Why this album?
Because the little motherfucker ROCKS! That's why!
Just like the little motherfucker depicted on the cover about to pull down some monstrous power lever, the whole think just rocks your lights out.
And why am I calling it a little motherfucker as opposed to some giant monolithic motherfucker along the lines of Back In Black? Or the millions selling follow up For Those About To Rock? Hmmmmm, well, because in comparison it IS a little motherfucker, but a motherfucker nonetheless. It sold next to no copies, all things considered, and the band hasn't played a single track from it live since maybe 1985?
We all know the story of Back In Black. No need for a rehash. Most of us know For Those About To Rock suffered from inflated expectations and, though it sold like a bastard and hit the number one spot in the US chart, a lot of people felt it kind of rather sucked. I mean, "c'mon, man, I put on side one and didn't instantly hear Hells Bells part two? What is this shit?"
.... Anyhow.... by the time the boys rolled back into Compass Point studios to bang out their next billion seller, they'd ditched Mutt Lange and pretty much any commercial pretensions. All they really wanted to do was be left alone to plug in and rock. Brian Johnson was still in his vocal prime so they really needed to hurry up and simply DO IT!
People may proclaim (however affectionately) that AC/DC simply recorded the same album over and over. As true as this might possibly be, nothing in their catalog shakes the floor quite like this one. Sure it might not feature the band's best songs, or any hits at all (let's remember: AC/DC IS a hit singles band) but it leaves you bruised and grooving when you're done. Ah, yeah! AC/DC can really groove, can't they? And this might have been the biggest problem with For Those About To Rock. That was a much slower (some might say plodding), evil sounding record. And as good as it may have sounded, there was really nothing there to tear up your carpet to ala "Givin The Dog A Bone" or Gimme A Bullet To Bite On". But it did one thing for sure, and this is mainly thanks to Brian Johnson: it firmly established that AC/DC was never going to be some 70's relic and could stand tall and compete with/kick the asses of the current heavy metal screamers who were dominating the airwaves and the hormones of pot smoking, D&D playing teenagers everywhere.
And speaking of Brian Johnson: I'm a huge huge Bon lover, but I have to admit, by Highway To Hell, he was beginning to give me the creeps. He seemed to have gone from a lovable, perverted uncle to a flat out scary rapist. On Highway To Hell he was singing about walking all over some chick and shoving steel out her back, and blood everywhere. It all rocked, of course, but the whole thing had a nervous edge that hadn't been there before... I'm not happy how history laid itself out, but when Brian came into the picture, the fun came back. At least for this 8 year old who rode his bike to the local Fed mart to purchase Back In Black: his very first record decided upon and bought all on his own.
Brian puts on a hell of a performance for this one. And his lyrics are pretty damn cool too. "Nervous Shakedown" made me really not want to end up in juvenile hall. My folks might have had the courtesy to at least send a thank you letter, but no!!
For a young kid, boy did this record make me fear what was in store for me as a teenager and an adult. Brian sings about picking up some girl who uses his body for abuse, leaving him to wake up alone and in pain the next morning. There are songs about the cops beating the shit out of everyone at some concert, throwing a party and having some asshole accidentally set your house on fire, a rebellious teenager losing control of his car, either being a male hustler or a hit man (not exactly sure), selling your soul to some awful romantic partner who keeps you shackled in chains and deep in the hole, a song about going around with a gun and being an all around asshole, and then ending up with some woman who's basically suicide but oh, so much fun!
Ah, if only the ensuing years had been half as eventful ;)
And what of the band? Damn, does Angus really shred on this one. Never has his guitar seemed quite so angry. And Malcome is really cranked up in the mix this time out. I tell you, the two guitar AC/DC attack is at it's all time peak here. Cliff Williams is still back there banging away on his (now headless) bass. And Phil is as steady and heavy as ever. Shame this was his last album with the band for quite some time. It seems Phil was having some big time problems with Malcome, drinking too much (even for a rock star) and seeing goblins coming out of the walls. Things came to a boil and he was put on a plane headed in opposite direction and to who knows where.... (ask him and Mark Evans: I guess you really don't cross the Young brothers) But he came back at the right time, and the story continues happily on to this day.
But back in 1983 they got some guy named Simon Wright and it just didn't feel the same. How come drummers who can play it simple, straight, and right ala Phil are the rarest breed and the most useful, yet not the ones anyone seems to admire or aspire to be? .... Anyhow, AC/DC soldiered on through a few lean years and a couple not so awesome albums. For Fly On The Wall, Brian's voice was shot and it sounds like they recorded the whole thing with him locked outside studio, screaming his voice dry trying to get someone's attention. Five minutes later some scumbag named Richard Ramirez went around singing their songs while murdering his way through the stifling hot summer of 1985, causing too many parents to toss their kids AC/DC records into the grinder. Of course they came roaring back in 1990 with some giant bald guy on drums and a couple huge hits. And from here on out the seemingly invincible AC/DC juggernaut became a happily accepted fact of life. However, Flick Of The Switch: this little bastard child of an album seems to have forever fallen into a crack.
Such is life :(
No comments:
Post a Comment