Icky_Thoomp
02-06-2006, 10:56 PM
Back in Black represents many things to me and other music fans but more than anything the album is a watershed moment that showed AC/DC to be an irrepressible force.
This album represents my childhood to me and always brings back memories of when I had the vinyl spinning, running around the house like a lunatic when Mum was out. Perfecting the Angus Young duck-walk was a very important thing. It also reminds me of the things that the songs helped me to deal with as a kid and a teenager, things like girls not reciprocating feelings, getting beaten up by bullies and feeling helpless. Put on Back in Black and all was OK for a while. I'm sure the album holds a special place for many other people as well.
Because this album was about perseverance as much as anything. Nothing would keep the rocking lads down, not even the premature and senseless death of front man Bon Scott. The power of the songs and especially the arrangement of the tracks were the perfect showcase for new lead singer Brian Johnson. While interviews by the Young brothers and Johnson say that all of the work done by Bon Scott and the band was destroyed and work started on all-new material, I personally have my doubts about the veracity of these statements.
The way the album starts is ominous and foreshadows the power that will be unleashed. The striking of the bell and the riff from Angus on Hell’s Bells are great and the first lines of the song are perfect for the scene – “I’m roaring thunder, I’m pouring rain”. Hell’s Bells also uses a theme of evil and danger which seemed to be the current trend at the time in the UK. Mentioning Satan and Hell were the ways to be controversial, with bands like Iron Maiden and Motorhead leading the charge.
The next track is Shoot to Thrill, which is personally my favourite Brian Johnson track and top 3 all-time AC/DC tracks. The start of the track introduces the best riff on the album and the song has a lead break that is very different from anything AC/DC had done before. Tempo drops down to just drums and vocals and then Angus rips out a beauty. An awesome song and it is great on the Monsters of Rock concert from 1991.
The next three tracks form the basis of my conspiracy that all of Bon’s work was not discarded. What Do You Do For Money Honey, Givin’ The Dog a Bone and Let Me Put My Love Into You have the Bon Scott signature of being cheeky and using entendres to describe sex. The themes of the songs are interestingly not very much repeated in the next few AC/DC albums. Such great tracks that the band didn’t feel were good enough to replicate on subsequent albums that pretty much duded. Kind of seems that the spirit of Bon was alive and well on Back in Black.
End of side 1, here comes Side 2….
What can you say about Back in Black? The riff is musical elegant simplicity. So clean yet so strong and heavy. Its lyrics also have the Bon Scott stamp, especially the parts about being in a bang with a gang and having nine lives. Bon was a motorcycle rider and had a few close calls with accidents on his bike. Maybe my theory is taking over…. :D
Next track is most popular track amongst non-AC/DC fans and especially amongst strippers and pole dancers. You Shook Me All Night Long has a cheeky undercurrent and was unashamedly sexy. The song was one of the songs that brought hard rock into the mainstream and onto radio. The subsequent music videos made for the song post-MTV use the rock staple – the sexy chick. With its infectious riff and cheeky subject, it is simple to see why the song is a favourite at concerts everywhere.
The next track is the Bon Scott tribute Have a Drink On Me. The chorus of this song is among my favourite all-time choruses - "So don't worry about tomorrow, take it today, Forget about the cheque, we'll get hell to pay". The power of the rhythm guitar is awesome and especially through the lead break. One of the latter choruses I have been singing in error since I was a kid. The line is “Gonna roll around, gonna hit the ground” and for some reason I always thought it was “Go to Rotterdam go and hit the grand” Made no sense but the mention of Rotterdam I thought was cool because of the knowledge that the city was used by the band and lots of others touring Europe to score copious amounts of drugs.
Shake a Leg is an unashamed blues rocker with another entendre – shaking a leg was vernacular for rooting. Bon Scott conspiracy rears its ugly head again! The song is essentially a filler on an album with no real filler tracks. It’s a strong song but the company it keeps on Side B of Back in Black means that it is somewhat overshadowed.
Rock’n’Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution is a fitting end to this album. It’s a song that is both rebellious in its lyrics, naughty as well and very much a precursor to the power ballad that infected heavy metal and hard rock albums for the next 15 years. It has a high level of head-bangability and sounds better the louder that you play it. Getting vibrations around from next door is a lot of fun.
Perhaps, the most endearing tribute to AC/DC was from Helmet’s Page Hamilton. In an interview, he said that when Helmet were recording albums, the band would travel to the studio together in a car and would always have Back in Black on. Hamilton said that all they would do was aim to make an album as good as Back in Black. He thus saw it as the epitome of hard rock. I tend to agree.
This album represents my childhood to me and always brings back memories of when I had the vinyl spinning, running around the house like a lunatic when Mum was out. Perfecting the Angus Young duck-walk was a very important thing. It also reminds me of the things that the songs helped me to deal with as a kid and a teenager, things like girls not reciprocating feelings, getting beaten up by bullies and feeling helpless. Put on Back in Black and all was OK for a while. I'm sure the album holds a special place for many other people as well.
Because this album was about perseverance as much as anything. Nothing would keep the rocking lads down, not even the premature and senseless death of front man Bon Scott. The power of the songs and especially the arrangement of the tracks were the perfect showcase for new lead singer Brian Johnson. While interviews by the Young brothers and Johnson say that all of the work done by Bon Scott and the band was destroyed and work started on all-new material, I personally have my doubts about the veracity of these statements.
The way the album starts is ominous and foreshadows the power that will be unleashed. The striking of the bell and the riff from Angus on Hell’s Bells are great and the first lines of the song are perfect for the scene – “I’m roaring thunder, I’m pouring rain”. Hell’s Bells also uses a theme of evil and danger which seemed to be the current trend at the time in the UK. Mentioning Satan and Hell were the ways to be controversial, with bands like Iron Maiden and Motorhead leading the charge.
The next track is Shoot to Thrill, which is personally my favourite Brian Johnson track and top 3 all-time AC/DC tracks. The start of the track introduces the best riff on the album and the song has a lead break that is very different from anything AC/DC had done before. Tempo drops down to just drums and vocals and then Angus rips out a beauty. An awesome song and it is great on the Monsters of Rock concert from 1991.
The next three tracks form the basis of my conspiracy that all of Bon’s work was not discarded. What Do You Do For Money Honey, Givin’ The Dog a Bone and Let Me Put My Love Into You have the Bon Scott signature of being cheeky and using entendres to describe sex. The themes of the songs are interestingly not very much repeated in the next few AC/DC albums. Such great tracks that the band didn’t feel were good enough to replicate on subsequent albums that pretty much duded. Kind of seems that the spirit of Bon was alive and well on Back in Black.
End of side 1, here comes Side 2….
What can you say about Back in Black? The riff is musical elegant simplicity. So clean yet so strong and heavy. Its lyrics also have the Bon Scott stamp, especially the parts about being in a bang with a gang and having nine lives. Bon was a motorcycle rider and had a few close calls with accidents on his bike. Maybe my theory is taking over…. :D
Next track is most popular track amongst non-AC/DC fans and especially amongst strippers and pole dancers. You Shook Me All Night Long has a cheeky undercurrent and was unashamedly sexy. The song was one of the songs that brought hard rock into the mainstream and onto radio. The subsequent music videos made for the song post-MTV use the rock staple – the sexy chick. With its infectious riff and cheeky subject, it is simple to see why the song is a favourite at concerts everywhere.
The next track is the Bon Scott tribute Have a Drink On Me. The chorus of this song is among my favourite all-time choruses - "So don't worry about tomorrow, take it today, Forget about the cheque, we'll get hell to pay". The power of the rhythm guitar is awesome and especially through the lead break. One of the latter choruses I have been singing in error since I was a kid. The line is “Gonna roll around, gonna hit the ground” and for some reason I always thought it was “Go to Rotterdam go and hit the grand” Made no sense but the mention of Rotterdam I thought was cool because of the knowledge that the city was used by the band and lots of others touring Europe to score copious amounts of drugs.
Shake a Leg is an unashamed blues rocker with another entendre – shaking a leg was vernacular for rooting. Bon Scott conspiracy rears its ugly head again! The song is essentially a filler on an album with no real filler tracks. It’s a strong song but the company it keeps on Side B of Back in Black means that it is somewhat overshadowed.
Rock’n’Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution is a fitting end to this album. It’s a song that is both rebellious in its lyrics, naughty as well and very much a precursor to the power ballad that infected heavy metal and hard rock albums for the next 15 years. It has a high level of head-bangability and sounds better the louder that you play it. Getting vibrations around from next door is a lot of fun.
Perhaps, the most endearing tribute to AC/DC was from Helmet’s Page Hamilton. In an interview, he said that when Helmet were recording albums, the band would travel to the studio together in a car and would always have Back in Black on. Hamilton said that all they would do was aim to make an album as good as Back in Black. He thus saw it as the epitome of hard rock. I tend to agree.