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…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/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!