It could well be that the only thing more consistent and predictable than an AC/DC album is an AC/DC review. Here is the standard pattern:
Open with a clever metaphor to illustrate AC/DC's committment to their unmistakable, straight-ahead rock and roll style.
Praise the band for never giving in to trends or fads.
Announce that they have released a new album, which sounds just like all of their other albums.
Point out several examples of the AC/DC sound (simple but devestating rhythm guitar riffs, screeching vocals that only work in AC/DC, meat-and-potatoes drumming and bass work, naughty lyrics that use the words "rock" and "rocking" a little too much).
Give the album an overall good review.
Note, however, that it's not classic AC/DC, but that in these (fill in the blank: changing, difficult, trying, uncertain, confusing, etc.) times, we should all be happy to have something familiar that we know and love to comfort us.
In fact, I wrote such a review for Pencil Storm six years ago when Rock or Bust was released. It was good, I said. Not classic AC/DC, but a solid addition to the catalog. I can't remember what metaphor I used back then.
However, I do know exactly what metaphor I was planning to use for their new album, the recently released Power Up, which I refuse to spell as PWR UP, as the band has chosen to do. Even before the full album was released, after hearing only the single, "Shot in the Dark," I was preparing in my head a review that compared the album to a McDonald's hamburger. Check out this trope I was writing in my mind: "The first Big Mac you ever had when you were a kid blew your mind, right? I mean, how could anything taste that good, and why hadn't your parents been taking you there to eat for every meal for your whole life, right? And ever since then, you've been eating McDonald's burgers and enjoying them, sure, but they never taste as good as that first one, do they? Such is life as an AC/DC fan, and with their new album, they have..."
And I was prepared to offer almost exactly the same basic take that I had on Rock or Bust: that the new album had two or three really good songs plus a bunch of filler, and while I was damn glad to have it, filler and all, I couldn't honestly say it was essential AC/DC.
(Please note: This is the point in the review where you expect the big BUT at the heart of every review ever written, as in "Sequels are supposed to be inferior to the original, BUT this movie far outdoes its predecessor.")
You're expecting me now to say that, contrary to my expectations, Power Up most definitely IS essential AC/DC, a true return to form in the wake of the tragic death of band leader Malcolm Young. And you'd almost be right.
But the truth is, this is almost essential AC/DC, just not quite. It's not a home run, but it's definitely a double off the wall. How's that for a metaphor? I mean, Power Up is really, really, really good. Shockingly good. But in order to be essential AC/DC, an album would have to beat out some pretty stiff competition. We'll get to where this album belongs in the AC/DC canon (cannon pun intended) soon enough. For now, let's look at some particulars:
Overall, this album reminds me a lot of For Those About to Rock. It was produced, as recent albums have been, by Brendan O'Brien, but it really has that smoothed-up Mutt Lange production that some people say is too smooth for AC/DC (except on Back in Black, which the whole world recognizes as absolutely flawless in every conceivable way). The guitar sounds are thick and warm, EQ'd in that magical way that makes them sound loud and heavy, but never screechy or painful, no matter how much you turn it up.
Speaking of guitars, I feel the need to answer a question that several have already asked me: Can you tell it's not Malcolm on the rhythm guitar channel? (And it isn't. Don't believe those rumors about Angus building these songs around riffs his brother had already recorded. They're not true.) Anyway, the answer is no, and saying that does not in any way detract from Malcolm's unique rhythm guitar genius. His nephew Stevie Young may be able to perfectly imitate Uncle Mal's style, but only Malcolm could have created it. Malcolm Young's rhythm guitar parts are kind of like a celebrity impression on Saturday Night Live. Almost anybody can "do Sean Connery" after watching Darryl Hammond in one of those great Celebrity Jeopardy skits (RIP to both Sean and Alex, by thy way), and some can imitate it near perfectly, but the credit still goes to the impressionist, not to the guy at an after-work happy hour talking about last Saturday's show.
Where were we?
Oh yeah, specifics about the album. Let's rapid-fire list some things to love about it:
The songs are extremely catchy. I highly recommend these five, and I think you'll be humming them for days: "Realize," "Shot in the Dark," "Kick You When You're Down," "Demon Fire," and "Systems Down." All are built on the tried-and-true AC/DC formula (yes, it's a formula) of crushingly great main guitar riff plus irresistable chorus. Do you really need more than that? No. No, you don't.
There are no--zero--songs with "rock" or "rocking" in the title. Compare that to four such songs on each of their two previous albums. (Representative examples: "Rocking All the Way" from Black Ice and "Rock the Blues Away" from Rock or Bust) That fact suggests, rightly or wrongly, that Angus gave a little more thought to the songs on this album.
Perhaps due to some allegedly super-secret, cutting edge technological implants to help with his hearing problems (or perhaps due to clever production skills), Brian's vocals, even at his age of 72 when these songs were recorded, sound the best they have since the mid-1980’s. Maybe he came in with something to prove after being replaced by (God, I hate to say it) Axl @#$%ing Rose during the Rock or Bust tour. You'll notice two things about the vocals that support the "good production" rather than "miracle technology" theory: the lead vocals are kind of low in the mix and very often are supported by backup vocals from Cliff and Stevie, which are more prominent and more "produced" in this album than usual. Again, think of For Those About to Rock, which relied heavily on well-produced gang singing and harmony backgrounds.
It's not all good news, though. Whether on purpose or not, Angus doesn't play any lead guitar parts that will knock you down. His leads are competent, sure, and they do what they need to do, but nothing is going to dig a channel into your aural memory like some of the great lead breaks from Back in Black. (The one in "Shake a Leg" has always been my favorite.)
But that, to quote, Spinal Tap, is nitpicking.
One criticism of the album isn't nitpcking, though, and that is the exceptionally bad lyrics. I mean, in a way it's nitpicking because, really, if you listen to AC/DC for the words, you're here for the wrong reason. The vocals are mainly just another instrument in the band. They're really not trying to make their listeners think deep thoughts. But there was a time when AC/DC lyrics were at least clever. I mean, who can't love a line like "Forget about the check, we'll get hell to pay"? (That's from "Have a Drink on Me" on Back in Black, in case you are one of the four people left on this planet who doesn't have that album.) Or this from the 1978 Powerage album: "I been up to my neck in pleasure/Up to my neck in pain/I been up to my neck on the railroad track/Waitin' for the train." Good rhymes. Good times.
The cringe-inducing lyrics on Power Up started with the release of the "Shot in the Dark" single several weeks before the album hit stores with this: "A shot in the dark beats a walk in the park." Y'all, I spent almost ten years in college learning to read and interpret English, and I have no idea what that means. It just rhymes. And rhymes seem to be the only point sometimes with these words. Of course a song called "Demon Fire" is going to rhyme "fire" and "desire." And in "Realize," Brian announces that he has the "power to hypnotize," and sure enough, one line later, he lets us know that can also "mesmerize."
But yeah, maybe that's nitpicking.
At the risk of being branded a social justice warrior, though, I really think I need to point out that, in 2020, even AC/DC ought to think twice about a line like this: "If you reject me, I'll take what I want." That's not a smart-aleck line. That's a reason to call the cops. Thing is, when the dearly departed Bon Scott did the whole male chauvinism thing, he at least did it with some cleverness, like this: "You say that you want respect./Well honey, for what?/For everthing that you done to me, thanks a lot" (from "Rock and Roll Damnation" on Powerage). And Bon just as often made himself the butt of the joke, as in "Shot Down in Flames" (from Highway to Hell), when he tells the story of being out on one of his nightly prowls: "She was standing alone over by the jukebox/Like she's something to sell/I said, 'Baby what's the going price?'/She told me to go to hell." He deserved that, and he knew it.
Or maybe that's nitpicking, too. You be the judge.
OK, so as promised, here is where the new album fits, in my judgement, into the AC/DC catalog. For the purposes of this review, we'll say there are 18 AC/DC studio releases (including Who Made Who, which is often left off of these lists because it has only one new song on it plus some previously released songs and a couple of instrumentals).
Six Essential AC/DC Albums (that everyone must own, in chronological order):
High Voltage
Let There Be Rock
Powerage
Highway to Hell
Back in Black
For Those About to Rock
Six Great AC/DC Albums (that fans should own, in chronological order):
‘74 Jailbreak
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Flick of the Switch
Who Made Who
Razor's Edge
Power Up
Six AC/DC Albums (that only super fans need to bother with, in chronolocial order):
Fly on the Wall
Blow Up Your Video
Ballbreaker
Stiff Upper Lip
Black Ice
Rock or Bust
There you have it. It's really good. If you're a fan, you need it, but if you're really a fan, you know that already.
Let's all hope Covid-19 goes away soon and Brian's state-of-the-art ear implants continue to work so that we can see them one more time. For once, I'll be more than happy to pay whatever Ticketmaster/Live Nation think it's worth if we can just get back out there.
I hope you'll all agree with that even if you disagree with my rankings. If you do disagree, by all means, post a comment.
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