A Record a Week: AC/DC - Back in Black

I managed to get both AC/DC records listened to before Karen returned, thus saving her from the 'noise pollution'.



Release in July, 1980 as a tribute to former lead singer Bon Scott (deceased 5 months prior to the release), Back in Black is AC/DC's best selling album to date and the second-best selling album of all time, behind only Thriller.

SIDE 1.
HELLS BELLS
SHOOT TO THRILL
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR MONEY HONEY
GIVING THE DOG A BONE
LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU

SIDE 2.
BACK IN BLACK
YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG
HAVE A DRINK ON ME
SHAKE YOUR LEG
ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T NOISE POLLUTION

Well, there you have it. I didn't have to look very far for an AC/DC record with 3 or more hit singles on it. Had I not been half asleep when I wrote that I would have realized that this record has 6, if not 7 commercially successful songs on it.

It just so happened that I went from a band that began just before the disco era to one that started during it, and brought on a mixture of hard rock and heavy metal. However, they have stated they do not consider themselves to be anything but rock and roll.

Right from the beginning this record made a statement. It pays tribute to Bon Scott, while saying that AC/DC wasn't done just yet. It starts with epic bell ringing and slow, powerful guitar on Hells Bells and finishes with a song declaring that rock and roll will never die. What lies between is the foundation for 30 years of Brian Johnson fronted rock music.

This record reminds me of a band I played guitar in during high school. During which I would watch my more talented bandmate play all the Angus young parts as I lagged about a half bar behind playing the Malcolm Young parts.

I like this album a good deal, but never listen to it because the local radio station overplays the hell out of most of these songs and my wife hates them. I was glad to revisit this one.

A Record a Week: ABBA - Greatest Hits Volume 2 & AC/DC - For Those About to Rock

So I was going to do this only on Saturdays and I'm sure that will usually be the case. However, I have the house to myself for a few days and I was downstairs playing Mario Galaxy 2 and popped on a couple of records. I figured it was a bit of a cop out to do two back to back ABBA greatest hits records, but that's the way it goes. Also, Karen hates AC/DC, so I figured I would get one of those out of the way for her sake.



Released by the same label, Epic, in 1979. This record encompasses music from the latter half of their career, this album contains a good deal of the hit singles ABBA had that weren't on the first one.

SIDE 1
GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! (A Man After Midnight)
KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU
TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
ROCK ME
EAGLE
ANGEL EYES

SIDE 2
DANCING QUEEN
DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW
CHIQUITITA
SUMMER NIGHT CITY
I WONDER (Departure)
THE NAME OF THE GAME
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

Gone are the remnants of the hippie movement; enter the sounds of disco and show tunes. The best way I can describe this album is that it plays like a musical set in a disco hall. It kicks off with some slap bass and dance beats, moving into the familiar hooks of songs like Knowing Me, Knowing You and Take a Chance on Me. The record touches on some darker sounds, but not for extended periods (much like a musical!) The second half starts off with a big hit in Dancing Queen (Second Act??) and moves through a couple of what I would call 'B' hits (fitting that they fall on the B-side). Finally it ends with Thank You For the Music, which really drove home the musical theme for me, since it sounds like a large group number that would end with a bang and a curtain drop.

This record feels more complete to me than the previous one, but perhaps that's because I am more familiar with the songs, or that the production was better. They employed more of the overdubbed vocals to create a thicker sound. Disco doesn't sit well with me, but the hits remind me of when I was young and my sister was into them (She would have been in high school or so) and I like that. I also enjoy a bit of the darker stuff and appreciate the way they used a real finishing song.



Released in 1981; one year after the heavily lauded Back in Black, which was Brian Johnson's first album as the replacement for the deceased Bon Scott. "For Those About to Rock" was the bands first number one album in the U.S.

SIDE 1
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (We Salute You)
PUT THE FINGER ON YOU
LET'S GET IT UP
INJECT THE VENOM
SNOWBALLED

SIDE 2
EVIL WALKS
C.O.D.
BREAKING THE RULES
NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES
SPELLBOUND

Oh, AC/DC will you ever stray from your album making formula? I can do a recipe within this post for an AC/DC record. Step 1: Write 1-3 discernible songs to release as singles (3 is a stretch and may never have happened, I will have to look into that). Step 2: Fill up the remainder of the album with cookie-cutter AC/DC songs (you know, booming drums, endless guitar riffs, slow parts where the guitar picks one note and then strums 'epic' power chords over top and of course the raspy yelling vocals to top it off).

As simple as that. Even they will admit that in their 35 years of releasing albums, they have only had to write 15 or so completely unique songs. But man, can they bring it in a live performance even 30 years after Back in Black made its first appearance in their shows.

I enjoy the title track the most, but the rest of the album is certainly solid. The lesser known songs on any AC/DC album still have Angus Young, after all.