My Amazon Reviews: AC/DC "Rock Or Bust"

All Rock, No Bust
4 Out Of 5 Stars

There's no-one else alive that can power-chord the way Angus Young can. Or yowl the way Brian Johnson does. It's why any AC/DC album is met with such great anticipation. This time, from the powerful title track to the walking shuffle of "Emission Control," "Rock Or Bust" delivers hammer-down rock like only AC/DC can.

Another noteworthy thing about "Rock Or Bust" is its brevity. Clocking in at 11 songs in 35 minutes, it delivers short and sharp stabs of guitar and Phil Rudd's primitive thud, Each song delivers its message, solo and gets out of its own way as soon as the meat is delivered. Heck, the great "Play Ball" (heard during the 2014 MLB World Series) gets it done in under 3 minutes. While it may disappoint fans who would rather Angus wing-it off into super solo land or a blues workout or two, to me it's like a prize fighter dispensing with the dancing and heading straight for the knockout punch.

At times the lyrics fall into beer raising similarity (4 songs that have 'rock' in the title is more than a little telling), but the album doesn't suffer from it. You don't come to an AC/DC party looking for PhD material. "Rock Or Bust" is AC/DC proving their point. There's a nice shout out to founding member Malcolm Young in the CD booklet...like it or not, your favorite bands are growing older with you. Even so, AC/DC enter their 40th year as a rock and roll powerhouse, and they show no signs of stopping.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Darkness "Hot Cakes"

Seas of Sleeveless T-Shirts
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Cheesy, Sleazy and Tongue in cheekily, The Darkness make their return with their third CD, "Hot Cakes." (No, not the Carly Simon album from 1974...). From the pseudo-seventies sexism of the cover art to the glammy Queen-sized vocals and AC/DC guitar chunks, they sounds like they've not missed a beat since "One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back." They're half hard rock tribute and half inside joke, with the terrific part that Justin Hawkins knows that they can rock as hard as they wannabe and that they're 100% cool with being in on the joke.

Take the opening track, "Every Inch of You." Telling a semi-autobiographical tale of a "English man with a very high voice" who discovers Led Zepplin who went from "loser" to the man for whom all audience members want to suck in a protruding body part...wailed in that very high voice. Then you get the total Queen ripoff, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" and the Angus slamming guitars of "Everybody Have a Good Time." Derivative stuff all, and every inch of it pure fun. Even the hoary power ballads come off with a wink. The Darkness are smart enough to know that they possess about as much menace as a litter of puppies and subtlety of any given British Tabloid.

It's that they have this much obvious glee in doing what they do that makes them so likeable. "Hot Cakes" won't break any new ground, but don't let that stop you. I'd take the self-informed fun of The Darkness over the parodied self importance of a cookie-monster vocal-led rock band any day of the week.

     

My Amazon Reviews: AC/DC "For Those About To Rock"

Fire Away
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Riding the coattails of the phenomenal "Back In Black," AC/DC's second age literally went for the big guns. "For Those About To Rock" starts of with one of Angus Young's meatiest riffs ever, and ends with a phalanx of cannons firing the 21 gun salute. It's as epic a rock song that ever came out of the 80's, and solidified AC/DC with Brian Johnson as a permanent fixture in the world of hard rock. It even gave them a rare chart single, as "Let's Get It Up" barely missed the top 40.

That established, it's also unavoidable fact that cracks were starting to show. The subjects were getting a bit obvious ("Inject The Venom," "I Put The Finger On You") and some of the riffage was retreading past glories. Angus still lays out power chords better than anyone else at the time, and Johnson's vocal caterwauls were unmatchable. It also meant that AC/DC remained a prime target for scared parents everywhere, making "FTABTR" appealing to the prematurely deaf worldwide. The last great album in the group's hot streak, the coming albums "Flick of The Switch" and "Fly On The Wall" began a decline that clung to the band until "The Razor's Edge" nine years later.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Flash and The Pan "Lights In The Night"

Clap Hands for The Media Man
4 Out of 5 Stars

 After the fluke success of "Hey Saint Peter" made Flash and The Pan's first album into an international hit, this side project from Harry Vanda and George Young had to contend with a follow-up. Vanda and Young, best known as the core of 60's hit makers The Easybeats and producers to AC/DC (George Young is family to Malcom and Angus), were already no strangers to hit song-writing. The result was "Media Man" charting in several countries, and the album expanding on the band's cult audience.

The formula remained pretty much the same. Heavy new wave synths paired to either dance-beats or down tempo gloominess, along with monotone, processed vocals. This doesn't click quite as often as it does on the debut album, and there's nothing here as memorable as "Hey St Peter" or "The Band Played On/Down Among The Dead Men." But more than half the album clicks, with "Media Man" being the dance-hit and the title track being the best of the bummers. It's also worth pointing out that, despite the minimalist trappings, these guys were pretty incredible musicians. Give a listen to the piano solo on "Welcome To The Universe" for proof on that one.

They also had an odd sense of humor. The original album cover was the artwork of the debut covered with black ink and a scratching to reveal the art underneath. A sticker on the album gave the band name and title, along with an illustration of a child watching a dice rolling bye him as his eyes open wider. The dice has three hands, and in American Sign language, the dice is spelling out UFO. If you held the cover up to a bright light, the blacked-over cover below becomes clearly visible. It's that kind of full creativity from bands that I sometimes miss in the post LP era.

My Amazon Reviews: AC/DC "Iron Man 2"

Super Hero Rock and Roll
4 Out of 5 Stars

 AC/DC have studiously avoided releasing any kind of best of or greatest hits albums, much to the consternation of many a record executive. In fact, at the time of this posting, they remain one of the last remaining holdouts among the major bands to refuse to put their songs on download sites. Which makes their decision to release their songs as a companion to "Iron Man 2" as close to an ersatz best of than "Who Made Who" (the soundtrack to superfan Stephen King's "Maximum Overdrive" flick) was in 1986.

The good thing about the "Iron Man 2" soundtrack is that AC/DC have been steadily making albums since "Who Made Who," and that was when releases were still being created with 12 inch vinyl in mind. Also, at the time of "Who made Who," AC/DC were at a creative stall with the albums "Fly On The Wall" and "Flick of The Switch." They regained their momentum for the next set of albums including "Razor's Edge" and "Black Ice." That gave the man at Marvel over two more decades of Angus, Malcolm, Bon and Brian to pick from, along with all that extra space on CD to fill.

The payoff is pretty darn good. That divides up into 6 cuts for Bon Scott and 9 for Brian Johnson. Amazingly, there are no crossovers from "Who Made Who" and that leaves off some obvious favorites like "For Those About to Rock" and "You Shook Me All Night Long." There are still plenty of rocking staples to be found here, ala "T.N.T.," "Thunderstruck," "Highway To Hell" and "Back In Black." But there's also a few picks that defy expectations, like "Cold Hearted Man's" first showing on a proper AC/DC single disc, or "War Machine" from "Black Ice." The riffage is heavy and the aim is hard.

Given that "Iron Man 2" is a movie that runs mostly on explosion and testosterone, that meant that such efforts as "Caught With Your Pants Down," "Big Balls," "Sink The Pink" or other sophomoric jokes were passed over in favor of "Shoot To Thrill," "Thunderstruck" or other combat ready guitar blasters. It centers the CD and gives it, even with the shuffling of songs between Brian Johnson and Bon Scott, a feeling of cohesion. After all, AC/DC has a rep for being ballbusting hard rockers, and this riff-tastic package flies right to the heart of that assertion. Perfect for road trips or keggers, AC/DC's "Iron Man 2" makes an excellent bookmark into the band's almost 40 years of rocking.