Artist: AC/DC
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 1980
Runtime: 42:11
Rating: 5/5
This is a tale of passion and of a first love you never forget. The band’s name was and still is written with a lightning bolt splitting AC from DC, and it’s electricity, that wonderful invention of the new world, that cleaned out every channel in my body and ushered me into the world of music. A teenager still suspecting nothing was instantly infected with mammoth-sweet guitar sounds, testosterone-loaded lyrics and the pure-blooded, true-believer attitude of an eternal rebel with a cause. The record that whipped up the until-then calm surface of my soul was minimalistically black, and back then I didn’t burden myself with the tragic backstory of an album that marks a turning point in the world of music. Back In Black is the loveliest and best happy accident of my life. Like a bolt from the blue, it threw me out of my comfy indifference and into a world where balls and beautiful sounds are organically fused, in the best possible way, so that all I could want was more, and louder! My eyes, thoughts and ears locked onto that Australian phenomenon, a band that had been carving out the image of the modern rock universe since the seventies. The world had changed and there was no going back to the days of lost musical innocence!
What is there left to say after three decades about an album that, in copies sold on vinyl, CD or the long-forgotten magnetized cassette tape, is outdone only by the king of pop and his mammoth feat, the legendary Thriller, that you haven’t already read or actually grasped? Truth be told, I approached the sacred territory of this untouchable band slowly and with awe. Plenty has been said, and the reason I’ve reached into the golden corner of my collection of carriers of wonderful sounds this time is without a doubt passion, love and above all the trembling of heart and soul that, after all this time and despite time and age, the biggest, most influential and best hard rock band on this planet still sets off in my being – ladies and gentlemen: I give you the epic greatness of AC/DC in all their refinement and beauty! Allow me to write a few lines about a record I could easily call the soundtrack of my childhood, my youth and my present, let’s say mature, years!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwxJ46HWXbA
First, let’s lay out a few bare but necessary facts! What blew my head off is a charismatic guitarist barely over five feet tall, without whom the world of rock and hard-hitting guitar licks would be as empty and devastated as the land around post-earthquake Fukushima! The man who deserves an obelisk, a monumentally tall statue and all the praise there is, is Angus Young! On the other hand, a big part of the obsession is rooted in three chords and the balls packed into those few sequences of notes. AC/DC were always minimalists, at least when it comes to the number of chords in their songs, but every one of them is placed there with purpose and loving care, and the band’s central axis was always built around a potent, exceptional vocalist. Quite a lot of time has passed since the early seventies, or more precisely since 1973, when the explosive journey of brothers Malcolm and the unstoppable solo god Angus Young began, written in golden letters and with sky-high goals. Happy accidents brought the dynamic duo together in Melbourne with drummer Phil Rudd (a former member of Coloured Balls) and bassist Mark Evans, but the incredible climb to the stars only began with the first stage appearance of their then driver, a rebellious biker and unconventional bon vivant – Bon Scott. That recognizable voice, the pose of a wild party animal and stage seducer, and above all a series of sensual, in-your-face lyrics about beautiful women, booze and the soul of rock’n’roll fueled a steep rise and an unstoppable breakthrough into the world. With their first records High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, Powerage and the loudest and best trump card in their discography up to then, the album Highway To Hell, it seemed like nothing could stop AC/DC. Selling a million copies finally filled their pockets properly too, but more than the studio work it was the phenomenal tours and hard stage graft that paved their way among the music elite, and backstage the only balm for body and soul, or rather the only escape hatch from the pressure of the world and the question of what could carry them even higher, was alcohol and other intoxicating substances. And in that, the lead throat of the Australian rock offensive went way overboard!It was February 20, 1980 when the world was shaken by the news that young talent Bon Scott had danced his last dance with the devil and, after brutal boozing, drowned in his own vomit in a friend’s car. Is the AC/DC train derailed for good? Is there any hope of a comeback?
Though in shock and facing pain and grief, the remaining guys in the band decide to carry on with mission impossible – to keep flying skyward and top the incredible plateau of success of Highway To Hell, and above all to find a suitable, if not even better, replacement for the former greatness. They prove they mean business, and then some, just a month after Bon’s death by trying out the raspy voice of former Geordie member Brian Johnson behind the mic. They pick up the material they’d written with Bon and, in the Bahamian sound laboratory of Compass Point studios, finish work on the long-awaited follow-up in an incredible seven weeks! Back In Black ties together more hits and sonic grenades than its predecessors ever got, and the iron repertoire of AC/DC is henceforth enriched with evergreen classics like Hells Bells, Shoot To Thrill, You Shook Me All Night Long and the title cannonade of guitars and heart – the song Back In Black. And what’s so exceptional about this record that even after decades of regular listening I can’t stop drooling and gushing? It’s pure extract of studio magic, balls and without a doubt the best dose of heavyweight rock you’ll ever get to hear in a single place! If you doubt it, it’s time to check your pulse and get resuscitated, but first it’s time for a short stroll through this artifact of the past, which perks up even the most wilted ponytail, gravity be damned! But a warning: this is not music for the wishy-washy, the whiny crybabies or the sanctimonious moralists!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rrqhPmzErc
The opening blows of a heavy iron mallet on the rim of a bronze church bell are cut through by the first run of guitar riffs of the hit Hells Bells, which let you feel the pain as well as an electrified hunger to keep climbing the evolutionary ladder. The juicy synergy of the Young brothers locks tightly onto Cliff Williams’s minimalist and effective rhythm and Phil Rudd’s drumming, who may not be the fastest and best drummer in the whole world, but in AC/DC he fits like a glove! The public’s first introduction to Brian Johnson’s clear, powerful voice is convincing from the first verse on. “I’m rolling thunder, pouring rain / I’m coming on like a hurricane / My lightning’s flashing across the sky / You’re only young but you’re gonna die / won’t take no prisoners won’t spare no lives / Nobody’s putting up a fight / I got my bell I’m gonna take you to hell / I’m gonna get ya, satan get ya / Hells Bells!” Johnson roars, and you quite naturally throw up your devil horns, woven from your fingers, in the Satanic salute and start succumbing to the rhythm of total surrender to the electrification imperative. Angus’s guitar hasn’t yet blossomed in all its recognizable fullness when the elevated flow of heart blood and adrenaline throbs even sweeter in your veins with the chords of Shoot To Thrill. Sex and hedonism shift you up a gear, and it’s hard to resist and needlessly rationalize the reasons why AC/DC are an outstanding choice for when you want to party or just hint out loud at, and reveal, your deliciously twisted, perverted thoughts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuOnGqKL4eQ
“I’m like evil, I get under your skin / Just like a bomb that’s ready to blow / ‘Cause I’m illegal, I got everything / That all you women might need to know / I’m gonna take you down – yeah, down, down, down / So don’t you fool around / I’m gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger / Shoot to thrill, play to kill / Too many women with too many pills / Shoot to thrill, play to kill!” Without wasting time and space on multiple verbal orgasms, I can tell you there’s no letting up from here on either. The formula is seemingly simple: guitars, a few more guitar solos you can actually remember, cranking the decibels to the max and beyond, a ton of sex appeal, an epic string of lyrics about beautiful female bodies, boozing, total surrender to the hedonism of the moment, fucking and an unstoppable craving for more. Few names and bands hit this hard, and none harder than AC/DC! “Back in black / I hit the sack / I’ve been too long I’m glad to be back / Yes I’m, let loose / From the noose / That’s kept me hanging about / I keep looking at the sky / ‘Cause it’s gettin’ me high / Forget the herse ’cause I’ll never die / I got nine lives / Cat’s eyes / Usin’ every one of them and running wild” thunders from the speakers during the title track Back In Black. Back In Black continues the wild string of greatness with somewhat overlooked but no less brilliant moments in songs like Let Me Put My Love Into You, Have A Drink On Me, Shake A Leg or Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Polution. No hesitation, no pointless navel-gazing – everything on the record is there for a reason and does its job to the fullest! No dabbling in politics, no weltschmerz or melancholy anywhere, not a single gram spent on regretting that we’re here and now! Back In Black says goodbye to, and pays tribute to the memory of, rock legend Bon Scott in the way that would suit him best. With raw primal energy, beer-soaked hedonism, never-satisfied sexuality and a juicy, full sound, AC/DC show that there’s one hell of a lot of life to be found in the ashes of the old, under thick layers of cinders. The death of the past flies higher and brighter on the reborn wings of a phoenix born into a new decade!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA_ykBPQ9uk
AC/DC pull you in with a steel embrace of exceptional guitar solos and simple but effective rhythmic meter and satisfy you in the most refined way, and instead of the Kama Sutra you get a wild penetration straight to the center of your heart. It’s perfectly normal to grab the finest guitar from your imaginary collection, polish up your “duck walk” and conjure up before your eyes either the atmosphere of your favorite striptease bar or a stadium amphitheater.
Nobody will blame you or needlessly send you off for a mental health check, because “Heavy decibels are playing on my guitar / We got vibrations comin’ up from the floor / We’re just listenin’ to the rock / That’s givin’ too much noise / Are you deaf you wanna hear some more / We’re just talking about the future / Forget about the past / It’ll always be with us / It’s never gonna die / Never gonna die / Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution / Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t gonna die / Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution / Rock ‘n’ roll it will survive / Yes it will!!!”
Line-up
Brian Johnson – vocals
Angus Young – lead guitar
Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Cliff Williams – bass, backing vocals
Phil Rudd – drums, percussion
Production
Robert John “Mutt” Lange
Tracklist
1. Hells Bells
2. Shoot to Thrill
3. What Do You Do for Money Honey
4. Givin the Dog a Bone
5. Let Me Put My Love into You
6. Back in Black
7. You Shook Me All Night Long
8. Have a Drink on Me
9. Shake a Leg
10. Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution
