Alice Cooper Band stylings to the chorus. It's not a great track, but this upper mid-tempo song is different enough from the rest of the album to be a valuable break from what some people may have seen (or, more accurately, heard) as the, "Business as usual," nature of the preceding songs. The chorus is catchy, and the song is a real grower as it sounds better on repeated listening.
From there the band moves into a slow blues grind with, "Decibel," a song that owes as much to 1970's era ZZ Top as it does their own material from that era. This is a strong song with some great licks and solid, whiskey soaked vocal melodies. "Decibel," would come across as a strong album cut on just about any of AC/DC's albums, and it sounds particularly good here.
Slide guitar. It was effective when used on Flick of the Switch, and it's effective here. (Kind of makes you wonder why they haven't used it more.) In this case they use on, "Stormy May Day," another slow, Blues influenced song that is very effective and is another album highlight.
The tempo moves back up (but still not to an uptempo pace) on, "She Likes Rock and Roll," another song with some good staccato riffing in the verse. That verse leads, unfortunately, to a powerful but mediocre chorus. This is one of the choruses on the album that, again, may leave some people wondering what Brian Johnson could have come up with, and if a chorus written by Johnson would have been an improvement over what we've got here.
Mediocre. AC/DC 101. Same old same old. Another slow groove song. "Money Made." Not bad, but nothing special. 'Nuff said.
After two songs that either could have used a rewritten chorus (the former) or would have just been better off left off the album (the latter), AC/DC really takes things down a notch on, "Rock and Roll Dream." This song starts off fairly mellow, before exploding into the chorus (with some of the busier drumming you'll ever hear from Phil Rudd leading into that chorus - it ain't much, but it's a brief burst of sticks hitting toms). This (yet again) isn't a great song, but as a change of pace song, and a song with some fantastic dynamics it works very well as an album cut. "Rock and Roll Dream," has elements that sound a bit like some of Aerosmith's more dynamic, moody material from the 70's. Not bad at all.
AC/DC closes out the album with, "Rocking All the Way," and the title track. "Rocking All the Way," is another upper mid-tempo songs with a solid, but unspectacular chorus, and the title track is another somewhat ZZ Top flavored song. "Black Ice," has that mid-tempo pace, and has Phil Rudd getting slightly busier than usual in the bridge. The chorus on this one, however, is better than average for the album, so the album closes out on a strong note.
The one thing glaringly absent on Black Ice is the inclusion of a couple UPtempo tracks. There isn't one song that could be described as a fast burst of energy. The album suffers as a result. The Australian band Airbourne have picked up the slack, however, as heard on their album Runnin' Wild. They play that same Blues influenced, whiskey soaked, high energy Australian Bar Rock that AC/DC does, but they have the energy that AC/DC misses on Black Ice. Both bands put out good albums in the 2007/2008 time frame, but Runnin' Wild has more energy and enthusiasm than does Black Ice.
Still, Black Ice is a huge improvement over their two previous albums, so that's a good thing. Bottom line? Black Ice is solid, and has some really good (and nearly great) songs on it. It also has a couple mediocre (at best) songs that they may have been better off leaving off the album. Any time a band puts out a 15 track album there is the risk of including mediocre or, "Filler," tracks, and with Black Ice AC/DC proved to be no exception.
3.75/5
