Soundbite:Black Ice
By Kim Sanders
Oct. 20, 2008 9:00 p.m.
With “Black Ice,” AC/DC’s first studio album since 2000’s “Stiff Upper Lip,” the question was whether the band was back in black or just on thin ice. But as screaming guitars and a thunderous rhythm section attest from the first track, these guys still shoot to thrill.
In the ’70s and ’80s, AC/DC combined the rhythmic, two-guitar assault of Angus and Malcolm Young with the deafening rhythm section of Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd and the swagger of first Bon Scott and, in 1980, Brian Johnson.
The formula worked, and it’s one they’ve kept throughout their lengthy career ““ along with Angus Young’s schoolboy uniform ““ and this album is no exception.
They borrow liberally from their own catalogue and come out with an album that sounds like a collection of unreleased gems from their prime, rather than the workings of geriatrics trying to reclaim glory.
The album opens with the single “Rock N’ Roll Train,” which features the axe-wielding brothers playing riffs as tight as ever and Angus Young launching into the first of his many frenzied, squealing solos.
Johnson’s vocals are as gravelly as in 1980 as he instructs listeners to join the band and “Give it all you’ve got.”
However, this song reveals the album’s one great tragedy. The gang-like backing vocals that became the band’s calling card, inspiring shout-along choruses such as those heard on “T.N.T.” and “Jailbreak,” are absent. Instead, there are sing-along echoes that sound like they belong on a Bon Jovi record.
“Anything Goes” is a relatively melodic track, with Johnson sounding like a hard-rock John Cougar Mellencamp ““ if Mellencamp smoked a pack a day and strained his vocal cords. He’s backed by a harmonic riff reminiscent of “Thunderstruck.”
The band quickly gets back into more familiar territory with the throbbing bass and feverish lead licks of “War Machine,” whose backing chorus vocals pay a snarling homage to Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law.”
Perhaps the only filler on the album, “Smash N’ Grab,” is immediately followed by “Spoilin’ For a Fight,” a revisited “Hard as a Rock” that induces just as much fist-raising and head-banging as the original.
“Decibel” channels the main riff and vocal tone of ZZ Top’s “Waitin’ for the Bus” before the sustained power chords and raw vocals kick in, and Angus Young launches into another shredding solo.
Building a steady accretion of instruments, “Stormy May Day” ““ a play on the T. Bone Walker classic “Stormy Monday” ““ amplifies the band’s blues influences, from the eerie guitar tonality to the main riff and dark, ominous imagery.
However, the band returns to its trademark themes of fast women, screaming guitars and rock ‘n’ roll on “She Likes Rock N’ Roll,” with its funk drum beat and descending licks that recall “Back in Black.”
The classic rhythmic emphasis can be heard in the steady riff, repeating chorus and pounding drums of “Money Made”; the arpeggiated chords of “Hells Bells” can be heard on “Rock N’ Roll Dream.”
The album closes with the title track, with its powerful guitars, heavy bass and intense vocals. Angus Young plays another maniac solo that sounds as though he is skidding on black ice, while the steady beat and vocals drive the song forward relentlessly.
“Black Ice” isn’t a new generation’s “Back in Black.” It may not be a “runaway train running off the track” ““ but it’s a solid album that could be slipped into a mix of classic AC/DC, and no one would notice the difference.
Put simply, it rocks, and with the tragedies that occur when most bands try to recapture their mojo, that’s quite an accomplishment. Especially when you’re wearing a schoolboy uniform. And for that, AC/DC, we salute.
E-mail Sanders at [email protected].
