AC/DC - Back in Black
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Music CD Cover
Artist: AC/DCBrand: Columbia
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-02-18
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Hells Bells
- Shoot To Thrill
- What Do You Do For Money Honey
- Givin The Dog A Bone
- Let Me Put My Love Into You
- Back In Black
- You Shook Me All Night Long
- Have A Drink On Me
- Shake A Leg
- Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Free Music Notes for Back in Black
Free Music Review: The greatest album of all time is a magnificent failure. 100/100
Hit: 5 Stars
Most people will select a certain album as being the greatest of all time. This is my selection. Why do I call it a magnificent failure then? Well, I briefly owned the dual disc version of this album and on the DVD side lead guitarist Angus Young said that the band wanted to release a non-singles orientated album. On that count, the band has failed, spectacularly. "You shook me all night long" has been mercilessly flogged to death on commercial FM stations in Australia, where I live, and there are a few other songs that have proved radio friendly as well. This album has also proved AC/DC's most successful album of all time...it has sold some 40 million copies...second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller album. Before I start my review, I'll just say that I did not keep the dual disc version of this album...when both sides of the disc have content, there's more chance of getting scratches on one side or the other, I think.
Best songs:
Hells bells - perhaps my favourite track from the album. Has the classic tolling bell intro (the sound of the bell is terrific-Black Sabbath use a tinnier sounding bell for one of their songs, and Metallica sample the same one Sabbath used, I think). The thumping drum then kicks in. As with all AC/DC albums, you get the dual guitar attack of rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and his little brother, lead guitarist Angus. It's a magic moment when in this song you get initially one guitar riffing, then the other comes in to provide it company. AC/DC are a band which don't like to call themselves "heavy metal", but I think that this song easily qualifies for that genre. Just before new vocalist Brian Johnson begins singing (um, shrieking!), the guitars sound positively evil...like Cerberus barking at the gates of Hell! Features a good guitar solo and some great lead guitar work.
Back in black - Click. Click. Click. Riff. Lick. Riff. Lick. Back in black. Absolute classic. From the cool count in beat, to Johnson's shrieking vocals, this is a magnificent rock riff and song. One of their best.
You shook me all night long - many years ago I would have probably gone with this as their greatest ever song. However, here in Australia, this is the AC/DC that has been flogged to death...the lashes has been turning the bones of this song into powder for years now. So, forgive me if I am not as positive about this song as I used to be. Still a classic in my view, but one that I will tune out of once the introduction has played on the radio. That introduction features a great guitar sound...a ringing, jangly guitar lick, then a big drum thump, then the great riff. As with "Hells bells", it's magic when the guitars harmonise. The song title references Muddy Waters' song "You shook me", which Led Zeppelin covered, I think. AC/DC just sex up the meaning of the song. Some people think that the lyrics include the line "She was a fax machine she kept her modem clean". Okay.
Rock and roll ain't noise pollution - a bluesy rock song which has one of the all time great introductions...an off the cuff sales/evangelical type spiel by Johnson, with some other ambient sounds happening in the background (another favourite example of this kind of stuff is in Cold Chisel's classic "Saturday night", but the ambient noise/chatter was real, I think. Apparently that band's lead singer was in contention of the lead singer gig for AC/DC). As "You shook me all night has been flogged to death on Australian radio over here, this song has risen in stature for me, as it is played less. Might not have originally considered this one of THE classic tracks on the album, but it is up there now, I think.
Shoot to thrill - the album's forgotten classic. When I reel off the great songs on this album, this is the one I am liable to miss. When you here it on radio over here, which is very rarely, the great lead guitar lick reminds you of how underrated this song is. A boogie rock track with sing-song vocals. Has some Led Zeppelin type lyrical lines in this song. When Led Zeppelin sing that kind of stuff (as in "Whole lotta love" or "The lemon song") they get hailed as rock gods, but when AC/DC do it, they get get called 'juvenile'! Double standards, people! Apart from the great guitar lick in this song, you appreciate the drum beat break down when it comes on just before.
Givin the dog a bone - man, this song is a guilty pleasure! Mindless fun, if you can overlook the fact that women aren't put on a pedestal on this song. [...] Features some of those backing vocals which AC/DC are known for and which I like. If there aren't any women in the room, the chorus is great fun to sing along too! Had never really noticed it before, the guitar rhythm of this strong is a bit off-kilter...left of centre. Their new album, "Black Ice" has a song which is reminiscent of this one, namely, "War machine". Really, can't see why "War machine" is not the song which was released as a single from that album. Terrific song, that. Years ago "Givin the dog a bone" was spelled as "Given the dog a bone" which is ungrammatical. I can no longer mock this mistake! Sigh.
Best of the rest:
What do you do for money honey - Maybe you could view this song as a companion piece to the Bon Scott era AC/DC song "Shot down in flames". In that Scott song, Scott was the hapless ladies man put in his place by women who got the better of him, verbally. Here the band are like the construction workers with exposed arse-crack, wolf-whistling or insulting passing women. Another typical AC/DC contribution to male/female relations! Not a bad song though. I like the bluesy, less frantic bits of this song.
The Rest:
Let me put my love into you - a bluesy, slower tempo rocker. You can notice the bass guitar in this song (AC/DC have a bass guitarist? Really?). More macho posturing from the band.
Have a drink on me - bluesy intro, backing vocals. I like the tonal quality of the recurring guitar lick. Seeing as this album was released in the wake of original lead singer Bon Scott's alcohol related death, you have to wonder about the appropriateness of this song. This isn't something that I've thought of in the past. As I get older, I'm looking out for the kids! Good ol' me!
Shake a leg - has a sing song guitar pattern, but otherwise one of the faster songs on this album.
That's the entire album. In my opinion, AC/DC are the greatest rock band of all time. This album is the cherry on top. It combines the Bon Scott era anthemic riffs, with an otherwise solid album. AC/DC are the gods of riff rock, I think. They have never released an album this chock full of anthemic classics, and the lesser songs probably stack up better than the lesser songs from the Scott era. It's like the Scott era classic album "T.N.T" was cross pollinated with their more album orientated classic "Highway to Hell".
Back to Angus Young's comments on the type of album he was aiming for with Back In Black...in my view, AC/DC had ALREADY done that kind of album, e.g. the highly uncommercial and extremely raw "Powerage" album, or the more album orientated songs from titles such as "Let there be rock" and "Highway to Hell".
Other hard rock/heavy metal albums I enjoy or have reviewed here:
AC/DC: "TNT", "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap" and "The razors edge"
Metallica: "Reload" (an AC/DC sounding album), "Master of puppets" (more hardcore)
Megadeth: "Risk" (a boogie metal album)
Black Sabbath: Paranoid (a classic album. Albums like "Sabotage" are good too)
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV (yes, they can do rock, if they haven't convinced you prior to that album).
Back in Black Poster
CD AUDIO SIDE: Entire AlbumDVD SIDE: * Entire album in enhanced LPCM Stereo * The film The Story of Back in Black, featuring interviews with the band, archival footage, and in-studio performances of "Hells Bells," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Rock And Roll Ain?t Noise Pollution," "Shoot to Thrill," and more * Discography This disc is intended to play on standard DVD and CD players. May not play on a limited number of models.
Most critics complain Back in Black, the album AC/DC recorded after the death of their original lead screamer Bon Scott, is ridiculously juvenile, obvious, snickering, bludgeoning, derivative, single-minded about sex and booze, a big cartoon. All true, of course, and--on rock 'n' ragers like "What Do You Do For Money Honey," "You Shook Me All Night Long," and the title track--all great. As Scott's replacement Brian Johnson reminds us, loud and crunchy, no-holds-barred "rock and roll ain't noise pollution...it makes good, good sense." Never trust anyone who refuses to drink domestic beer, laugh at the Three Stooges, or crank Back in Black. --David Cantwell
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