In the pantheon of rock, perhaps only the Rolling Stones can lay
\nclaim to a longer career today than Australia’s AC\/DC. However,
\nunlike the majority of aging rockers that are still hanging around,
\nthe lads from Down Under have steadfastily refused to alter, water
\ndown or adapt their music to fit the musical trends of the time or
\ntheir own bodies’ timeclock. The AC\/DC of 1974 and
\nHigh Voltage<\/i> is basically the same – one huge change in lead
\nsinger notwithstanding – as the AC\/DC of 2000 and
\nStiff Upper Lip<\/i>. You could state that that does not make for
\nmuch quality music, but you’d be quickly dismissing twenty years of
\ngreat rock’n’roll.<\/p>\n
So, like their counterparts before,
\nStiff Upper Lip<\/i> serves the same thunderous riffs, strong
\nhooks, strong rhythm and screeching vocals that fans have come to
\naccept and expect. You won’t find any ballads or rap\/rock mixes or
\nthrash-speed metal. When you have a formula that has worked so well
\nfor so long, I think it’s wise not to alter it too much. AC\/DC
\ndoesn’t alter it at all.<\/p>\n
The album kicks off with the great title track. I must confess
\nthat I didn’t think all that highly of it at first, but it just
\nkeeps growing on me. As for what it is about, I have no clue. It
\ncould be about performing certain…ah, hmm,…acts or it could be
\nabout not missing a certain anatomical piece that is removed
\nshortly after birth. (You know which one!) Lead screamer Brian
\nJohnson is belting his tunes way too high for me to truly make out
\neverything he’s saying – but then again, that’s the story with
\nAC\/DC. (A former professor of mine asked me if I could make out the
\nlyrics without the lyric sheet. Here, I’d have to say, “No.”)<\/p>\n
A fact that struck me as I listened to this album is how similar
\nit is to 1983’s
\nFlick Of The Switch<\/i>. By that I mean that there isn’t a
\nclear-cut line between radio-ready singles and throwaways. The
\nentire album feels like one work as it segues from song to song.
\nFrom the driving, bluesy “Meltdown” through the slow “House Of
\nJazz” – which I expect to become an anthem in Salt Lake City come
\nplayoff time – to the rhythm-driven “Safe In New York City,” the
\nalbum shifts few gears as it keeps going on its happy trail.<\/p>\n
Another thing that struck me is that, unlike the majority of
\nalbums, the album gets better and better as it progresses towards
\nthe end. You see, most albums stick the best songs right up front –
\nto help sell people on the albums before they get home and actually
\nsit down and listen to them. Here,
\nStiff Upper Lip<\/i>‘s better songs are, in my estimation, on the
\nsecond side. Starting with the anthemic “Can’t Stop Rock’n’Roll” –
\nwhich seems to be the next radio single – and “Satellite Blues” –
\nwhich is so cool it should be the next radio single – the second
\nhalf of the album truly asserts that this is AC\/DC at its best.<\/p>\n
Mixing slow, mean blues (“Damned” and “Come And Get It”) with
\ncool riffs and fast rhythms (“All Screwed Up”), you actually
\nforgive some of the cliched lyrics. You actually hear guitarist
\nAngus Young on backing vocals in “Come And Get It.” It’s so funny
\nand yet appropriate. The album ends with the strong and cool “Give
\nIt Up,” a fitting closer to such a strong album.<\/p>\n
I admit that if anyone else played these songs, they’d seem
\ncheesy and bad. This is where their apparent lack of growth and
\nmusical adolescence comes into play. You are ready to forgive
\nAngus, his big brother and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, the
\nrhythm duo of Cliff Williams (the only other major line-up change
\nsince
\nHigh Voltage<\/i>) and Phil Rudd and lead screecher Johnson for
\ntheir inability to write more serious or socially-conscious
\nmaterial because they’ve never cared to do that at all. This is not
\nthe type of band that would lead a thing like the Tibetan Freedom
\nConcert or NetAid, but you can bet that they would play the French
\nQuarter during Mardi Gras – probably from the balcony of
\nTemptations and right next to the Playboy entourage.<\/p>\n
Kudos must also go to their producer, long-time collaborator
\nGeorge Young. (Yep, he’s Angus and Malcolm’s brother.) Unlike
\nproducers like Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Rick Rubin or the late
\nBruce Fairbairn, George makes AC\/DC’s music sound raw and dirty. In
\nsome ways, he understands that their music sounds best this way –
\nforever calling into mind the seedy bars where the band got its
\nstart. That helps increase the mood and feel of the songs and of
\nthe album.<\/p>\n
Let’s be honest. No one buys AC\/DC for their deep lyrics or
\ntheir great ballads. We listen to AC\/DC for the same reason that we
\ngo to strip bars – because it’s loud, rude and tickles our fancy in
\ncertain nether regions. And, as long as those feelings remain in us
\nand strip bars remain popular, AC\/DC’s music shall remain popular.
\nBecause, after all, it’s for the same reasons. Now, go on and enjoy
\nthe latest shot of adolescent hormones from the band that seems to
\nlive off them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5683],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36534","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ac-dc","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36534"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36534"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}