AC/DC

I felt exactly the same as @mckindog about the last album. Bland, flat, meek. AC/DC and Sabbath have both reached an age where mainstream critics feel they have to laud everything they do out of some sort of respect for their longevity, and fear of looking stupid when so many people clearly love the bands. You're absolutely right that the reviews of current AC/DC (and Sabbath) are what the reviews the bands got when they started should have been.

Now, imagine if there was a metal band that had been around nearly 40 years, celebrated it's back catalogue, but developed it's sound and style continually with every new album... In fact, one where a fan could eagerly await the 16th album not knowing what it would sound like... Wouldn't that be great?!
 
Forostar said:
I always thought most AC/DC tracks were second rate AC/DC type of tracks.
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I think that's true of much of their stuff after Back in Black, with a few exceptions. But that is not at all a fair characterization of the Bon Scott years. Don't want to presume or lecture, but IF you (or anyone else) are not as familiar with the very early AC/DC stuff, I strongly recommend giving it a second listen. Powerage is one of my favorite hard rock records of all time.
 
AC/DC with Bon Scott had a boogie swing to many of their songs. Even many 'straight 8ths' songs like "Let There Be Rock" or "Whole Lotta Rosie" feel like they swing. Back In Black marked a transition to a mostly straight four-on-the-floor style. It's not just the singer, but the change the band made for his voice and style. If Bon had sung "Thunderstruck", AC/DC would have had an arrangement that had some boogie swing.
 
Powerage is an amazing, highly underrated rated album.
Most post-Black Johnson albums are generally underrated, IMO, even if the criticism of them is fair.
But High Voltage, Let There Be Rock and Powerage are magical.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
I think that's true of much of their stuff after Back in Black, with a few exceptions. But that is not at all a fair characterization of the Bon Scott years. Don't want to presume or lecture, but IF you (or anyone else) are not as familiar with the very early AC/DC stuff, I strongly recommend giving it a second listen. Powerage is one of my favorite hard rock records of all time.
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A recommendation from someone who calls Peter Garrett a talentless nitwit? Very inviting.

If it's bad, I could also just play 2o minutes.
 
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I believe the term I used was talent-less spaz. Don't know whether he is a nitwit. He's definitely a spaz. He can't sing, he just kind of burps the lyrics. Whether he has some other talent may be debatable; based on what I've seen and heard, I say no. He ain't no Bon Scott, that's for sure.
 
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Absolutely not. I am glad he isn't.

The first track, Rock N Roll Damnation. I hate such happy generic rock and roll. Forgettable dull and repetitive standard music, perhaps nice when having a few beers in a busy bar as background music. Not much as else.

Down Payment Blues. Meh. Meh. Meh.
Gimme a Bullett. Not very exciting either.
Riff Raff. Ok, well, I have enough already,
 
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New tour dates:

Aug. 22 - Foxboro, MA (Gillette Stadium)
Aug. 26 - East Rutherford, NJ (Met Life Stadium)
Aug. 28 - Quebec City, QC (Plains of Abraham)
Aug. 31 - Montreal, QC (Olympic Stadium)
Sep. 3 - Ottawa, ON (TD Place)
Sep. 5 - Moncton, NB (Magnetic Hill)
Sep. 8 - Detroit, MI (Ford Field)
Sep. 10 - Toronto, ON (Downsview Park)
Sep. 15 - Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field)
Sep. 20 - Edmonton, AB (Commonwealth Stadium)
Sep. 22 - Vancouver, BC (BC Place)
Sep. 25 - San Francisco, CA (AT&T Park)
Sep. 28 - Los Angeles, CA (Dodger Stadium)

IF that ends up being it for the North American tour, then that's really messed up. Only 13 shows and more than half of them are in Canada?
 
Same over seas, only one in England (I know we're a tiny isle compared to North America), which sold out instantly.

I was hoping to see the AC/DC before they retired, but now I guess that's not going to happen.

:(
 
Highway To Hell. At their prime, just before Bon Scott drank himself to death. Slick production by Mutt Lange, lots of classic songs.
Back In Black. The next album, first with Brian Johnson. Another Mutt-produced classic.

Then it's time to go back for the rest of the Bon Scott albums. I'd recommend Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and Let There Be Rock. Both sound much more raw than the later albums, and Dirty Deeds in particular has plenty of humor.

They started falling off after Back In Black, but I'd give For Those About To Rock and The Razor's Edge a spin as the best of the rest.
 
Saw them live back in 80's and 90's but stopped going to see them because the setlist just didn't change much. They would play about 2 or 3 new songs, 1 Bon deep cut, and then the same old dozen songs every tour. Was always a very energetic show but just got tired of the same old songs. AC/DC has more than twice the number of the songs in their discography that have never been played live than Rush, Maiden, or Priest.
 
When I did that Classic Rock Top 500 game, I had one Canadian radio list in there, and I recall they had a lot of AC/DC in their top 100. Seems they like AC/DC quite a lot up there.
 
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