DVBeer’s Review: AC/DC..Plug Me In(2007)

 

 

Ahhh yes here’s another fine instalment of a  DVBeer’s Review…

In case you forgot DVBeer’s is basically Me getting together with my good pal of over 40 years Tbone over at his place and we consume Beers. I bring over a few Music  DVD’s and after the Suds hit  we  review the DVD’S! Basically were a Buzzed  up version of Siskel and Ebert!

Let’s Do This….

Beer Of Choice For The Review: Rolling Rock

When I hit 40 years young about 10 years ago my younger sister asked me what I wanted for my Bday…It was simple. AC/DC’s new Mega DVD release Plug Me In. Boom Done Deal!

Plug Me In is over 7 Hours of DVD footage spread over 3 DVD’S  from the Late Great Bon Scott years right into the Brian Johnson years… I will say the packaging is deadly check out the pics I took of the box set!

 

Ok, so this review is going to be a 2 parter as we didn’t even get into the second DVD as this thing is a huge monster of a set! (by the time we did shut it down at Tbone’s it was well past 1:30 am!)

We did though make a dent into it ….

AC/DC “Plug Me In” track listing:

DVD 1 (2 hours 22 mins):

01. High Voltage (King Of Pop awards) – October 1975 (4:02)
02. It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) (Bandstand) (4:41)
03. School Days (St Albans) – March 1976 (5:40)
04. TNT (St Albans) – March 1976 (4:46)
05. Live Wire (Rollin Bolan) – July 1976 (6:12)
06. Can I Sit Next To You Girl (Rollin Bolan) – July 1976 (4:14)
07. Baby Please Don’t Go (Melbourne) – December 1976 (11:49)
08. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be (Sight & Sound) – October 1977 (5:13)
09. Rocker (Sight and Sound) – October 1977 (8:10)
10. Rock ‘n Roll Damnation (Apollo) – April 1978 (3:44)
11. Dog Eat Dog (Apollo Glasgow) – April 1978 (4:26)
12. Let There Be Rock (Apollo) – April 1978 (8:27)
13. Problem Child (Rock Goes To College) – October 1978 (4:44)
14. Sin City (Rock Goes To College) – October 1978 (5:23)
15. Bad Boy Boogie (Rock Goes To College) – October1978 (9:06)
16. Highway To Hell (Veronika) – July 1979 (4:12)
17. The Jack (Veronika) – July 1979 (5:19)
18. Whole Lotta Rosie (Veronika) – July 1979 (5:19)

DVD 1 Bonus Footage:

* Band Interview at Airport 1976 (2:16)
* Band Interview at Covent Garden (2:27)
* “Problem Child” – Melbourne (3:56)
* “Baby Please Don’t Go” (Germany, incomplete) (2:10)
* “Dirty Deeds” on Network Sounds (0:40)
* Bon Scott Interview (15:11)
* “Rock n’ Roll Damnation” – Top of the Pops (2:47)
* Australian Music to the World interview in Atlanta (1:31)
* Nice Super 8 movie (3.34

That’s right 2 hours and 22 minutes! That’s just one Friggin DVD! So we get to watch AC/DC in the earliest stages of their career.  Some real old crazy black and white footage of the boys playing School Days and TNT. Whats remarkable is as Tbone pointed out that Angus was like 16 years old when some of this was filmed. I pointed out that it was weird seeing Bass Player Mark Evans not singing background vocals but drummer Phil Rudd handling the backing vocals along with the best Rhythm Guitarist Ever Mr Malcolm Young!…

Baby Please Don’t Go from 1976 is a cooker of a track! When one thinks of AC/DC you think of them always sounding the same. True but not always is the case as  this version has Rudd playing a real straight ahead drum groove as I remarked that it has a feel like if Charlie Watt’s was cranked up on speed! What a swing to it and kudos to the remastering team on this Box Set( Mike Fraser) that enhance the audio of this and Baby Please Don’t Go is AC/DC playing Chuck Berry like boogie rock at a high-speed! Classic!

Of course you see AC/DC moving up in popularity as they were blasting out there form of Rock on TV shows and actually playing Live! Rocker is real cool as Angus take’s off into the crowd and sits on the lap’s of a few females! Haha…If your a dude and Angus parks his fanny on your girlfriends lap what are you gonna do about it? Exactly! Your gonna do nothing as Lead Singer Bon is watching to make sure no one manhandle’s his Lead Guitarist!

Cool to see footage of the Boys  playing  tracks from the Apollo(1978) as in these are the songs (Rock N Roll Damnation/Let There Be Rock and Problem Child) that we all heard live on the classic live If You Want Blood album that came out in late 1978!

One tune that was recorded live from the Apollo is Dog Eat Dog which I made the comment that this is one  of there best tracks and it features a real cool groove on the drums one of which when AC/DC entered the 80’s they  moved on from which is a shame! As always Bon writes clever lyrics and proves without a doubt he’s one of the best ever at that task! Watch the video and be prepared to get your ASS Kicked! Cliff Williams takes over on Bass from the booted out Mark Evans and I tossed out verbally that Cliff in this video has a Ramones Like Haircut!

The bonus material added is real cool as well with one of them being an 15 minute interview with Bon solo which is a rarity as it seemed like a lot of AC/DC interviews were done as a unit!

Bon is classic! At one point he tells the interviewer “He shouldn’t hold his microphone down there”. The interviewer named Ian is a bore as he repeat’s some questions over at various points. Bon though does talk about how AC/DC at that time was going to be opening for KISS as Bon tells the tale of the Bass Player of KISS(Gene Simmons) discovering AC/DC playing in L.A and offered them the opening slot on the American Tour. What’s classic is Bon nor the interviewer could remember the name of the Bass Player In KISS! Ha! Bon also states that they would be opening for Rush as well and the dopey interviewer has no idea who Rush is as well!

The first DVD ends with bits of clips of Super 8 Film of one of Bon’s last shows….

We skipped the 2nd DVD and went straight into DVD Numero 3 which features a ton more of footage of Bon and Brian!

We delved right into what I consider the best AC/DC album ever (well from Brian’s tenure in the band) Flick Of The Switch which AC/DC includes here as an 53 minute live Flick Show from 1983 featuring new drummer Simon Wright.

Live at Houston Summit 83 (Whole Concert segment runs 53 minutes):

01. Guns For Hire (5:31)
02. Shoot To Thrill (5:32)
03. Sin City (5:24)
04. House Is On Fire (3:58)
05. Back In Black (4:12)
06. Bad Boy Boogie (14:33)
07. Rock ‘n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution (5:07)
08. Flick Of The Switch (3:25)
09. Hells Bells (5:24)

This is a superb show and this is the reason why I wanted the Deluxe Edition as AC/DC is on fire here and drop down 3 tracks from the Flick album live! An album which is  forgotten amongst them but not me!

As the Rolling Rock Suds were hitting big time during Bad Boy Boogie Tbone noticed at one point after the Angus Young strip a roo portion that when Johnson appears back on stage at exactly the 10 minute 25 second mark you can see Brian’s expression as some one in the crew added a rather interesting extension to his mic! Give Jonno credit he looks over laughs but keeps singing as he knows he’s been had! Great eye Tbone. I never noticed it……

Plug Me In is a box set done right!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AC/DC: If You Want Blood…. You Got It(1978)

Have not done an Acca Dacca story in a while so here it goes…..

On all things purchased AC/DC. I think this 1978  Live release If You Want Blood came pretty quickly after I had succumbed to the Horn Dog Lyric antics of the Classic 1980 Release Back In Black.

My pal Muc had already bought 1977’s Let There Be Rock so in all honesty I think it was either this release or Highway To Hell I had purchased second…or maybe not ….I dunno…Do you care? Haha…

Always loved this cover I mean there’s Angus Young being impaled by his Gibson SG and right beside him is the Late Great Bon Scott keeping the show moving forward…..

Back cover was cool as well…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats the thing with these guys was they kept there covers simple but were very effective. This one as well….Leaving there blood on the stage as it were..

So with this being a Live Meal Deal…..Here’s the Tracks ..

1. “Riff Raff” (from Powerage) 5:59
2. “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” (from Let There Be Rock) 4:10
3. “Bad Boy Boogie” (from Let There Be Rock) 7:29
4. “The Jack” (from T.N.T.) 5:48
5. “Problem Child” (from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) 4:40
6. “Whole Lotta Rosie” (from Let There Be Rock) 4:05
7. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation” (from Powerage) 3:41
8. “High Voltage” (from T.N.T.) 5:05
9. “Let There Be Rock” (from Let There Be Rock) 8:33
10. “Rocker” (from T.N.T.)

Now that’s a 10 pack of Barroom Brawl Rock right there!

I’m going Old School in regards to a 10 Track Breakdown of each track….

No Beating Around The Bush here Folk’s!

Angus starts off with a bunch of Power Riffs and before Riff Raff is launched off  and I love how Bon just rolls up to the mic and here comes the  Late Night Whiskey Drenched Voice . The thing with Bon is when sings whatever tune it was…. He Meant Business! Basically between Angus/His Satchel/His Gibson SG and his Snot flying all over the place  and  Bon with his mic in  hand, a clenched fist in the other you weren’t gonna mess with em! Riff Raff rocks like no other. Bon is one of the best lyricists ever! He walked it like he talked it!

Hop on board to a bus headed Straight to Hell as its time to Dial up Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be.  You want tight guitar chops in the verses look  no further than this song. Angus and Malcolm are airtight on the 6 strings and Cliff and Phil keep the Rhythm Boat A Float as Bon man could sell you real estate in Hell as he’s that convincing! Kinda funny coming from the Romper Room antics of KISS at a young age and discovering AC/DC where its Fists N Rolls and Bon’s idea of Hell is very different from Starchilds version of Hotter Than Hell!

Bad Boy Boogie is just that! Bon does it all over town! This is an No Frills straight ahead Back Room Brawler Of A Track. The lyrics are classic Bon. Angus takes this tune and pushes it over the 7 minute mark and basically like all things ACCA DACCA its the Mal and Angus show as this tune I believe was the showcase for Angus to drop his drawers and Bark At The Moon!

The Jack. Well what do you say about this song….Speaking of Classic Lyrics…..just listen to  the video posted below..

Duke’s N Booze lead the way with Problem Child as the Boy’s shift gears from the Sleazy Bluesy Feel of The Jack right into Problem Child. Phil pushes the pace with his drums and Bon as always lays down the law with his vocals. Problem Child just reeks trouble with its Piss N Vinegar like vibe and no one is safe….

Whole Lotta Rosie is another classic track that probably  has been played since 1977-78 at every DC show and I dig the feel of this track especially Bon taking control vocally between the between the verses before the Sonic Blasts of the music lift this tune off. Even the crowd is into as they are all chanting Angus Angus Angus between at the opening. Speaking of which I may have told the story about our pal Jack Loaf who thought the crowd at the beginning was chanting Rock Us Rock Us Rock Us…Dude its Angus there chanting not Rock Us! Haha…Now you are probably wondering where the name Jack Loaf came from. Easy. Jack was his actual name and Loaf was added to it by Moi as Jack was the only one in Highschool that I knew at the time (1982) that was listening to Meat Loaf!

Rock N Roll Damnation is the song that has AC/DC almost playing for a hit  tune. But this live version flexes a lot more muscle than the studio album it came from(Powerage). The chorus has a real catchy hook that draws you in and for that there is nothing wrong with that! You think back in 78 if Deke worked for the Record Company  I would tell Bon  “Aye Mate You Digging Around For A Hit Single?”  Bon would have probably grabbed me by the throat and before he choked me out I would muster up my go to line which would be “Tbone Said It….Not Me!!”

High Voltage. Well it’s just one Awesome track after another here as Angus plays some real cool like riffage and Cliff and Phil join in for the ride. I love this tune….Hiiiiiiiiiiiigh Voltage Rock N Roll sings Bon and this song features a real classic Angus solo followed by Bon leading the charge at audience participation …..and right after Bon is done his deal the Band load up and head for the finish line! AC/DC at there best….!

Remember a few weeks my post on solo’s? Well here comes Angus and his SG and its solo time but only after this Chuck Berry Taking Speed Fused Boogie 8 Ball inspired tune that we all know as Let There Be Rock is unraveled before our ears! Another bonafide classic tune that has been played every tour since 1977 as well! Phil kicks off this tune and the boys are a blazing as Angus and Malcolm take the verse’s off while Bon/Phil and Cliff hold down the fort but when Angus and Malcolm join in it’s chaos as the guitars are jacked and the AC/DC Tour Bus is about to drive off the road….This is an Heavy Hitter of an track. Let There Be ….Light/Sound/Drums/Guitar…..Let There Be ROOOOOOOOOCK!

Did you watch the Live Video of Let There Be Rock (this live vid is the actual track from If You Want Blood album)that I posted? Well you should and see the Live Fury of this band back in 1978!

Rocker wraps things up as Angus and Crew riff up another spliff of Chuck Berry delight and send everyone home with Rocker which in its lyrics almost is Bon  autobiographical! Great ending…

If You Want Blood  is an excellent document on where AC/DC was at back in 1978! Basically it’s Barroom Boogie at it’s finest! Could be just me but when discussing Live Albums sometimes this one is not mentioned but it Should! It’s AC/DC on fire…….

 

 

AC/DC/For Those About To Rock(We Salute You) (1981)

 

 

Hey Folks! Today Marks The 35 Anniversary Of For Those About To Rock! Fellow Blogger Mr (Andrew )Bop Asked If Anyone One Wanted To Blog About This Monumental Album So Click The Links Below And Check Out Some Great Writers….

https://nauticazinger.wordpress.com

https://keepsmealive.wordpress.com

My review of FTATR was posted last September(2015) So yeah I’m cheating but …..ummmmm My Blog My Rules……..

 

Tbone raced out of the gates and bought this the day it was released and that would have been Nov of 1981! AC/DC as we know became a household item after Back In Black sold like millions and millions and millions (you get the idea) and well you can all read about how Back In Black took us all over musically and sonically as well a good story on my friend CHICO who is the star of the Back In Black post….https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/sonic-waves-acdcback-in-black/

So here we are back in November 81 and those smart Suits at Atlantic Records are getting out new AC/DC product before Christmas which we all know means $$$$$ for the record company’s ….

Tbone did the right thing and bought this on vinyl(I got my copy of FTATR at Christmas) once we got back to his place it was time to further inspect said product! I have always loved the cover simple,a cannon background some kind of copperish color and the logo of AC/DC of course and what a great title for a bunch of young fanboys like myself and Tbone!

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK …(on the front cover)  WE SALUTE YOU …(on the back cover)  of course we were gobsmacked as there we’re ten more new songs(which i will get into shortly) but the real kicker was that it was a gatefold album…

Boom we opened it up. There it is AC/DC  in a live action shot! Wowzers we must  have stared at that pic for minutes! Ha and no we weren’t baked!

Not to many bands did gatefold sleeves at the time(well in my collection anyways ) of course I had the two Kiss Alive Albums (1&2),Cheap Trick At The Budokan,Dream Police and Rush’s Exit Stage Left and that was it for gatefold sleeves….

Of course AC/DC had built their reputation not only on studio albums but the touring angle as well. Hence the great live shot….

After For Those About To Rocks release I heard chatter in my Highschool Halls that FTATR sounded like the Back In Black? Hahahaha…no shit Sherlock the previous 7 AC/DC albums all sounded alike but that’s AC/DC’s deal and more power to them….I dug it and bought into the program! Oi! I mean why would AC/DC change it up now! They were huge,they had Mutt Lange once again produce as he twiddled the knobs as producer on Back In Black and before that Highway To Hell.

Cliff Williams,Phil(breaking the law) Rudd,Brian Johnson and those crazy wacky Young brothers Angus and Malcolm keep the parteeee going! (Cannon Included!)

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (WE SALUTE YOU)-Angus  gets our attention real quick with his real cool picking and brother Malcolm lays down the ultimate riff! Here comes  Cliffy (bass) Rudder (drums) and Jonno, he is already cooked hollering “we roll tonight to the guitar bite!”  Of course if you’re a fan of this album you know this songs deal! The verses and chorus move along at a mid tempo pace and the band shifts gears once Angus nails down the solo! Johnson tells us all to “Pick up balls,Load up your cannons for a 21 gun saluuuuute!” There they be….Cue Cannons…FIRE……by golly AC/DC dumped some cash into the sonics on this album as these cannons sound real! The songs ramps up Angus goes speeding up and down his guitar neck and the song ends with one more round of cannon fire! If your Lookin for an attention grabber …look no further than track 1!

PUT THE FINGER ON YOU-Angus leads off and Phil  joins in on drums Jonno lays down the vocal and man this dude was singing in the high registers on this album as he did on Back In Black. The guitars carry this one as does Angus on his solo.

LETS GET IT UP-Angus once again opens this mid tempo tune and the band steams ahead! Johnson is crafty with the lyrics on this song! At one point he sings”It’s high tide,Let’s ride the moon is rising and so am I” poetry in rock motion my  friends of Arena Rock and why do I say that? Easy peasy 34 years later these lyrics are welded Into the Neanderthal portions of my brain! Guess what? I’m totally ok with this! Angus does not abort ship but shifts gears in a real nice solo and he shows why he’s always been a great hard rock blues guitar player being he can play off the wall bonkers solos and chill it back and play blues solos cranked up to 10 on his Marshall.

INJECT THE VENOM- This is serious AC/DC! Big sound from the band stops and crashes at the start and let Brian wail his vocals in between bursts of High Voltage heavy riff rock! The chorus is real good and man Angus nails down the solo like a lightening bolt zinging the fretboard of his guitar! V-E-N-O-M! Great tune a Gem I mean, Johnson could peel paint off the wall with his vocals on this record! As always top-notch straight ahead hard rock beats courtesy of Mal,Cliff and Phillip.

SNOWBALLED- kinda one of those tunes that no one talks about but I’m gonna! Love Snowballed. It just cranks heavy blues rock from the start and it took me years to figure out what Johnsons singing about on this track! Vocally this track as man he’s giving er! “you been Snowballed!” Yelps Brian and Angus and the boys are steaming down full throttle about to come off the tracks! Angus just lets it rip and that’s the deal for early 80s AC/DC fast hard-driving rock!

EVIL WALKS- The beginning riff man that sounds like Evil to me and this opening to this tune feels like were all going down to hell! Dig how the band shifts gears at the start and by the time Johnson joins were off to the races! Great everything about this song! Crank the video posted and we all can go to Hell together! Love the street backing vocals courtesy of Cliff and Malcolm they ain’t singers man their just dudes in jeans and t-shirts that open there mouths and there’s the vocals. On record is what you hear live.

C.O.D- Love this tune! Love the crisp clear snap mix of Phil’s high hat. Speaking of mixed drums AC/DC always got great drum sounds on their albums and the only other band that has come close is the Cult on their Electric Album! Man those drums on Electric are so crisp so clear and were talking about the Cult back in 1987!  C.O.D is great with just the one guitar at the beginning joining Phil and Brian singing about ‘Call of the dog,cry of the bitch,cream of the dream is the cause of the itch,call of the doctor,cash on demand,get enough rope might even hang’ boom the band ramps up and were off to the real catchy chorus C.O.D …..man I just love  this tune and why not it’s simple yet very effective AC/DC doing what they do best! Teaching all of us 14-year-old boys back in 1981 the birds,bees,does and dont’s of life! For that thanks ACDC!

BREAKING THE RULES-A slow barn burner of a tune as the band just grooves off the top. Angus once again goes into some inner channel old blues guy and plays a low down n dirty solo! This tune is a slower paced AC/DC kinda animal! Phil,Cliff and Malcolm lay back the groove and no worries peeps if you’re gonna break rules break them with AC/DC!

NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES-The band all start out of the gate on time all together and this song Yep is one of those end of the finish line Gem classics that no one ever talks about! Love the guitar during the verses sounds pure Evil!  The chorus is real and I mean real catchy  This tune is how we like our fav Aussies…Eviiiiil man pure Eviiiiil !

SPELLBOUND-Trippy dippity tune that wheezes and sniffs its way to the finish line. Back in my youngish daze I would kinda be done after Night Of The Long Knives but over time what makes a great song sometimes is the slow grower that over time will win Ya over! Spellbound is that.  The chorus is Rock EM Sock Em a different kinda of AC/DC  but not really…hey it all can’t be about booze and humping! Well! It can be…..

IN CONCLUSION-On any given day FTATR can easily be up there in my fav AC/DC albums,yeah seriously like why not! Sure my all time fav DACCA record is Flick Of The Switch but there all great in one way or another and I can honestly say AC/DC would never be featured in a 3/4s Filler episode! Nada not happening here. Seriously though 1981 and now Into 2015 FTATR is deemed an all time classic …..just love it ….

AC/DC…Blow Up Your Video

Had no real intentions on reviewing this album by ACCA DACCA at this time but last week Mikey over at his site reviewed Blow Up Your Video and gave it a rating of 2.5/5 stars!? Even at one point in the comments  said he coulda sold it at a 2/5 rating…..

Click HERE for Mike’s review.

Wowzers sez I! I mean that’s almost 3/4s Filler here at Arena Rock….

Mike throws down some valid points in his review but in his comments everyone was agreeing with him! Hahaha….except me! Double Hahaha……I just said I should review it and flip my spin on it! Than Jompa from Sweden shows up with comments after Mike Sez he wants Jompa to chainsaw The AC/DC album….Jompa says Blow Up Your Video is crap and there’s only 3 good tracks on it….

I laughed said I  gonna convert all the naysayers in the comments and Mike said  Jompa and myself should do a showdown on this album! I told Mikey ….I ain’t gonna win againest a dude with a chainsaw…..

But hey I will try ….

January 1988,new AC/DC(Blow Up Your Video) , Dave Lee Roth (Skyscraper) and a little later on VH with Ou812 and the mighty Iron Maiden (7th Son Of A 7th Son) are all purchases I made in that early part of the  year on CD! Welcome to the world of technology DeKEs!

AC/DC were bouncing back with the Who Made Who album and a tour that put them back in the public eye and here comes Simon Wright,Cliff Williams,Brian Johnson,Malcolm and Angus Young with there first full studio release in 3 years….(1985s underrated Fly On The Wall was a commercial flop,but not here at Arena Rock)

LETS DO THIS…..

HEATSEEKER-some cool Angus noodling and drum guy Simon counts in and we’re off this is boogie woogie DC at there best! The song drives quickly towards the chorus and we’re all happy that AC/DC is back into boogie rock! Mal and Ang guitars are cranked and Yep I agree with Mikey that the mix is kinda muddy but muddy fits AC/DC to a T. Too much polish would do this no justice man….I like The DC grimey! Grimey it is! Think about it folks for a second! 1988 everything ,well most hard rock back than was polished except for a few like Gunners(Appetite For Destruction) but bands like  VH (with a bizarre mix job on OU812) quite a bit of mud sonics there  but for a real high tech produce job check out Diamond Dave with Skyscraper! AC/DC sez If You Want Mud Mix……..You Got It!

BLOW UP YOUR VIDEO-love the openings riff of this tune! Malcolm and Angus are the kings off cool basic rock hooks! Jonno lays down the law about picking up his woman in his Chevy and were punching gas and the song rocks start to finish! I like these songs without having to watch the vids! The geetars are smoking here…..

MEANSTREAK-this begins the first of 3 DC tunes that are just straight ahead mid tempo Dc Rawk! Johnson sounds like a greasy sleazeball used car salesman and Frigg would you buy a car from him? Sure you would Ha! I love how he sings this tune in the verses mixing matching lines like ” I’m the perfect culture vulture in the face of poverty an I ain’t met no one  who told me I got class,say never feed the animal the boys got too much class!” Perfecto! The  tempo pushes the song forward with Angus doing some neat little doodles on his guitar….

GO ZONE-mid tempo track features those backing ACDC Gang Vocals…..Gooooo Zone! Indeed this is just another slower boogie woogie Rock out with Angus and Crew! Think of this as the bastard brother of First Blood from Fly On The Wall during the verses!

KISSIN DYNAMITE-so the end of side 1 brings in a another song in typical AC/DC jam fashion! Johnson sings it as he sells it! “feel like Kissin Dynamite!” Sez he! I dig there slick move when they shift gears from the chorus back to the verses! The song is a straight late night barroom shuffle out the door boozed up with a bird on your arm kinda tune! Ok ok I will say it!!!!! TNT Oi! Dynoooooooooomite!

NICK OF TIME-oh yeah man one of my favs from this record Gem Like! Simon Wright counts the boys in and holy friggin Wowzers! AC/DC is jammimg in a different beat as Simon drives his drums along with making Cliff think on his bass and Geezus Murphy …I love this tune! Jonno sounds sinister on the lead vocals and that’s the way we like the vocals delivered ….. Angus peels off some Chuck Berry riffs in the chorus and were off…crank the video posted!

SOME SIN FOR NUTHIN-creepy crawler of a tune is low down dirty DACCA! This tune oooozes sleaze and creeps along at a snails pace! Simon cracks his cymbals during the chorus and the song builds up kinda….another great tune. AC/DC hangs loose on this tune like what’s the rush sucka’s? Play the video posted Don’t Blow Up The Video!

RUFF STUFF-Jonno likes EM big …likes Em small! Ha! So give B.J some Ruff Stuff another late night what sounds like a free for all booze fest and the the guitars barrel along at a pace to keep the party Movin and Grooving!

TWOS UP-whoah! This tune is a end of the album GEM! Angus and Malcolm play some real cool chill guitars kinda like Overdose from Let There Be Rock and Simon drives the band forward and Jonno delivers a great lead vocal! Over 5 minutes of slow stomp DC! Mid paced but what a cooker! Jonno tosses down a ménage a trois like scenario with lyrics like “I love the way you slip and slide, I like the way you girls work out,and make a partnership,make a partnership,I go you go,she go we go,Twos up! Give me heads,give me tails” boom done Great track!

THIS MEANS WAR- I have to agree with Mike..this is a toss in end of the album  thrown in tune! Too be honest this  album for me ends after Twos Up and how the hell you top that bad boy! You don’t …can’t really tell you anymore so….

IN CONCLUSION- am I gonna really convert anyone’s thinking if they already didn’t like this album? Probably not but I had fun anyways yapping about it! Maybe it was the timing of this release that I always dug it! Or maybe for the fact that I dug those AC/DC albums that didn’t sell as much but had great songs! Who knows but I dig and still like this album …..

Now Jompa go easy on that chainsaw on me will Ya!!!!

This Friday more AC/DC coming up……..

SONIC WAVES…..AC/DC/Powerage

Comparisons! That’s what people like to do! In music when bands I mean big bands change out lead singers some bands can make a go of it with continued success.

Case in point….

Van Roth became Van Hagar and continued to sell concert tickets and albums….

Other acts will change out there lead singer put  out a classic record and no one gives a shit about. Case in point Motley Crüe with the criminally underrated Motley Corabi record.

Other acts will just becomes musical whores and change there lead singer out and get a copy cat singer to pease the masses. Case in point Journey with that Arnial guy singing the lines of the great Steve Perry!

Orrrrrrrr….bands will change out lead singers bring in the a new guy and it backfires on all cylinders and a few years later the band brings back one of the original throats CUZ everyone in the band knows there dead in the water with the new guy. Case in point Iron Maiden. Bruce Dickinson splits and is replaced by Blaze Bayley(sorry fella) and Maiden record some ahhhh interesting records with Blaze and a few years later Bruce is back to the save the day and Dekes is happy!

Sometimes though a band can pull it off and well when it comes to ACDC there one of the few that have pulled it off and would continue to sell opius amounts of records with a lead singer change!

This leads me to this review people! Whenever people say “Hey I dig ACDC but I perfer Bon over Brian” or vice versa but to my ears I have never heard anyone diss either guy! I guess that would be the definition of a Smooth Move!

Of course to ACDC it wasn’t a smooth move when your on the cusp of American stardom and poor Bon the partying lifestyle caught up to the guy and he passed away in February of 1980. By July of 1980 ACDC had not only recorded  Back In Black but they were also here in good Ol Tbay! That’s 5 months…Lead singer passes, new lead singer auditions,write and record a album,start a tour and road test your new singer Brian Johnson in dump markets like Tbay to get his chops together before the real big city’s come calling!

Anyways I’m getting ahead here. When Bon was still rolling with the boys in 1978 here comes ACDC with Powerage! Powerage is my fav Bon album whereas Flick Of The Switch is my fav Brian album!

For comparisons though I dig both eras of the band! So I can’t compare the two all I can say is I dig the two!

Bon Scott (RIP) man what can you say about this guy that hasn’t been said! To me though he is one of the best wordsmiths out there! No one could write lyrics like this guy! Talk about clever and if you want lyrics! You got Em on Powerage. Plus his voice man that bar boozed partying type vibe that he portrayed and what  he  was singing was what he was digging!

Give me…..Hiiiiiiiiiiiigh Voooooooltage! Bon N Roll…..

ROCK N ROLL DAMNATION-By golly Bon and the boys lead the charge with a Single kind of! This is a snap happy ACDC telling us all were living in Damnation as we’re all over town! Bon kicks down the door and fires up the party and Angus,Malcolm,Cliff and Phil lay down the groove! Check out the video i posted of this tune! It’s cool I mean look at that Rock N a Roll Hoodie that Bon is sporting! Dude had style circa 1978!

DOWN PAYMENT BLUES-one of my fav ACDC tunes.  This song bleeds Rock n Roll and I’m riding shotgun with Bon as he takes us through the seedier side of life. Angus opens up with a real deal riff opener kinda slows it down to a slow burn and than Malcolm joins in and I love the sonics on this album done by Harry Vanda and George Young. You can hear Phils snare rattling around before he hits the shit out of it and boom when he does he and Cliffy Rock the boat so to speak and once again Bon lays down some real good lines…”I got holes in my shoes….and I’m way overdue” “got me a cadalliac,but I can’t afford the gasoline”

GIMMIE A BULLET-the Young bothers lock horns with Cliffys bass and this is another sure fire winner here at Arena Rock! Bon stews on about GIMMIE A BULLET to bite on! While this is a different kind of ACDC groove but it still packs a enough of a slam to the head to leave Ya sonically spinning around in circles! Love the buildup in the prechorus and the chorus delivers!

RIFF RAFF – hey man it’s the end of side one and here comes riffs like gunfire out of Angus Youngs Gibson SG. And before not too long heres brother Malcolm on guitar adding his awesome rhythm prowess on guitar followed by Phil( I lost my mind in 2014)Rudd on drums and new boy Cliff Williams on bass and together Riff Raff leads the charge and Bon comes and lay downs the law …Bon takes these lyrics and tells me “I ain’t shot nobody never carried a gun!” Fair enough Bon will just kick the living crud out of you with his fists! Great song and man the song just kicks with a straight ahead beat! ACDC slam down there’re law on track 4.

SIN CITY- when I think of evil riffs Sin City comes to mind! The opening riff of this is pure evil! Angus and his devil horns lock in once again with Cliff and were going to Hell kids! Once the whole band joins in were off to Vegas! Bon sez  It all when he sings ” Poor man last Rich man first!” This song just kills and its ACDC at one of there finer moments! Rough and tumble with Bon kicking over the poker tables and taking  the dancers with him! You gonna stop him! Naaa your not! Angus just nails down one off the all time great solos he makes it sound sooooo cool! Love the chill part after  the solo where Cliff lays down a cool groove with Phil and his hi hat and Bon lays it on line with “Rich man,poor man,beggar man thief,he ain’t got a hope in hell thats my belief!” The boys just ramp back up and Wowzers does it get any better than this? Ok now seriously though….I always post videos of the stuff I review and if you check em out! Fantastic man I salute you! I do this as sometimes i review albums that are classics in my burnt out mind so the video posted  may give you a idea on just what the hell I’m talking about or than again maybe not! Ha! This live video of Sin City you have to watch as its ACDC playing in daylight in a huge outdoor stadium that from the distance looks like the set from the Flintstones mixed with Jurassic Park! This vid is raw ACDC there slammimg this bad boy live in the ground! I mean there space on stage is limited but Angus,his satchel and guitar destroy it! Bon like Bon does lays down the friggin law!

WHATS NEXT TO THE MOON-holy hell Bon is tying his woman to the railroad tracks! Great lyrics make this track and the way Bon wrote the lyrics to this tune and how the Young brothers composed the music this tune does sound like a Train coming down the line! Angus’s solo in this song is the lightening bolt from hell! Quick and zippy and it leaves you the listener fried! Added plus is the backing vocals from Cliff and Malcolm! Boom classic. Boom done!

GONE SHOOTIN-now were in the backwoods crusing with a real low chill tune! Angus and Malcolm just have a ton of riffs stored in there noggins back than. You want boogie rock! Check. You want blues based rock with a sledge hammer coming down on Ya! Check. You want some real low down dirty swampy boozey schmoozey Rock ! Check. This is what this one is! It’s a real cool low down vibe! Bon man on this album he’s been in Rock Damnation! Not caring about the Blues! Eating Bullets! Headed to Vegas and than pretending to be  Casey Jones! Now he’s Gone Shootin! Love the rawness of this tune! A great track that lotsa people have forgotten about! NOT ME!

UP TO MY NECK IN YOU-4 on the Floor stomper! Aca Daca pick up steam and Blitzkreig this stomper into submission! Bons tired of his lady! So beat it ! Ha! Angus riffs like a looney tune while Bon and the boys crank into high gear! Crank the video posted!

KICKED IN THE TEETH AGAIN-speaking of High Gear this tune is off the tracks! Boom off the hop Bons a hollering and why wouldn’t he! The band behind him is firing on all cylinders and Wowzers man this is a cooker! The album ends with ACDC not turning off the lights but taking a baseball bat to the lights and smashing everything in site! Oh yeah one more thing! Bring on the dancing girls and put the champagne on ice!

IN CONCLUSION-hey this is my 200 th post and why not do it right with Powerage right?! Actually ACDC is one of those bands I could review all there albums and I probably will! Ha! Be forewarned!  Seriously though Powerage I just love and man wether I’m riding my bike or walking this puts a ton of extra peddling or steps for that matter into my pace! Like why wouldn’t it? Angus is soloing frenzy incorperated! Cliff drives the bass! Phil keeps the shop steady! Malcolm is like i said in my Flick Of The Switch Review that Malcolm is the king of rythm guitar and Bon man he’s the deal all tatted up living the hard rock  lifestyle and if he didn’t like Ya he’d punch your lights out!

Harness all this energy Into a record I call a classic …POWERAGE!

SONIC WAVES…AC/DC/Fly On The Wall

1985 and by that point AC-DC weren’t the huge juggernaut they were about 5 years earlier when they steamrolled all our young minds with Back in Black(1980) and For Those About To Rock(1981).

1983s Flick Of The Switch is perhaps my all time fav Aca Daca record and you can read about it  here.https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/sonic-waves-acdcflick-of-the-switch/

So when Fly On The Wall dropped in June of 1985 all us diehards bought it upon its release and then  it slid off the charts and that was that! But I tell Ya man I love the rawness of this record I mean gone were the days of Mutt Lange polishing and refining up the sound for AC-DC. Course it worked as those 3 records that Mutt Lange produced (Highway To Hell,BIB and FTATR) were huge sellers but by the time Flick Of The Switch was released the bros Angus And Malcom Young seized the good ship ACDC and took over its controls at the studio console and produced these two ACDC records(FOTS and FOTW)  These two records are the sleeper records in the ACDC catalogue and if you’re looking for singles here….Nope! If you’re looking for a real good sounding produced album here…..Nope! If you think you’re gonna understand Brian Johnson’s lyrics on this record….Nope! Ha!

But if you are looking for some no-nonsense just plug it in and let it rip kinda rock than well …..this is the place!

LET THERE BE ROCK……indeed!

FLY ON THE WALL- Angus drops a power chord  and here comes new boy Simon Wright on the drums and  Johnson vocals sounding like his appendix is about to explode! This is fantastic shit! Johnson is off the rails already and were only 30 seconds in! The song right ramps up by the chorus and plows forward with quick Angus Young on the frets and   good Ol Cliff Williams slobbering all over his bass. This is AC-DC that I love! Straight forward rock..basically boot you in the ass rock!

SHAKE YOUR FOUNDATIONS-Aye Oi! This I guess was the single and it’s pretty damn catchy I mean you can’t go wrong with the boys banging out the lines Aye Aye Oi! Shake Your Foundations! This is a good mid tempo non stop rocker and I love this track and that damn chorus! Those wily OL rock vets still could write a catchy chorus and this tune proves it! Perhaps if they had cleaned this song up sonically it would have done better but yeah tell Malcolm that and you would be eating a fistful of knuckles! Still though this is a great track!

FIRST BLOOD-ACDC keeps the machine chugging along and here comes First Blood! Simon and his Sonor drums keep the beat a grooving and the guitars of Malcolm and Angus do the rest! This is ACDC being in street fighter mode! Locked and loaded. The verses are real good and pre chorus is gold and boom First Blood ….bad dog looking for more! Ha could be about a women or could be a fight! I’m thinking on this tune a fight 1985 style! Whatever the fuck that means!

DANGER-Angus and Malcolm mix there guitars like some kind of Led Zep mash up! Danger Danger,don’t talk to strangers sings Jonno and hey man it’s 1985 and ACDC is not reinventing the wheel here folks but still it’s 1985 I’m still in high school and ACDC is teaching me about all things Danger meaning birds! Ha!

SINK THE PINK- I remember this video got some spins on Muchmusic and speaking of Highschool (Lakeview High School)we had an English teacher in grade 12 at the time Ummm can’t remember his real name but surprise he had a nickname and it was Waxman! Waxman we spent one class talking about this track that he had seen the night before on MuchMusic! Ol Waxy just couldn’t understand why call the song Sink The Pink…to us (classmates) we dug it to Waxman he hated it was a good debate,nothing was resolved but it was good to see that Waxman could roll some rock n roll  punches! The song though is ACDC ….nothing fancy but Angus and Malcolm keep the chow train moving and once again this is ACDC mid tempo smashing glasses and rocking it forward!

PLAYING WITH GIRLS- Ahh man this is my favourite tune off of FOTW! Boom this is barroom boogie rock at its best! The guitars are cranked on this track and so is Johnson he’s cranked up for sure …you know this song is about the highball women who are hot to touch! And well if Your playing with Girls gonna get you hot,playing with guns gonna get you shot! Playing with fire gonna heat you up,Playing with me you gonna get the lot!…..so yeah man this is   ACDC taking over my English teacher Waxmans class and teaching all of us young uns the birds and bees of life! Come to think of it..Tbone did you write these lyrics in grade 12! Ha!

STAND UP- oh yeah another track I really like! ACDC tells us take no shit Stand Up don’t be a puppet!  Love the beat to this  tune by new drummer boy Simon Wright! Love the guitar of Angus and Malcolm that kinda sleazy riff there known for! The chorus is real catchy with Cliff even noodling around on his bass and Johnson rocks it with his voice! Well what’s left of it! Ha!

HELL OR HIGHWATER-Simon leads off with your typical AC-DC drum beat and the boys join in and this song isn’t to bad. During the chorus the Dacca boys drop down some serious big gang backing vocals. Of course Angus like he always does interjects the song and torpedoes a riff good time solo!

BACK IN BUSINESS AGAIN-well they may have been down in record sales but don’t count these guys out! ACDC is headed for the homestretch with this tune. Too be honest they ease  off of the gas on this one and that is Allright I mean let’s do a quick rundown so far with this album…well its about things that make you Sink The Pink! Ha! Really and oh yeah Playing with Girls! Geez does it get any better than this? Nope Sez I!

SEND FOR THE MAN-AH shit ACDC are wanting their dough. Send For The Man holy heck Jonno sounds like he’s gargling vocal mouthwash here! He’s telling us all to take cover and ACDC end the album on a riff oriented straight ahead rocker to finish things up! For crap sakes will the last one to leave shut the lights off when Ya leave? Thanks!

IN CONCLUSION- you know outside the goofy album cover this album rocks! What I mean by that is ACDC don’t give a shit about singles back in 85! This is stripped down low a dirty ACDC and I was real glad that Tbone invested into Fly On The Wall as well I mean he had been toting along two debacles sonically at the time Y&Ts Down For The Count and sapping and dabbling in Nightranger(7 Wishes) so Tbone saves face with this call..Atta boy!  But Yep…I dug this one and still do I don’t visit this one as much but when I do it’s still a firecracker of a Wreckord!

SONIC WAVES….AC/DC/Back In Black

 

What the hell could I possibly add to a review of Back In Black that already hasn’t  been said or done by someone in the last 35 years (yikes) that pertains to Back In Black, one of the best albums of all time?

Nuthin….haahahaha ….well I guess all the reviews of Back In Black were done by critics who received their vinyl copies free! Me? Ha,Nope i was 12 years old going on 13 when AC-DC dropped Back In Black in my lap(July of 1980)and taught me about…..well,just keep reading……

AC-DC I first heard about in grade 7 from a friend whose older brother had a copy of Highway To Hell(Bon Scott/r.i.p) and Powerage and he raved on about them. At the time to be honest I was fixated on Kiss Dynasty/Cheap Tricks Budokan/Queens The Game etc….hell Van Halen hadn’t even registered with me it! (Soon though) so it was a matter of time before Angus/Cliff/Phil/Malcolm and Brian(Bons replacement) would steal the show and knock me off my block with their sound……

Word on the street back in the day was AC-DC had this hot-shot new single You Shook Me All Night Long and it was a killer tune and once I heard it on our local radio station(CKPR)  the top  9 @ 9 I was hooked just like how a few years later when I first heard Love It Loud by Kiss on the top 9 @ 9  for the first time and was glad that Kiss went hard rock..well no one cared much about that ….but I did(Kiss going heavy) that is…

So as soon as I heard You Shook Me All Night Long it was like in order..1- listen to this dudes voice! 2- listen to those guitars 3-listen to the production(hello Mutt Lange) 4- wowzers check out them lyrics 5-my heads gonna explode 6- I need this!

So off to downtown Tbay and to a local record shop Record On Wheels(which for all you Tbay readers was once located in what is now Gargoyles Resteraunt ) anyhow myself,Tbone and John Young (real name) bought 3 vinyl copies of Back In Black. We all raced back to our individual home bases dropped the needle and within 10 minutes we were all phoning each other! We’re we blown away with what we were hearing? Was this the second coming of J.C?

Well I wish I could say that. But in all honesty all 3 records that we bought were skipping everywhere,each song (the whole shipment of BIB albums were duds) man we were deflated so the next day we returned our 3 copies of BIB to Record On Wheels and then began the proceedings of harassment on my part of calling Record On Wheels daily from home ….’Is  it in? When? What? How Long? Tomorrow? Maybe they would tell me just to shut me up! I mean I probably gave the sales person a nervous breakdown with my relentless calling but hey I’m a 13 year kid with snot running out of  my nose and my school marks ain’t so great but You don’t understand………

I need this…and hear comes the saviour in this. Chico,mine and Tbones childhood buddy who just lived about a half a block away from me(just down the road) Chico back than and still does loves cars/snow machines/motorcycles basically anything with speed. My need for speed on the other hand consisted of my 10 speed bike back than!

Chico didn’t really talk music much but he had an older sister who I remembered had a copy of Queens News Of the World that we had listened to so Chico had a bit of schooling in music and of course when he turned 16 (a few years later)and got his driver’s license he flipped me a 10 pack of Maxwell blank cassette tapes and told me  quote ‘give me some Rockin stuff” for his tape deck in his car!

Ok,so back to 1980 I told Chico about the new AC-DC album and he goes ‘yeah I got it!” I was like ????…. He said “I got a copy of it on 8 track” I was like ??????

Who the hell cares what it’s on. Chico came through in the clutch and man my first time hearing BIB in full was in Chicos moms car(can’t remember what kind of car,kinda resembled a Sherman World War 2 Tank without the turret) and we sat in his driveway as Chico was too young to drive and he cranked it and of course halfway through Given The Dog A Bone the 8 track would change mid tune,make some clacking noises and then resume …who cared man? I didn’t ..Chico stepped up an delivered ….come to think of it Chico back than must have thought I was like some crazed out music junkie  looking for a hit (Back In Black)

For Those About Rock Chico,I Salute You!

So after about a week of nonstop harassment of Record On Wheels they said “yeah we got some new copies of BIB” Bam,phone is dropped and I’m gone back downtown/back home unwrap the plastic put it on and …..ahhhhhhhh Mothertrucker…it skips?!! Again?!..Yep but this time no fooling around no more trips to downtown no more harassing Record On Wheels this time it was scotch tape and 2 pennies taped to the top of my needle to give it weight! Viola! No skip!

So here it is BIB in my house! And so begins the AC-DC journey……

Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be……so some say!

HELLS BELLS- The bell chimes and I guess it’s the tribute to Bon. Angus opens the  song with one of the many classic riffs of all time and Malcolm,Phil and Cliff join in and here comes new boy vocalist Brian Johnson telling me that Satan will  get Ya! Ahh yeah man if he does I’m taking Tbone/Chico/Muc and John Young with me! Angus takes about 3 minutes to become my new guitar hero and well why wouldn’t he? He shifts gears and steers the bus right down to hell with all of us on board! What a opener!

SHOOT TO THRILL- To this day I love the opening of this song! Those guitars of The Young Brothers are cranked! Phil drives the song along and Cliff lays down the bass and this is just straight ahead rock! The solo once again is off the charts especially at the end of the solo when Johnson is yelping “Pull it…Pull it….Pull  The Trigger” of course when your about to turn 13 and the lead singer is chiming off about too many woman and too many pills ….ummmm instant street cred!

WHAT YA DO FOR MONEY- Ok so young DeKEs is getting schooled by  AC-DC. The song starts in with everyone soon to be followed by Johnson and we’re off .Cool,simple yet effective hard rock! And back to the schooling deal from 9-3:30 pm Monday – Friday it was math/history/Geography/science/gym from 4pm to bedtime my rock schooling consisted of Mr Johnson and he taught me about Hell/Pills/Women/Prostitution with a side order of licks and tricks!…and were only on track 3!

GIVEN THE DOG A BONE-The sonics on this album sound heavy like it was recorded LOUD! This song well its sleazy dirty grimey AC-DC and man Like I said In my review of Flick Of The Switch. Who needed sex education class in high school just listen to AC-DC they will tell Ya what to do! Case in point in this song the words used are….in no set order/easy/knees/Devils/degrees/crazy/dry/again/head/ union/hot/doing/got! Yep there it is folks just play the tune and you can fill in the blanks(ha) here at Arena  Rock!

LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU-ACDC slows the party bus down(kinda) and Ummm yeah if ya think AC-DC is getting lovey dovey think again. So since Angus and Malcolm write the riffs they start off the tune with Phil and Cliff and bam this song is a slow driver and the pre  chorus with the lines’ don’t ya struggle,don’t you fight” man I love the guitars at this point of the tune and of course Jonno drops the chill vocal and delivers one of the best lines ever that Gene Simmons would have wished he wrote” Let me cut your cake with my Knife” Brillant!

And so ends Side 1……..

Side 2 begins with a little unknown track(ha) titled …

BACK IN BLACK-this song and riff reminds me of Zeppelin on steroids! Who the hell has not heard of this track? This is one little ball of nasty. Angus and the boys groove it down with some real cool chops and Johnson sounds like he’s gonna heave a lung across and thru my stereo speakers! Geez this song is tense,makes me wanna break things! Plus Angus takes it over the top with the solo and man it does not get any better when he’s locked and loaded with his brother Malcolm on rhythm guitar and BIB the song proves it!

YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG- The song that kicked AC-DC into Maximum Overdrive(ha)into the households of North America! Dirty lyrics,dirty guitar, pounding drums and bass and you got one hell of a monster track! This is a great song. I’m sure Mutt Lange got a lot of work do to after  his production on this album and from this song as it was plastered everywhere!

HAVE A DRINK ON ME-cool opening riff and now Brian and the boys are teaching me about alcohol and it wasn’t til years later that after I got real familiar with the Bon albums and his lyric prowess and Ummm I think he may have had SUMTHIN to do with the lyrics on this record but Bon was uncredited!  Just saying! I mean take a listen to the lyrics on this album and well each album after the lyrics kinda take a bit of a dip(like I could do better!) but seriously Bon when he wrote Sin City ….that’s Bon right there or NightProwler for instance. I dunno man my own  conspiracy theory but I have read a few things in my time(mystery note-book with Bon’s lyrics supposedly disappeared after his death) and no one but the brothers of AC-DC know for sure! Still though when your song starts off with “Whiskey,Gin,Brandy/with a glass I’m pretty handy!” Holy hell did Tbone write these lyrics?….

SHAKE A LEG-Ok tighten up the hatches and Wowzers Johnson hits the vocals sky-high on this. I mean he sounds like his head is about to explode! The verse is great and so is the music to this tune! Bam enter solo bam exit solo….still umm yeah Shake A Leg with Jonno and sing along…

Magazines,wet dreams,dirty women on machines for me/Big licks skin flicks tricky dicks are my chemistry /Goin against the grain trying to keep me sane with you/so stop your grinning and drop your linen for me…..

Rock n Roll Poetry(in motion)

ROCK N ROLL AINT NOISE POLLUTION- what a great title man! This is simple but effective tune and ACDC keeps it simple and well I think I can sum up this tune with one of the best titles of a ACDC album review ever and that was years ago in an English magazine called Sounds and I think it was for Highway To Hell and the article was titled “More songs about humping and booze” hahaha…..that my friends sums up this song and of course Angus and Brian end the album!

IN CONCLUSION-at the time 1980 album covers were colourful affairs like Kiss with their mugs everywhere. Queen The Game with all that cool silver around the band picture and here’s ACDC black everything (in tribute to their fallen comrade Bon Scott) and how about those band pics on the inside. Angus looks crazed in that live shot. I mean pretty impressive they lose their main guy (Bon Scott)in Feb 1980..audition and hire Brian Johnson….record Back In Black with Mutt Lange in the Bahamas …and start their tour in July 1980. That’s 5 months man…..

What a way for us 13 year olds to learn about the birds and sleaze… oops I mean bees  via AC-DC. It’s all here like I said earlier! Satan/Women/Pills/Booze/Women/Hookers/More Women/Tricky Dicky Chemistry/Noise Pollution…

I had a ton of fun writing this one and I hope Ya dug it!

 

SONIC WAVES….AC/DC/Rock Or Bust

 

ITunes has been streaming the new AC/DC for a week now.(yes I preordered it) So I thought I would listen to it a few times and jot down some notes on Rock Or Bust! Official Street date/Dec 2 2104

Enjoy….

Whoa! 11 songs/35 minutes! AC/DC is writing short length albums for people with short attention spans(moi!) and man it pays off in spades! Of course when we all heard about Malcolm Youngs dementia it was a shock I mean when I think of Malcolm and the guitar Rythms he has put down in years past just go and listen to Powerage front to back! (Listen to Down Payment Blues)That to me is rhythm guitar supremo playing at its best! The dude is simply the best ever at that spot!

So I guess Angus/Cliff/Brian/ Phil and the nephew of Angus/ Malcolm, Stevie Young layed down some law of new rock and well friends this is a must have for the year of 2014! Crazy it’s still same old AC/DC. Over the years and whenever I heard that there be new product from these guys it would be like ‘Fuckin A’ you always knew what your getting I guess the best analogy would be spinning new AC/DC is like going to McDonald’s. There’s something on the menu for everyone and Rock Or Bust it’s no different ! I think after hearing this a few times already, ok, more than a few times this is a must have! Give the boys there due man….

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (OR BUST )

ROCK OR BUST-2014 and AC /DC are dropping down almost like short spurts of Zep riffs in the opening track and what is real apparent is that Johnson’s voice is sounding real good and this is typical ACDC just pounding the sidewalk with there riff n roll no frills rock n roll! Love the sound already of this. It’s just good to hear some straight ahead rock! Welcome back!

PLAY BALL- has been kicking around for a bit since the middle of October when Major League Baseball was plugging Play Ball during the World Series. I thought the song was ok I mean it’s coming thru my tv for God sakes so I can’t really judge it that good but now after hearing it on the headphones man this is a good song so Angus nails down his solo verbatim and were good and Cliff and The Jailbreak drummer keep the engine room running….

ROCK THE BLUES AWAY- is the boys just riffing straight away and washing the blues away and Yep three songs in and I can hear all these songs so far on classic rock radio and  just before the solo man are my ears deceiving me or do I hear Angus play a little Riff of Sink The Pink? Hahaha…thats the great thing about music I may hear it one way, someone else will say ‘What?’ Hey let’s all just Rock The Blues Away and Drink The Night Away! The lyrics are typical ACDC…pool halls,smoke,booze and women!

MISS ADVENTURE- Rudd starts off this tune and Angus and Stevie give us the hard core AC/DC the evil riff right at the start. Just like when I heard for the first time Razors Edge(the song) that riff is the ultimate (in my mind) evilest riff of all time! Miss Adventure has those patent backing vocals and Johnson takes over and the drums push the song with Angus and Stevie just riff and riff. This is just awesome! Love how Cliff drives the bass on this tune as well. Frigg these dudes are pushing 60 and man it’s like there 25 again! Angus riffs and riffs at the end of the tune and this song just chugs down the tracks and Bam it’s done! That’s also the great thing about these songs is that they end. Boom,Done! No fade outs! Just love the live feel.

DOGS OF WAR- kind of has that Danger feel from Fly On The Wall until Johnson kicks in and the boys just let it go! Dogs Of War and Soldier Of Fortune go hand in hand on this tune and the boys are riffing all over and Phil just steady’s the ship straight ahead! Angus peels off one wickedly great solo and the backing vocals and Johnson just keep going on and going on and Angus says with his guitar the demise of my band is greatly exaggerated ! Love the fade out of this tune and Yep I stand corrected about fade outs! When you wrap your ears around it,you will know what I’m talking about !

GOT SOME ROCK N ROLL THUNDER-Rudd drives the song at the beginning again and we got some handclaps to drive the train and Jonno just gives it big time and Cliff has some little snappy bass action going on! It’s the AC/DC tune you know that working 9-5 rut so pass the Rock N Roll Thunder around would Ya! Hey,Hey Hey! (Hand Claps Included) and if your keeping score this is the second song in row where there’s a fade out! AC/DC is psyching me out…..!

HARD TIMES-hi hat and Guitars and Johnson that’s the mix in this tune! That’s the thing I love about this sound of there’s is the quick riff changes and boom were keeping the songs short here folks! Solo is Angus and more Angus and man this is like a studio album played live ! Great end of song soloing !

BAPTISM BY FIRE- Guitars and bass kick off the Baptism at the temple of AC/DC and Johnson is on fire vocally and its amazing he’s still got a voice as I remember everyone in the 80s was saying his voice was shot! Hahaha…I’m sure he read his own press back than and now he can look back and tell everyone politely …..(use your own profanity here) Super catchy chorus. Love it when these guys drive the drums/ bass and Johnson carries the tune with the guitars kicking in short spurts of action! Man it gets no better than this! Angus keeps the solos short and why can’t he? He has nothin to prove to me or you anymore! Just riff and dig it!

ROCK THE HOUSE- Brian Johnson leads the charge with Mistress Mistress…and of course everyone joins him and back to just Johnson and he’s proving to me and Father Time that when you rock this house you let it roll! His vocals are superb here! No shit you say! Yep give this one a spin it’s Brian on top of the heap looking down ! Cool groove this tune …..more guitar and more guitar! Malcolm would be proud with this recording!

SWEET CANDY- Angus leads the charge and Johnson is doing some cool creeping out with his voice and asking us if we like Sweet Candy!! Sure man if Johnson and the boys are telling me to like Sweet Sweet Candy. Love the vocals man it’s evil AC/DC time again. Go ahead try the Sweet Candy ….love how the guitars are just in total synch right before the solo…holy hell it’s that good!

EMISSION CONTROL- ha,love the title. Johnson/Young/Young/Williams/Rudd end the album with just a simple Jam. This song is not about rocket science folks! Turn on the emission and the engine comes alive! This is slow groove AC/DC no fooling around just don’t bore us just get to the chorus sez the fellas and by God they do…thanks guy and what??!! Another fade out!

IN CONCLUSION- If you are looking for Back In Black/ Powerage/Let There Be Rock/Highway To Hell/ For Those About To Rock…it’s not here! This album reminds me of say Stiff Upper Lip AC/DC with the tempo and pace with a little wee dose of Fly On The Wall( just little musical snippets). Like I said Brian Johnson has totally stepped up and of course so have the other fellas and thank god for AC/DC! Give Em total credit for putting out a short 35 minute 11 song Gem(Black Ice the last studio record was good but way to many songs). Smart move in  this day and age of ITune users who just buy single tracks (NOT ME) and not full albums(I BUY FULL ALBUMS) to hear certain songs. AC/ DC say ‘ hey it’s only a half a hour ‘ just buy the whole damn thing!

Welcome back…..

SONIC WAVES…..AC/DC/Flick Of The Switch

Just like Van Halen. What the hell am I gonna add in regards to a ACDC review? Well basically like all the  others in the Sonic Waves category my spin on it and how it impacted me as a listener at a certain time (1983,if were keeping score) and how I still love certain releases which I consider favourites all these years later. So kick back, have a laugh (I hope) and throw down some 2 cents of comments if you like…..

1983 , I guess the juggernaut release that year in the hard rock  circles was Leppards Pyromania release sales wise. For me two releases stand out from 1983 and that would be Iron Maidens Piece Of Mind(don’t worry followers a review is a comin) and ACDC’s Flick Of The Switch. All these years  later Flick Of The Switch is perhaps next to Powerage my fav ACDC album if I had to choose. Those two ACDC releases are very similar to me in sound,style,and just a plain we don’t give a shit mentality. The only difference is obviously one is with Bon the other with Brian. Bottom line is just straight ahead heavy blues rock. Gone was the Mutt Lange productions of the previous  three albums instead ACDC took there own control at the production dials. No Frills Riff N Roll and for Deke back in August of 1983 that’s ok.

RISING POWER- gets the proceedings going.” Dog day it’s Tuesday!”sings Johnson and the album starts off like any ACDC album,a song about humping and more humping ..silly like you had to ask! Very catchy chorus and solo as well but it’s Angus soloing as well silly!

THIS HOUSE IS ON FIRE-Angus and Malcolm are dousing your living room with gasoline and a spark sets off and that’s Cliff and Phil laying down the law with a groove before the fire truck shows up!  You better tell the neighbours to vacate as well. Cool riffs and rhythms ,man this song cooks and not in a Breaking Bad kinda way..well maybe!

FLICK OF THE SWITCH- this is ACDC at there best. They riff n roll with the best of them. This isn’t Einstein literature here folks. It’s Johnson telling ya she’s gonna blow you all sky high with a Flick Of The Switch. Man Malcolm rocks rhythms like no other!  This is ACDC Australian barroom boogie at its finest!

NERVOUS SHAKEDOWN- Angus kicks off the song and Phil and the rest of the fellas join in. It’s basically ACDC taking on the law and the law trying to shake down ACDC in front of the judge. Cool slow paced rocker. And yeah good luck locking up ACDC,you have a better chance at hell freezin over.

LANDSLIDE-ACDC get a free out of jail pass after the Nervous Shakedown Expierence and speed things up with this boogie number and head straight to the bar! ACDC end Side 1 with a tuff little nugget of a track !

GUNS FOR HIRE-starts with Angus shooting off his Gibson SG like its a semi automatic. Take cover and boom the drums and the rest of the fellas join and here we go! This song has one of my favourite Angus solos ever. And side two starts off like any other ACDC album side twos start off, more songs about humping! Silly!

DEEP IN THE HOLE- quote’ Can’t touch both walls. The further down I go. Pulls the strings on my  violin bow. Makes me sing when she fires my load. Ain’t no slave,you do what your told” end quote. What the hell else could I possibly add to that!..cool tune regardless!

BEDLAM IN BELGIUM – sounds like the ACDC boys got into some trouble in Belgium. This is basically someone causing trouble and ACDC ain’t taking shit on board ! Especially when someone gets poked with the gun. Perhaps messing with the Mayor of Belgiums daughter? This song is catchy ACDC with riffs galore and solos galore ….I love this stuff!

BADLANDS- once ACDC gets out of Belgium there into the desert with the tumbleweeds and of course women! Basically this like if ACDC got into a punch up with ZZTOP. Badlands would come about. Angus as always carries the tune. This song can knock ya out and you won’t know what hit ya!

BRAINSHAKE-ends the album with the boys relaxing with more women,holy crap perhaps that’s why I loved this album than. It’s basically learning about the birds and bees ! My high school teacher should have just played the whole Flick Of The Switch album in sex education class!

IN CONCLUSION-sure ACDC Did not move as many copies as this as the previous two ACDC albums(BIB AND FTATR) who cares this boogie woogie fest took me from my humble abode in Tbay to Belgium and back to the Badlands with arrests,crazy women, shakedowns,and Angus shooting off round after on round on his guitar. Whew a classic indeed!