AC/DC - Powerage (Dlx)
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Free Music Notes for Powerage (Dlx)
Free Music Review: underrated
Hit: 5 Stars
Powerage is probably the most underrated AC/DC album ever. But personally, it's one of the top 3 AC/DC albums ever along with Highway to Hell and Back in Black. It shouldn't be. Personally, it's one of the top 3 AC/DC albums ever along with Highway to Hell and Back in Black. It is yet another great album by this great band with plenty of stuff to like here.
Now for the good songs. Rock and Roll Damnation is a great song with great lyrics and a great main riff even though the beginning isn't that good. Down Payment Blues is way underrated but it deserves to be a classic. It has one of the simplest riffs but great lyrics and a great beginning. Now for the twin attack of Riff Raff and Sin City. Riff Raff is a great fast song with an unforgettable riff. Sin City is even better with one of their darker riffs mixed in with great lyrics. Another great underrated song that I really like here is What's Next to the Moon. It's one of those anthemic songs with some of the best backing vocals in a song ever.
And now this section I reserve not for the bad songs, but for two of the most underrated songs ever by AC/DC that both should have been classics. These two songs are Gimme a Bullet and Gone Shootin'. I don't understand what's not to like about these songs especially Gone Shootin'. Gimme a Bullet has a great bass, a great riff and good lyrics. But the main thing I don't get is why people don't like Gone Shootin'. I hear a lot of people say it's their least favorite song on the album. How could it be? It has a great riff and shows the guitars working together great. It is way underrated.
But anyway enough about those songs. If I had to have problems with some songs on this album, it would be the last 2. Up to My Neck to You sound like Rocker and There's Gonna Be Some Rockin' were combined together. And Kicked in the Teeth sounds like a rip-off of Let There Be Rock. But like I said, I would only not like these songs if I had to have problems with some songs on this album. I think that every song on this album is great.
Once again, another excellent AC/DC album. Make sure to get it.
Free Music Review: Pure, Raw, Electrifying Power!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Powerage". The title says it all.For an album that is compiled of only nine tracks,
each recording put down on the master tape is classic.
Who could forget the hooky guitar patterns of
"Rock And Roll Damnation", accompanied by
Bon Scott ranting "...It's a rock and roll damnation!
Ma's own whipping boy!..."? Great song. Next,
"Down Payment Blues". This little number is a depressing
song about unable to pay your dues. One line in this
great says it all "I got myself A Caddalic...but I can't
afford the gasoline...". Not the best song, but good.
At first thought, "Gimme A Bullet" sounds like a song
about ammunition, but in fact, is a ballad about heartbreak
and loss. One of the better songs.
The arousing "Riff Raff" steps up to bat afterwards,
and is one of the three best songs on `Powerage".
The rapid clatter of the guitar introducing the song,
with a slowly rising bass and rhythm line, explodes into a
fast-rocking piece of music, which makes you hair stand
on end. The gambler's lust for a good night in Las Vegas
is apparent on another killer, "Sin City". The intro
is good, plus a nice guitar pattern for a great song.
"What's Next To The Moon": Good song, not the best,
but what the hell? Wonderful poetic lyrics, and a chorus which
makes the song better. "Gone Shootin'", a song which is
good, but not great (I.E.: Riff Raff great), but worth a spot
on this album. "Up To My Neck In You" precedes the closing
tune, and is a wired rocker, good song as well.
Closing up this electrifying CD is the totally screamed
"Kicked In The Teeth". It begins with Bon Scott's lone
voice screaming at the top of his lungs "TWO FACED WOMAN,
WITH YOUR TWO FACED LIES!!!", and continues to morph
into what is a song, in traditional AC/DC style, closes
the album with a major kick and bite.
"Powerage" isn't their best, as I said before, but
still. Three of the songs listed "Rock And Roll Damnation",
"Riff Raff", and "Sin City" are worth the buy.
Free Music Review: AC/DC's greatest album
Hit: 5 Stars
The gazillion-seller "Back In Black" broke one of rock's greatest bands into the big time for good, but on sheer power and songwriting, nothing compares to "Powerage", the best album ever recorded by AC/DC.
Unlike the other Bon Scott-era albums that followed the predictable goofy AC/DC mold (reminding us that rock n' roll was originally intended to be fun), some serious thought to hooks and a tad bit of experimenting with the tried and true formula went into "Powerage".
The opener "Rock N' Roll Damnation" is a typical rocker that gets the album off to a good start, but as soon as "Down Payment Blues" begins, we see a sense of dynamics and a build-up to a furious climax that, prior to this song, was not a typical Young brothers element. Other cuts like "Gimme A Bullet" and "What's Next To The Moon" show off hooks that are more melody oriented than we're used to, but still have the vintage AC/DC power chording and tempo that keep them from being wimpy. The standout cut is "Riff Raff", a complicated lick and hook that is reminiscent of the heaviest Rick Derringer. Bon screams for all it's worth over titanic guitars at a breakneck pace. For those who are just now exploring earlier AC/DC work, it simply must be heard to be believed.
"Sin City" offers a riff that is a sign of things to come, primarily "What Do You Do For Money Honey" and "Touch Too Much", and the closers, "Up To My Neck In You" and "Kicked In The Teeth" are in the "Whole Lotta Rosie" vein.
What makes this band great is a tenacious clinging to a winning and consistent formula, and most important, obviously loving every minute of it. Poseurs will always burn out quickly, but those bands who truly believe in their music have the lasting power that enables them to reach across multiple generations, ala AC/DC, ZZTop, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, to name a few. "Powerage" is the premier Bon Scott-era album.
Free Music Review: My Favorite AC/DC Album.
Hit: 5 Stars
Albums like LET THERE BE ROCK, HIGHWAY TO HELL, and BACK IN BLACK have long overshadowed POWERAGE in terms of overall sales and popularity. However, song-for-song, POWERAGE is the strongest collection, in my opinion.WHY?
Well, to begin with, LET THERE BE ROCK, may contain more well known classics, such as "Problem Child", "Rosie", and the title track. But, it also contains more forgettable material like "Go Down" and "Badboy Boogie". On the other hand, there simply isn't a weak cut on POWERAGE. Plus, the production is better.
HIGHWAY TO HELL and BACK IN BLACK are classics, no doubt about it. However, I feel that Mutt Lange seriously robbed the band of its power with his slick production techniques. Compare HIGHWAY TO HELL to POWERAGE and the songs are about as equally good. But, POWERAGE, while well-engineered, has a rawness and intensity to it that Lange's pop-friendly production does not. HIGHWAY may be easier to digest, but POWERAGE is tougher and more unrelenting.
BACK IN BLACK is automatically docked points in my book because Bon isn't on it. I mean no disrespect to Brian Johnson, but Bon was the definitive AC/DC frontman, hands-down. And, again, I think Lange drained much of the intensity out of some excellent songs in order to achieve a sound that was more easily accepted by the masses. I know, alot of AC/DC fans will argue that BIB sounds "HUGE". Granted, it's very well engineered and produced, but, to me, it sounds way too glossy. This sound may work well for Def Leppard, but it just neuters AC/DC's sound. I think that Young and Vanda had a better understanding of how AC/DC should sound on record.
So, there you go. Take or leave this review, but don't skip POWERAGE.
Free Music Review: One Of The Greatest Forgotten Albums In Rock and Roll History
Hit: 5 Stars
I am blown away by just how great AC/DC was in the mid to late seventies prior to Highway to Hell and Back in Black. The remastered sound quality is out of this world good and Bon Scott and the guys never sounded better. I recently bought the entire collection of AC/DC US studio releases and the 1978 release titled Powerage is one of the greatest forgotten albums in the history of Rock and Roll. From Gimme A Bullet to Riff Raff to Sin City everything rocks big time. I highly recommend you give it a listen. I find it incredible that it was not a bigger commercial success. I've been blasting a lot of AC/DC in my car lately driving quite speedily and I've loved every minute of it. I've never understood truly why a guy like Bon Scott is so missed by fans but you get it when you hear more than just Highway to Hell like I had up until now. Prior to his death the band was a cerebral hard rocking blues band and after his death they took a turn away from their bluesy heavy roots and got lost for quite some time in a sexually charge scream fest. I do love much of the Brian Johnson era even enjoying Sink the Pink from 1985s Fly on the Wall immensely but after 1981s For Those About To Rock they got lost in an endless cycle of songs that literally obsessed with women and sex and the lyrics stopped being as artistic and became downright silly. 1990s The Razor's Edge reaffirmed Brian Johnson's worth and AC/DCs ability to revive itself from near dead with the hits Thunderstuck and Moneytalks. Powerage is AC/DC at its best at a time when it was the songs and nothing else that mattered most to a band finding its way to the top. Indeed it was a long way but they did it the right way whether or not the buying public in 1978 understood that.