Label: Columbia Records
Release date: 11/13/2020
Producer: Brendan O’Brien
Length: 41:03 min
Genre: Rock’N’Roll
Rating: 8.5/10
“The Day That Never Comes”, or whatever that Metallica tune is called. And yet, it came. The AC/DC camp teased us perfectly. In bits and pieces. They actually manufactured a whole mess of confusion, which kicked off somewhere around the tour supporting “Rock or Bust”. It looked like the Australian fortress of rock ‘n’ roll was slowly crumbling and falling apart, because with the exception of Angus, every member had to be replaced just so the band could get through the tour. If you remember, Phil Rudd had to go to prison on suspicion of premeditated murder, Cliff Williams announced he was retiring after the tour, Brian Johnson had to hand the mic over to Axl Rose because of his hearing problems, and Malcolm had already been replaced in the studio by his nephew Stevie Young, thanks to his advancing dementia. The final epitaph of one of the biggest rock bands ever to stomp across this planet seemed to be in the making, and for a moment it felt like we were watching Angus Young Band on stage. Let’s be honest. If that damn steam locomotive had really come to a halt, we’d all have exhaled with respect: “They did their thing, and they did one hell of a lot. Eternal glory to them.” But fate had other plans. How lovely.
AC/DC are a band that has earned, over the years, the reputation of the naughtiest rock ‘n’ roll outfit in the universe. That’s indisputable. Especially when even one of the biggest wild cards and egomaniacs in the rock universe humbles himself and kneels before that kind of greatness. Famous, revered, quick to blow his top, yet next to AC/DC’s bad-boy reputation still just “their apprentice” Axl Rose, who, it has to be said, did a brilliant job on AC/DC’s last tour.
Since there can be absolutely no secrets in this new AC/DC story, you can already predict yourselves how the rest of this review will go. The new AC/DC album is downright brilliant. Exactly what it has to be and what every fan of the band has dreamed of. From head to toe. AC/DC to the bone. Soaked and laced with all the trademarks of the unique work of the giants of rock. Where would you place it, as a quick point of reference? Right. It shoots straight back to the early “Brian Johnson era” of the band. “Flick of the Switch,” say. And I’ll say it straight: after “Ballbreaker,” or maybe even “Razor’s Edge,” it’s neither bold nor overblown to call this the most competent and most AC/DC-chiseled album they’ve made. Twelve tracks, 41 minutes of music. Ten songs and just 35 minutes would have done the job too. But 12 is by no means too many. Every track stands tall and every one grabs and bites. Irreverently, with a boot straight between the eyes. Just like you’d expect from AC/DC.
Very familiar, very proven, very much a part of the furniture, and once again very eternal. Everything is in its place. The alcohol fumes drifting wildly all over the place again from that unique, mile-away recognizable screech of Brian Johnson, the punchy, simple rhythms woven with boogie rhetoric from one of the most hooligan-ish rhythm sections in rock and roll ever, the rock-solid phrasing rhythm (on his second AC/DC record already) courtesy of Angus and Malcolm’s nephew Stevie, and of course the one and only Angus Young. Cap and all. The man who survived everything with AC/DC. An incredible wizard of recycling one and the same phrase through the primal recipe of rock that ignites again and again. No matter how many times it’s been recycled, it always sounds like you’re hearing it for the first time. The man who holds all the reins and without whom there is no AC/DC. On every track on the album, the late Malcolm Young is again credited as co-writer. According to Angus, most of the ideas that ended up on the new album date from the period when material for “Black Ice” was being written. “Power Up,” the sixteenth AC/DC album overall, is dedicated to Malcolm Young, who passed away three years ago.
From the moment the album hits with the opener Realize, all the way to the closing Code Red, it’s all clear. The inexhaustible rondo of rock has delivered yet another lucid refresh of recycled ultimate phrases, and the adrenaline rush of an unstoppable geyser of high-octane riff posture never lets up. The organic chemical reaction that glues all the ingredients together in a completely unique way is born anew. Not long ago it looked like something like this would be impossible. But it’s all back. The gang vocals backing Johnson’s penetrating delivery, which cuts through with astonishing effectiveness and conviction for his age, then that primal sound of rock magic that you recognize instantly and breathe like oxygen, plus a new, perfect blend of bluesy and boogie catchiness. Stuff that gets your body moving right away. Instantly. If you’re one of those people who doesn’t react to an album like this, then you’ve ended up in the wrong place looking for the fairy tale of “Lojtrca domačih” by Boris Kopitar.
So this rock ‘n’ roll beast stays insatiable and unsatisfied. It doesn’t know any other way, can’t do it any other way, and there’s no other way to go. And nobody wants it any other way. Let’s only hope for one thing: that the world gets back on its feet and brings the legends of rock back to the stages of the world, so we can enjoy Angus’s duckwalk and the racket of his buddies one last time. In the lineup embodied by the excellent “Power Up.” Chuck Berry is blissed out once more somewhere up there. In his rock ‘n’ roll heaven. Let it thunder! Let the rock sky ignite! If this is the last time, let it burn without limits and go down in all its universal, primal elegance.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Realize (3:37)
2. Rejection (4:06)
3. Shot in the Dark (3:06)
4. Through the Mists of Time (3:32)
5. Kick You When You’re Down (3:10)
6. Witch’s Spell (3:42)
7. Demon Fire (3:30)
8. Wild Reputation (2:54)
9. No Man’s Land (3:39)
10. Systems Down (3:12)
11. Money Shot (3:05)
12. Code Red (3:31)
Lineup:
Brian Johnson – vocals
Angus Young – guitar
Stevie Young – guitar, backing vocals
Cliff Williams – bass, backing vocals
Phil Rudd – drums
