Rock and Roll ain't no riddle man (Back In Black - AC/DC)

Member Name: TheAdder

Product:	Back In Black - AC/DC
Date:	11/09/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hard Rock at its best

Disadvantages: A little repetitive

AC/DC were formed in Sydney, Australia by Scottish born brothers Malcom and Angus Young in 1973. 'Back in Black' is their 8th studio album and was released in July 1980. With an estimated 49 million sales it is the second best selling album of all time with only Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' ahead of it.

The album was the band's first offering since the premature alcohol related death of charismatic frontman Bon Scott. His passing happened only 5 months prior to the album's release but the band had decided it would be a fitting tribute to carry straight on. Angus Young also decreed the sleeve cover to be black as a sign of mourning and respect for the legendary vocalist.

Former 'Geordie' singer Brian Johnson was selected as the new talisman - Scott had been impressed by a performance he once saw of the Gateshead born singer and had told Young, high praise indeed as Scott rarely gave compliments, Young would have noted this and it was no doubt a factor in Johnson's recruitment.

Replacing any position in a high profile band is always going to provoke scrutiny and inevitably split opinion. Being it such a key appointment too then the spotlight so much craved shines a little brighter and is also poised to flick off at any sign of weakness. It could spectacularly backfire and break the band.
There were no such problems with Johnson. His piercing sandpaper rasp worked well against the raucous, uncooked sound that the band were and are renowned for. Although his voice was not as rounded and warm as the archetypal 'classic rock' tones of his predecessor, their phrasings were not too dissimilar, therefore helping maintain the band dynamics somewhat.

'Back in Black' the album epitomises what the band are all about. It is straight down the line mid tempo 3 chord rock to an uncomplicated 4/4 beat. The songs stick to basic principles and they don't try to hide it, that's why it works so well. Prowling and streetwise and favouring a staccato style approach to their riffs, AC/DC have cemented this style as their own. This technique allows the songs to breathe during the verses before the choruses carry you off shoulder high with their 'hands in the air' carousal laced defiance.

Skeleton staff Malcom Young (guitar), Cliff Williams (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums) have their cigars firmly lodged between their lips and are rarely stretched but Johnson and Young Jnr put all the meat on the bones. Young plays how he feels it. You'll never see a fingers blurred neck attacking shred-fest, he's a more patient player. He doesn't build a solo in the way, say, Gary Moore would - the time frame of the songs wouldn't allow it anyway - but he picks the right note for the right occasion. His style is hard but with a bluesy edge. Pentatonic in the main and intricate when he needs to be but ultimately effective. There's a killer lick he puts into the second solo section of 'Back in Black' that I always wish he'd have done first time round as the song is by then fading out.

From the moment the bell chimes to signify the start of first track 'Hells Bells' right through to final song 'Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution we witness pure, unadulterated, in your face hard rock. It is lyrically basic and littered with cliché and innuendo but you don't need Shakespeare penning the rhymes when the band's simplicity is also their genius.
If you don't move to this then you're either inhuman, deaf or frankly dead. You get the feeling the whole thing was recorded in one take, fun to be a part of. It's the second best selling album of all time for a reason - it rocks.

The album hits a peak in the middle with title track 'Back in Black' followed by the magnificent 'You Shook Me All Night Long' - probably one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Again these are not moving mountains musically but the whole vivacity entombed within their basic composition makes them compelling listening. Simple beat, bone hard riff, vein popping vocal, catchy lyrics. Magic.

You could argue that the album has a couple of fillers, mainly 'Givin The Dog A Bone' and 'Have A Drink On Me' but they still get the foot tapping and the head nodding.

No doubt about it though, in parts 'Back in Black' is a bit repetitive and as the hackles of 49 million proud album owners rise and force the mouth into a bloodthirsty snarl, for this album and for this band in general it doesn't really bother me.

I look at 'Back in Black' as an old and trusted friend. Reliable, honest and damn fine to the ear. Whenever the neon coloured 'disco car' with 5 exhaust pipes and multiple baseball-capped inhabitants pulls up at the side of me at the traffic lights pumping out its thudding bass and muffled R2D2 blurbs and whistles, this is the album I turn to. It is my fix, my antidote. On it goes... ah the bell chimes, the riff starts, the middle finger is tempted to spring up. No, we all have our preferences and choices.

This though should be in every record collection. Thanks for reading.


BACK IN BLACK

1 HELLS BELLS
2 SHOOT TO THRILL
3 WHAT DO YOU DO FOR MONEY HONEY
4 GIVIN THE DOG A BONE
5 LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU
6 BACK IN BLACK
7 YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG
8 HAVE A DRINK ON ME
9 SHAKE A LEG
10 ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T NOISE POLLUTION

Brian Johnson - Vocals
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcom Young - Guitar
Phil Rudd - Drums
Cliff Williams - Bass

Summary: Never leave home without it. A rock classic.