For some reason, I don’t think that devotees of AC\/DC hold their
\n1988 release
\nBlow Up Your Video<\/i> in the highest regard. I remember when it
\ncame out, I absolutely fell in love with this record. It almost
\nseemed like Angus Young and crew were aiming to recapture their
\nglory days. They re-teamed up with producers Harry Vanda and George
\nYoung, who worked on their first albums. Singles were actually
\nreleased in America… and you could find them easily! And, best of
\nall, the band was taking some chances musically!<\/p>\n
While packing up the Pierce Memorial Archives to prepare for
\ntheir latest move, I came across my vinyl copy of
\nBlow Up Your Video<\/i>, and decided to slap it on the turntable
\nagain. While the few weaknesses of this album are somewhat
\ncrippling, this still remains a killer album.<\/p>\n
Production-wise, I almost wish that Vanda and George Young had
\ntaken the time to re-listen to the mix and had added a notch more
\ntreble. Oh, the final mix here is perfect for tracks like “Ruff
\nStuff” and “Two’s Up,” but there is a crispness missing from songs
\nlike “Nick Of Time” that really would have kicked them into the
\nstratosphere.<\/p>\n
Musically, AC\/DC seem to be willing to take some chances and
\nbreak from the traditional musical formula they had followed for,
\nat that time, 14 years. You can hear a shift in the first half of
\nthe album, but the second half is where the cards are laid on the
\ntable. You’ve got an almost progressive hard-rock sound on “Nick Of
\nTime,” followed by well-developed tracks in “Ruff Stuff” and “Two’s
\nUp”. (Don’t worry, there’s still a cock-rock attitude that only
\nAC\/DC can pull off. Sample line from “Two’s Up”, at least how I
\nheard it: “Gimme head \/ Gimme tails.”)<\/p>\n
What is most captivating about
\nBlow Up Your Video<\/i> is the energy level in the music, a level
\nso infectious that you may soon see yourself bouncing around the
\nroom to the disc. The leadoff track “Heatseeker” is one of the best
\nrock tracks AC\/DC has done in some time, while the follow-up track
\nand single “That’s The Way I Want To Rock ‘N Roll” is an
\ninteresting development, allowing the guitars and vocals to almost
\nlayer themselves. It’s a risk, but it works.<\/p>\n
This isn’t to say that everything on the album works this well.
\n“Meanstreak” is a song with good intentions, but musically, it’s
\nfar too weak. An almost bump-and-grind groove base isn’t a bad
\nthing, but this melody just doesn’t work that well. Likewise, “Some
\nSin For Nuthin'” – I’m sorry, but I actually cringe when I hear
\nAngus Young’s opening guitar line of this one (though the solo is
\ntastier), and it’s hard for me to sit still for four minutes
\nwithout diving for the “next track” button on the CD player. You
\nhave to say this much: if you gotta fail, then go down in
\nflames.<\/p>\n
Still, the positives on
\nBlow Up Your Video<\/i> outweigh the negatives. Tracks like
\n“Kissin’ Dynamite” and “Go Zone” are better than you’d expect them
\nto be, though it does take a few listens to warm up to them. And
\nthe closer, “This Means War,” is the call to battle that ties up
\nany loose ends left by “Heatseeker”‘s boogie beat.<\/p>\n
\nBlow Up Your Video<\/i> is no
\nBack In Black<\/i>, but then again, I don’t think I’d want it to
\nbe that way. With only one or two exceptions, I like the album just
\nthe way it is. This is one that’s begging for rediscovery among
\nyour vinyl shelves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5683],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-36606","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ac-dc","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36606","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36606"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36606"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}