Artist: AC/DC
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 1976
Runtime: 40.52
Rating: 4/5
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the third AC/DC album and, up to that point, surely the most versatile creation from the Australian hard rock blacksmiths, which also makes it, relatively speaking, the riskiest move Angus’s horde dared to make in the 70s! The album came out in two versions: the original Australian one, and an edition aimed at the senses of a European crowd that was cooling off on rock & roll, which differs from its sibling in both the cover art and the tracklist. This kind of sensitivity to the needs of the music market, so atypical for AC/DC, is the first sign of a band growing up, one that, despite a seemingly self-destructive devotion to the charms of alcohol fumes, defiantly stands on its own two feet!
Dirty Deeds is in every respect a typical AC/DC tribute to dirty rock & roll, but with one important gain. The unsteady tempo, stretching across the whole album in sharply chopped intervals, brings a welcome upgrade to the trademark AC/DC thunder that its predecessors High Voltage and TNT never managed to capture. Angus and company naturally stay loyal to embracing the simple formula of heavy rock, which, with respect for tradition, rests on the recognizable elements of blues and boogie, but they also stay open to a few rare outbursts of sentimentality. Most of the credit here goes to Bon Scott’s inexhaustible imagination and, by extension, the gentleman’s spicy tongue, skillfully trained in sowing libidinous seeds that quickly win the listener over.
Bon Scott convincingly keeps his status as the master of juggling spicy verses. His ever-lively lyrical profile is a sweet-and-sour, humorous cocktail of testosterone, filled to the brim, of course, with a presence of perversity as pure as a tear (the experts like to call it perversity with a pedigree). Bon Scott’s unmistakable wail recalls the mating call of an insatiable rhino who can’t be bothered by trifles like a lack of pitch. Scott is indestructible, and his intense, sharp breath ruthlessly leaves stinging marks on the necks of everyone present. Bon clearly has no problems with his ego whatsoever, as the brazen lyrics of Big Balls nicely show. Problem Child, Rocker, and of course the slimy opener Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap keep the supply of high-octane rock & roll derivatives flowing smoothly. That opener was really the band’s first true bullseye in terms of commercial recognition, and it has long been acknowledged as one of the iron evergreens of rock, while the infectious, melancholy-tinged Scott blues Ride On leaves no room for doubt either! The selection of erotic props to spice up your everyday life is truly varied here: with Squealer, for instance, you’ll quickly grow into a champion of high-speed insemination of the village youth, and the touching yet deeply perverse epic Love at First Feel stings venomously too!
AC/DC have always been heralds of authentic rock & roll that never sought compromise. With Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, the boys undoubtedly outgrew the clichés about three-chord strummers being limited. Few records are this principled, honest, and convincing all at once, delivering the basic rocker essentials consistently while also boasting true-to-life conviction on the most personal level. Scott’s era of the band, undoubtedly favored by the average AC/DC fanatic over Brian Johnson’s, thus became richer with Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, a gem whose shine is timeless.
Lineup
Bon Scott: vocals
Angus Young: guitar
Malcolm Young: rhythm guitar
Mark Evans: bass
Phil Rudd: drums
Production
Harry Vanda, George Young
Tracklist
1.Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
2.Love at First Feel
3.Big Balls
4.Rocker
5.Problem Child
6.There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin’
7.Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)
8.Ride On
9.Squealer
