AC/DC

PAGE UPDATED IN 2021

Reviewed:
- High Voltage (1976)
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)
- Let There be Rock (1977)
- Powerage (1978)
- If You Want Blood You've Got It (1978, live album)
- Highway to Hell (1979)
- Back in Black (1980)
- For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981)
- Flick of the Switch (1983)
- '74 Jailbreak (1984, EP)
- Fly on the Wall (1985)
- Who Made Who (1986, soundtrack album)
- Blow Up Your Video (1988)
- The Razors Edge (1990)
- Live (1992, live album)
- Ballbreaker (1995)

- Bonfire (1997, boxset)
- Stiff Upper Lip (2000)
- Black Ice (2008)
- Live at River Plate (2012, live album)
- Rock or Bust (2014)

- Power Up (2020)


HIGH VOLTAGE (INTERNATIONAL VERSION)          1976          (Epic)

Standouts: Everything, except maybe 'The Jack'!   

Just to make things complicated, there's actually two different versions of High Voltage. One is the original 1975 Australian release, which was technically their debut album, and then there's the 1976 High Voltage, which was the band's international debut. So, for the majority of the world, this '76 version of High Voltage was the first AC/DC album ever. But just to make things even more complicated, they also released an album in Australia called T.N.T. in 1975, and aside from a couple of songs, the 1976 High Voltage is basically the same album as T.N.T.! Whatever. To me, High Voltage circa. 1976 is the debut album, and arguably one of the most influential records for me personally. 

See, I remember hearing the song 'T.N.T.' at some point as a kid, and I loved it. But until then (from 2000-03ish), I was kind of semi-listening to whatever my brother or my parents were into. So for both my parents combined it ranged from things like The Police, The Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Thin Lizzy and U2 to Pulp, Manic Street Preachers, Blur etc., while my brother was mostly into nu metal at that point, so I was also used to hearing KoRn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Stained... that kind of stuff. But when I heard 'T.N.T.' by AC/DC (it must have been on the radio, I can't think of anywhere else I could've heard it...), I was diggin' it almost immediately - I had to have whatever record it was from. My mum told me it was AC/DC, and for Christmas 2003 - when I was 11 years old and had just started secondary school (or high school for some) - I received a copy of High Voltage 1976, as part of the then newly-released 2003 AC/DC remasters from Epic. Yep, this was the album that started everything for me. Sure, I liked some of the stuff the rest of my family was listening to, but I didn't go out of my way to actively obtain any albums from them (although I would become a fan of some of those artists a few years down the line...). AC/DC and High Voltage however, it's what started a rock n' roll obsession for me, and it's the genesis of my collection!

Despite how important this album is for me personally, I rather ironically don't consider it to be the best AC/DC album. It's just not! That said, almost every ingredient that makes AC/DC such a great band was already present here. Bon Scott, the original singer, had that juvenile, party-rock kind of style. Angus Young was already rockin' the Gibson SG and donning the schoolboy uniform - hell, it's on the album cover. And his older brother Malcolm Young was always a solid rhythm guitarist and songwriter - there's almost nothing on here that will surprise you despite how early into their career this record was released. Every track immediately sounds like AC/DC.

So yeah, despite the fact High Voltage is not the pinnacle, it's still a brilliant album. Honestly, the only track I was never that fussed about is the plodding, repetitive bluesy jam that is 'The Jack'. It's still a good, sleazy number, but I just never found it to be as exciting as the rest of the album. I guess you could call me a hypocrite for not calling out the even sleazier 'Little Lover' for the same reasons, but that song just has that Bon Scott rockstar magic that I love it either way. Just preference for me, I guess. I do love the instantly-recognizable opener 'It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n' Roll)' - when that first riff hits, you know you're in for a good time. It even has a some bagpipe usage on it, a homage to Bon and the Young brothers' Scottish heritage? 'Rock n' Roll Singer' is kind of like an early, AC/DC stadium rocker. 'Can I Sit Next to You Girl' rules - the Young brothers' boogie blues riffage is fun as hell, and the song's real catchy. The most kick-ass numbers on here are 'Live Wire' and 'T.N.T.'. The latter is especially great, and is obviously the track that initially caught my attention. Everything about 'T.N.T.' just screams "this is AC/DC!" to me. Plus, with all those "Oi!" chants, it's easy to sing along to! The last couple of tracks are great too. 'She's Got Balls' thumps along and is full of attitude, while 'High Voltage' is an anthem of sorts with that massive "High voltage rock n' roll!" chorus. That lyric pretty much sums up this record, to be honest. 

What you have then, is an awesome balls-to-the-wall debut album (if you consider this to be the band's debut that is). The band did subtly evolve over time for sure, but this record laid out the foundations from the get-go. They knew exactly what kind of sound they were looking for, even as early into their career as this. As stated earlier, I don't think this is necessarily the best Bon Scott-fronted AC/DC record, but that ain't saying much, 'cos nothing the band ever made with Bon was even remotely sketchy. And without trying to sound too cringey, High Voltage holds a special place in my heart - it's the album that won me over, the album that made me a rock fan! If this thing had never entered my life when it did, who knows... maybe I'd be listening to mumble rap right now!

Adam's rating: 9.2/10

DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP          1976          (Epic)

- Standouts: All of it! 

Despite the stupid, unfitting and misleading Hipgnosis album art (and an even worse Australian one...) which would be more suited to a new wave band, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is one hell of a follow-up to High Voltage - another set of ass-kickin' tunes with a dose of even more juvenile attitude! As soon as the opening title song kicks in with that simple riff, it's quite clear that this album's gonna be a riot. Hell, when the chorus kicks ("Dirty deeds, DONE DIRT CHEAP! Dirty deeds, DONE DIRT CHEAP! Dirty deedsandedundirt cheap..."), Bon and the rest of the band never fail to make me sing along out loud. The same goes for 'Love at First Feel', which is just a great, feel-good hard rock anthem.

What I've always particularly loved about the Bon Scott-era, is the often un-PC sense of humour. Sure, it was still something that was kind of there on some the Brian Johnson albums, but Bon was the wilder party animal of the two - for me at least. That's why 'Big Balls' is early AC/DC personified. It's a silly, stupidly fun, funny cut with more great lyrics ("I've got big balls, I've got big balls, they're such big balls, and they're dirty big balls!"). I can't really picture this one on a Brian Johnson record (well, except maybe Fly On the Wall...). 'Big Balls' is quickly followed-up with 'Rocker', which is probably as fast and fun as you'd imagine it to be. It's a turbo-charged, almost Chuck Berry-inspired kinda rock n' roller, and it kicks ass. 'Problem Child' is a simplistic rocker, and yet again, the band are kicking your backside in with it! 'There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'' follows a twelve-bar blues structure, and is yet another feel-good rocker - it's not a particularly special track by any means, but the band have so much character you can't help but love it. 'Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)' is slightly different to the rest of the album. Firstly, it's kinda long, lasting just under seven minutes in length. Secondly, the first half of the track I find has more commercial appeal than the rest of the songs here. It's almost kind of melodic, in a way. I mean, this band always had hooks, but the hooks on this specific number seem to stand out more, somehow. The second half speeds up however, and is a little more in line with the rest of this record.

'Ride On' mellows out too, brings back some of the sleazy blues from the last album, like 'Little Lover' did. It's quite a necessary song at this point. The last song, 'Squealer', has a cool bass line and ends up kicking your ass one last time. Aye, this is another classic album from the early days of this band, possibly their most fun. Given how much the predecessor means to me personally, I didn't want to stick Dirty Deeds above High Voltage in the food chain, but the songs have just gotten that little bit better here! I will admit that some of the later tracks dip slightly below the first half of the album at times, but everything on here is still prime AC/DC.

Adam's rating: 9.3/10

LET THERE BE ROCK          1977          (EMI)

- Standouts: The 'whole lotta songs'!

There's more greatness to be found on Let There Be Rock, maybe more so than either of the previous two. The band's rockin' even harder here, and even though it's a track shorter, this album still manages to sit around the forty-minute realm of AC/DC album lengths. And that's good, because when you're basically a one-trick pony kind of band, you don't need to make albums any longer than that. In terms of musicianship, once again, they're subtly improving here. 'Go Down', the opener, does nothing drastically new or different for the band musically, but it doesn't need to. The band are still kicking your ass, and they're getting better at it! And 'Dog Eat Dog' is one of my absolute favourite AC/DC 'bangers. This track rules - just love that palm-muted riffage from the Young brothers. Then you've got the title track, which is a hell of a good time. It has a very fast, hard rockin' rhythm and very simple Bon Scott lyrics about the creation of rock music, backed up by a driving bass line. And without this track, we'd have never had this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvRL6ABpfuk

That's one of my old school teachers, I remember him practicing 'Let There Be Rock' as well as Gary Moore's 'Walking By Myself' in the music room during lunch break (though he wasn't a music teacher). And no, that pony tail isn't real. Someone else in my year edited this and made a parody video of it at the time, but out of respect to the teacher, I won't say what song it was. Uh, anyhow, 'Bad Boy Boogie' follows on from the title track, and it does what it sets out to do. Good, solid, boogie rock n' roll! 'Overdose' starts off with a slow introduction, but morphs into one of the heaviest, most stompin' mid-tempo Bon Scott classics ever. 'Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be' is the most anthemic, catchiest track on here with that big chorus. And of course, the last song on the album is the fast rocker 'Whole Lotta Rosie', another absolute classic from the discography that I'm sure you're aware of and need to description as to why this track kicks so much arse.

I will admit that the inclusion of 'Problem Child', as good as it is, kind of hinders Let There Be Rock a little. It was originally found on Dirty Deeds, and for whatever reason, the version on LTBR is around twenty seconds shorter. So I have no idea why this tune made it's way onto this album; as much as I love it, having the same song twice in a row is never a particularly good thing. Aside from that, the rest of this record is fire. Again, it's ever-so-slightly stronger than the last one, and I think that's partly due to the fact that this is one of the least pretentious bands of all time. They know exactly who they are and what the fans want to hear from them.

Adam's rating: 9.4/10

POWERAGE          1978         (Epic)

- Standouts: Everything, again. 

Powerage... well, it's still AC/DC with Bon Scott, and they're still in their prime. What else is there to say? What do you want me to say?! Well, I'll do my best to try and say more, so here goes...

Just as Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was marginally better than High Voltage, and Let There Be Rock was marginally better than Dirty Deeds - Powerage is marginally better than Let There Be Rock (though I still don't think it's quite worthy of a 9.5/10 score, ironically). They weren't really doing anything new or radical with each new release during this early period, just improving as they went along. For me, Powerage is probably the pinnacle of Bon Scott-led AC/DC. I feel the production values have gotten slightly better - it's still raw enough that the barebones rock n' roll sound is still present, but it kind of has a 'warmer', more professional tone surrounding it too. And I mean that in the best way possible. And of course, the songs are brilliant. 'Rock n' Roll Damnation' is an excellent opener, almost like a tribute to the wonderous thing that is rock n' roll in general. 'Down Payment Blues' is built around this really driving, repeating riffage that builds up and gets harder, and I also love that brief little mellow jam that concludes the song. 'Gimme a Bullet' is another great one, has a really pounding rhythm, and it's pretty catchy as well. The kind of track that's perfect when driving down an empty M6 motorway (not that the dreaded M6 is ever empty... well, unless you count the M6 Toll... why the fuck am I talking about British motorways in a review of AC/DC's Powerage?!).

As you can probably tell from the title, 'Riff Raff' is about as fast and chaotic as an AC/DC rocker can be. In short, it's awesome. They just don't do stuff like this on their newer records anymore, but I guess that comes with age. 'Sin City' is my favourite of all these songs, it's a heavy mid-tempo romp and in a way, I like to think of it as an improved 'Dog Eat Dog'. 'What's Next to the Moon' features this really cool, sorta moody riff, but naturally the song begin to rock a little harder as it goes on, while 'Gone Shootin'' is the sleaziest track on this record. Seems most of their albums aren't complete without at least one. 'Up to My Neck in You' has that big, upbeat style again, similar to 'Rock n' Roll Damnation', and is welcomed after the last few tracks, which kinda slowed things down a tad. The final song, 'Kicked in the Teeth', is suitably comparable to 'Riff Raff', in that it goes back to that fast, party-style rock n' roll chaos that only AC/DC do best.

On some days, this album might just be my favourite in the entire discography of this band. You owe it to yourself to own a copy, so if you don't, go buy one now. Vinyl, CD, cassette... 8-track... it don't matter, just get it in some kind of format!

Adam's rating: 9.4/10

IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU'VE GOT IT          1978          (Epic)

An awesome live album recorded at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, that perfectly captures the energy of the Bon Scott-era of the band. Right down to the album cover, depicting a distorted, blurred, bloody Angus stabbing himself through the chest with his own Gibson SG and Bon singing closely behind as if nothing unusual has happened. Even the back cover rocks (Angus laying dead in the middle of the now-empty stage, impaled by his SG)! Recorded during the Powerage tour in '78, the band scorch their way through ten tracks from what are easily their best albums (High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock and Powerage). You know, it's not a very long live album as such, but the band are on fire throughout that it doesn't matter. 

I guess the only thing I can even remotely gripe about would be the lack of any real extended, improvised jams that was common of live albums in the 70's, but then this isn't really what AC/DC were about. In fact nobody else was like them in the 70's. Yeah okay, on later live albums songs like 'Let There Be Rock' have been extended, but If You Want Blood is a live album that simply tears your face off for the duration of the 52 or so minutes it lasts...and then it's all over. Be sure to repeat once it is finished, over and over! 
Adam's rating: 9.5/10

HIGHWAY TO HELL          1979          (Epic)

- Standouts: Alright, all the Bon Scott albums are great, so everything! 

Highway to Hell was the album where the world really began to notice AC/DC, but more importantly, it was also to be the last with Bon Scott. Bon was a stupidly heavily drinker, and you probably already know that he tragically passed away in 1980. 

By the time the band were ready to record Highway to Hell, they had famed producer Robert John 'Mutt' Lange on board (though I'm not sure he was quite the big deal in 1979 that he would be further down the line) and I'll admit that to me this is probably the best-sounding Bon-era AC/DC record. I'm not usually a fan of when a producer comes in and cleans up whatever raw sound a band previously had, but it just works on this one. The songs have more hooks overall this time around anyway. The opening title track was a hit and is one of the most instantly-recognisable tunes in their library - that straightforward, grinding riff being mimicked by kids in guitar shops worldwide! 'Girls Got Rhythm' is also a well-known classic, a nice, bluesy kind of hard rocker. 'Walk All Over You' has one of the best choruses of any AC/DC track, but the riffs kick ass too - it just ticks all the boxes. To be honest, the first handful of songs here are all among some of the best-known Bon Scott tracks - track four is 'Touch Too Much', another big single. Of course, the lesser-known numbers are great too: 'Beating Around the Bush' is an awesome slice of fast, punchy rock n' roll, and while I don't find 'Shot Down in Flames' to be anything particularly special, it's certainly still 100% AC/DC. 'Get It Hot', although maybe a little too short, is underrated. A super catchy, feel-good rocker, as is the massive arena-ready hard rock of 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It)'. Naturally, there's a real slow, bluesy kind of burner on here too in the final track, 'Nigh Prowler'. Although with the higher production values, it probably isn't as sleazy as it would've been, had it been recorded a couple of years prior - not that this is a bad thing though, of course. 

Even with the greater emphasis on hooky songwriting, and the bigger production that goes with it, in no way do the band 'sell out' on Highway to Hell. In fact, it actually helped them in this instance. I'm not saying I prefer this record over Let There Be Rock or Powerage, but I do find it to be the most refined and well-rounded album from the Bon era overall. Put it this way, I wouldn't be trying hard to change anyone else's opinion if they said that this was their favourite Bon album. Even the album artwork is great, and I'm not usually a fan of when they stick a photo of the band on the cover. You've got Malcolm, Phil and Cliff trying to look hard, Angus being Angus, and Bon seems to be laughing - which is exactly what I'd expect from him!
Adam's rating: 9.3/10

BACK IN BLACK          1980          (Epic)

- Standouts: ...all of it, again. 

Even though I've heard this album a billion times, I was looking forward to hearing it again for this updated review. I hadn't actually listened to Back in Black in full for quite a long time, although you can't always avoid songs like 'Shoot to Thrill', 'You Shook Me All Night Long' and 'Back in Black' if you listen to any classic rock radio station. Even just walking around at a rock festival, one of the stalls or rides somewhere within the event is almost guaranteed to be cranking a single from this album. So, obviously Back in Black is the band's best selling record then. Fuck, it's one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling more than fifty fucking million copies worldwide! Coincidentally, it was the first album that I ever bought, I was twelve years old. High Voltage was my gateway to rock n' roll, so of course I had to follow up on that by picking up their most well-known album.

With the loss of Bon Scott, the band recruited Brian Johnson to the fold, and although Brian's vocals are noticeably different to that of Bon's, he fits within AC/DC like a glove. I'll say now that I think I'll always prefer Bon overall as I just find him to be more 'rock n' roll' (as daft as that sounds) overall, but Brian is a legend in his own right, and this album just wouldn't be the same without him. And Back in Black is easily Brian's best vocal performance throughout his career with AC/DC. In terms of the music, it's about as well-honed and refined as they ever got. If Highway to Hell was a streamlined Powerage, then Back in Black is a streamlined Highway to Hell. With Mutt Lange still on board, the album's production is once again similar to the predecessor.

'Hells Bells' is the best AC/DC opening track of all time, period. From those big, tolling bells and that slow, picked-riff, this song is just about as good as hard rock gets. And obviously 'Shoot to Thrill' is easily one of the most fun songs I can think of in any genre, while 'What You Do for Money Honey' has one of the biggest, shouty kind of catchy AC/DC choruses ever. 'Givin' the Dog a Bone' is the band kickin' your ass, 'Let Me Put My Love Into You' is about as close to a ballad as this band can get (and simultaneously manage to rock hard with it at the same time), and then there's the title song. 'Back in Black' (the song) is overplayed for sure... overplayed to the point where these days I only really ever listen to it when I play the album in it's entirety. But it is an awesome, kick-ass track regardless - and I must have played it every day for at least a year when I was twelve. Weirdly, it's also the kind of track where you can stick vocal tracks from entirely different songs and bands, and it'll likely fit quite well. If you don't believe me, check out all the AC/DC 'mashups' on YouTube! Some are hilarious.

I'll admit that the warmer, more thoughtful 'You Shook Me All Night Long' is overplayed too. But again, it's a fantastic song, so it isn't exactly surprising why it gets played so often. 'Have a Drink On Me' is maybe the weakest song for me, but that's really not saying much. I love the main riff that the chorus is built around. 'Shake a Leg' on the other hand, is my favourite of the tracks that aren't singles - it's the best boogie rock n' roller the band ever penned with Brian in the band. The appropriately-titled 'Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution' concludes the album on the usual, slow, bluesy rock note that you've come to expect.

Even though I like Bon Scott more than Brian Johnson, I think I'm still gonna have to put Back in Black at the top of the AC/DC pile. Given this thing's reputation, it's a predictable decision I know, but it truly is one of the greatest hard rock albums ever made. Maybe it is worthy of a perfect score? Possibly, but as brilliant as this album is, I just don't think any AC/DC album would quite make it into my own top ten. That said, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't buy this record. Given it's sales statistics, you probably already have...

Adam's rating: 9.5/10

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK WE SALUTE YOU          1981          (Atco)

- Standouts: 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)', 'I Put the Finger on You', 'Snowballed', 'Evil Walks', 'Night of the Long Knives' 

I was never a big fan of this album. It's not that I ever disliked it, I just found it to be a lukewarm follow-up to Back in Black, and also a huge step down from any of the Bon Scott records. In AC/DC's defence, they were following-up from one of the biggest and best-selling albums of all time; creating something even better was likely never gonna happen. And ya know, the last time I stuck this album on was when I wrote my original review in 2017, so it's definitely been a while. I was genuinely curious to hear For Those About to Rock again.

I will say that the first song, 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)' (what a title!), is a definite classic. A massive, massive, arena anthem complete with cannon blasts! And 'I Put the Finger on You' is cool too, just another good-time party 'banger. 'Inject the Venom' is a little weak in the first half, but I really enjoy the latter half. Brian goes all out with his vocals on it, and the chorus is cool. 'Snowballed' is another fun and energetic rocker and 'Evil Walks' is a genuine deep cut on here. It's a mid-tempo number, but the guitar work and melodies are splendid, and the vocal hooks are great. I also like 'Night of the Long Knives', and although 'Spellbound' is a bit slow and drawn-out, I quite like this one too.

While there's nothing on here that outright sucks, there's just a few tracks here and there that are noticeably less exciting than usual, and border on filler. 'Let's Get It Up' and 'C.O.D.' sound somewhat uninspired to me, and are definitely lacking a spark somewhere (especially in the riffs department). Brian sounds great from start to finish but the energy's just not quite there at times between the Young brothers. The sorta-poppy 'Breaking the Rules' is a little dull too, but again, it'd be unfair to say it sucks. It's just a bit tired-sounding compared to the standouts on this album.

With Mutt Lange still on board, the production is largely similar to that of Highway to Hell or Back in Black - maybe their sound was starting to get a little stale and predictable at this point in time, but you can't deny the professionalism going on here, sonically. It's not a bad-sounding record in the slightest, but I suppose a little change at this point couldn't have hurt either, just to keep things fresh. And I was definitely a little too harsh with my original review. I gave it a 6.7, which isn't a terrible score by any means, when in reality it definitely just makes the genuinely decent album realm. And this album is just that - genuinely decent. Certainly nowhere near as good as anything that came before, but certainly not their worst either.
Adam's rating: 7.4/10

FLICK OF THE SWITCH          1983          (Epic)

- Standouts: 'Rising Power', 'This House is On Fire', 'Nervous Shakedown', 'Landslide', 'Guns for Hire', 'Bedlam in Belgium', 'Deep in the Hole' 

Now this is more like it! They'd parted ways with Mutt Lange and decided to produce Flick of the Switch themselves. Sometimes abandoning an experienced producer can be a big mistake, but in Flick of the Switch's case, it really wasn't. For sure, this a much meaner and ballsier-sounding record than For Those About to Rock (though it's not an amateur hackjob of a production sound either, by any means), but the songwriting is back on track here too. Not that the last album was bad as such, but it was certainly inferior to Back in Black, and only a handful of it's songs really qualified as classics.

The band are truly kicking your ass once more on the bruising 'Rising Power' and 'This House Is on Fire' while the title track is one of the meanest of all AC/DC tracks. I will say that I'm sometimes not the biggest fan of this band's slower or more mid-tempo numbers; they often end up being one of the weaker aspects of each album, but when the riffs are done right, sometimes they standout among the best songs on an AC/DC record. This is definitely true of 'Nervous Shakedown', 'cos the riffs on this one are fist-pumpingly awesome! And 'Landslide' is another of those speedy, upbeat rock n' roll party  numbers that this band pull off so well. But with the cool, stripped-back production that this album boasts, it also adds a new dimension of heaviness that other albums didn't have, and songs like 'Landslide' really benefit from it. The single 'Guns for Hire', and the underrated 'Bedlam in Belgium' have some of the best hooks on the record, and that slidey, heavy blues riffage on 'Badlands' is stellar. The album's conclusion, 'Brain Shake', is actually a faster song, for once! They go out with a bang! Why they ended so many of their other discs with a slower track has always puzzled me.

Any setbacks? Uh, maybe 'Deep in the Hole' is weaker than the rest of the album, but I still like it's ragged simplicity. Honestly, it's difficult to really think of any other potential setbacks. I guess if you're some kind of elitist that never accepted Brian Johnson as Bon Scott's replacement, then you still won't enjoy Flick of the Switch. If this is the case, then I feel sorry for you. I will admit that even though I really like this album's hard-hitting sound along with the tracks themselves, most of them still aren't quite as good as the stuff they were making in the 70's. But even so, this is easily my favourite of the Brian Johnson records, save for Back in Black of course. For whatever reason, contemporary critics weren't all that impressed with this one (probably because a lot of mainstream critics are morons).

Adam's rating: 9.2/10

'74 JAILBREAK (EP)          1984          (Epic)

Erm, well even though this EP is titled '74 Jailbreak, it actually came out in 1984. About time too! Reality is that the five tracks here were recorded between 1974-76, and aside from the song 'Jailbreak', which was originally included on the Australian version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, the rest of these numbers are from the Aussie releases of T.N.T. and High Voltage, i.e. the stuff that the INTERNATIONAL release of High Voltage didn't have. So really, it's a bunch of songs that the rest of the world outside of Australia were missing, released nearly ten years too late! Having said that, it's still lacking 'R.I.P. (Rock in Peace)' and 'Love Song'! Luckily I wasn't born until the early 90's, so for me personally, that's an invalid argument since this thing was available to yours truly from the beginning! Given that this disc is just twenty-four minutes worth of Bon Scott-era AC/DC, as you'd expect, it's pretty much excellent. 'Jailbreak' is a simple, straight-forward arse-kicker with cool backing vocals. 'You Ain't Got a Hold on Me' is actually quite poppy, very catchy, almost soulful bluesy rock. Tons of melody. Still great. 'Show Business' - it's a very old-school, 'Jailhouse Rock'-style late 50's rockabilly number, but with Bon fronting the band, it has more balls of course. 'Soul Stripper' is sleazy, moody, and has a nice bluesy rhythm. It has Bon's name written all over it for sure. The last song is a cover of Big Joe Williams' 'Baby Please Don't Go', and this is just AC/DC doing their brand of stupidly fun boogie rock n' roll.

Awesome EP. Too bad there's still a couple of tracks missing from those Aussie albums - you'd almost have an entire album of internationally unreleased material if they were included. Still, the music here is top-notch, and it's one of those rare essential EP's. I can't think of many others.

Adam's rating: 9/10

FLY ON THE WALL         1985         (Albert)

- Standouts: 'Fly On the Wall', 'Shake Your Foundations', 'Sink the Pink', 'First Blood', 'Playing With Girls', 'Send for the Man'

I gotta admit, it gets difficult to keep talking about AC/DC albums. If someone played me one of their songs by random, I'd probably be able to identify the album quite quickly - that much is true. But in terms of the actual direction of the music (especially with the Brian Johnson records), AC/DC aren't exactly what you'd call experimental. They've basically stuck to a specific sound since their inception, so it's real hard not to repeat yourself over and over again when describing any of their songs. Thankfully, '85's Fly On the Wall has a few talking points of it's own, and it's mostly to do with the production on this thing, as well as Brian's voice. No doubt you'll see it at the bottom of many peoples' album ranking lists, but it's certainly not at the bottom of mine. Granted, it probably would have been a long time ago, but I've warmed to this one over the years. 

Despite this, there's no ignoring the fact that this album sounds like shit compared to almost everything else in their discography (except maybe Ballbreaker, which I'll be getting to later...). I've got an old, early CD pressing, and it has a definite bootleg kind of sound to it. The guitar tones are cool - a lot of fans hate the amount of reverb used, I personally don't mind, but I can also hear a slight crackling kind of sound throughout the record. I can also live with this, but what's worse is the fact Brian sounds as if he's stood at the back of the room when he sings. His vocals just aren't mixed loud enough, but to be fair, I can only imagine this was done intentionally. Why? 'Cos all of a sudden, his voice has changed for the worse. He sounded awesome before, particularly on the Mutt Lange-produced stuff, now he's gargling all over the place. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't sound terrible - this is still quite clearly Brian singing, but there's certainly an unintentional raspiness going on here, and it makes a lot of the lyrics less audible. After a couple of songs though, you get used to him. I guess I need to pick up the 2003 remaster, assuming some of these issues have been fixed.

So, after those obvious, glaring flaws, why do I like Fly On the Wall then? Simple, the songs themselves are great stuff for the most part! The best tracks on here, 'Sink the Pink', 'First Blood' and 'Shake Your Foundations' rock as hard as ever, and are on par with anything from Flick of the Switch, and as a whole, the entire album is a lot stronger than For Those About to Rock in terms of it's songwriting. The opening title track is a straightforward, mostly power chord-constructed anthem, but even so, it gets my adrenaline pumpin', and that's what you expect from this band. 'Playing With Girls' and 'Back in Business' are full of attitude and energy while 'Stand Up' is a little tamer (to begin with at least) compared to the rest of the album, but it's catchy, and the guitar hooks are fine. 'Send for the Man' is something of a forgotten gem. Honestly, there aren't any duff tracks to be found here, and I mean that.

It's a shame then, that the production here is that much of a step-down for the band. Had this been produced more like Flick of the Switch, I would have easily given it a score that sits within the mid-8/10 ballpark. I know Brian's performance is weaker than usual here, but like I said before, you get used to him quite quickly, and don't really notice it by that point. As it stands, this one's almost good enough to qualify as a great album - the songwriting is on point, but it suffers from literal audio problems. Not that these faults should stop you from buying the album though, of course. In a way, Fly On the Wall reminds me of Black Sabbath's 1995 album, Forbidden - people told me it sucked, so I felt that I had to hate it too. Then I hear it again years later as an adult, and suddenly I realise it's not the songs that suck, it's the production. And seeing as I can look past the production (up to a point) on both these records, it means I can still enjoy the actual music on offer.

Adam's rating: 7.9/10

WHO MADE WHO          1986          (Atlantic)

This is the actually soundtrack to some supposedly shitty Stephen King movie adaptation called Maximum Overdrive (which I have no intention of watching) starring Emilio Estevez, who is Martin Sheen's son/Charlie Sheen's brother. You'd be forgiven if you mistook it as one of their proper albums though (certainly looks like one), and of the nine songs, three are brand new and exclusive. The first is the title song, which is a classic in it's own right, if a little on the poppy side (and not in a Highway to Hell/Back in Black way). The other two exclusives, 'D.T.' and 'Chase the Ace' are cool little instrumentals. The remainder of the album consists of oldies, although surprisingly, only one of them is from the Bon Scott era ('Ride On'). I wasn't sure it was even worth giving this disc a rating, but the song 'Who Made Who' alone makes it worth picking up.

For decades, Who Made Who was the closest you'd get to an official AC/DC compilation, until the Iron Man 2 soundtrack - which is composed entirely of AC/DC songs - was released in 2010.

Adam's rating: 8.5/10

BLOW UP YOUR VIDEO         1988          (Epic)

- Standouts: 'Heatseeker', 'That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'N' Roll', 'Meanstreak', 'Kissin' Dynamite', 'Nick of Time', 'Ruff Stuff', 'This Means War'

Like Fly On the Wall, this is another album that isn't especially popular with the fans. Not sure why. I've always maintained that Blow Up Your Video is a damn solid effort! Is it the songwriting people aren't fussed about, or the production? To be fair, the production here is very 80's. Tons of reverb, but I like it. Sounds very natural and organic-sounding to me, which is what you want from an AC/DC record. Production was the biggest issue with Fly On the Wall, and it's been fixed here. Well, Brian's vocals aren't necessarily better, but the fact is he's never gonna be as good as he was on Back in Black, so whatever. And anyway, the songs on Fly were mostly great - and the same can be said here as well. I even think the album cover is pretty cool in a cheesy kind of way, with Angus smashing through a TV.

'Heatseeker' kicks off this CD with a hell of a bang. What a fist-pumping slice of fast and heavy rock! 'Meanstreak' is built around a ridiculously infectious riff that even has a slight hint of funk about it. Yet somehow the funk-inspired nature of that riff somehow manages to give the song more balls! And 'That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'N' Roll' is the predictable party rocker, but it's awesome. Always puts a smile on my face. 'Kissin' Dynamite' is fun too. Maybe 'Go Zone' is a tad underwhelming on the riffs front, but it makes up for this with it's chorus and hooks. Angus' fretwork on 'Nick of Time' is surprisingly melodic in places, but still rocks all the same. Definitely one of the most interesting tracks here. Not sure how the average fan feels about 'Ruff Stuff', but I actually love the slight pop sensibility it beholds. It's catchy as fuck. 'Two's Up' is another surprisingly melodic slab of hard rock, but it really does work in the band's favour. Adds more variety to the record. And if you don't dig it, they end on a boogie-on-down, rockin' scorcher of a track, 'This Means War'. As for the worst song... I dunno, possibly 'Some Sin for Nuthin'', but it's not like I ever skip it. 

I consider this album to be one of the best with Brian Johnson on vocals. In fact, I'm always surprised to see it so far down other people's ranking and tier lists. I think a lot of the tracks here end up having stronger, more memorable melodies than the average AC/DC record, and there's tons of cool guitar licks and riffs scattered throughout the tracks. Maybe I'm biased - this was the second post-Bon Scott AC/DC album I ever bought - I played the hell of out it in school, and it's been in my collection forever. I won't give it a 9/10 - I don't think it's good enough to achieve that score, but seriously, if you haven't heard Blow Up Your Video in a long time, give it another spin right now. You (hopefully) won't be disappointed. 

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

THE RAZORS EDGE          1990          (Epic)

- Standouts: 'Thunderstruck', 'Fire Your Guns', 'Moneytalks', 'The Razors Edge', 'Rock Your Heart Out', 'Shot of Love', 'If You Dare'

Right, well The Razors Edge has the iconic 'Thunderstruck' on it, which is easily the best stadium rocker they ever wrote, and probably in my top ten AC/DC tracks too. If I had to compile said list, I don't think there would be too many of their most-recognised songs in there, but 'Thunderstruck' definitely would. And the production is the best in a while too. I will say that I do love the organic rawness of Flick of the Switch, and also the big, reverby sounds of Blow Up Your Video, but if you just want an all-round balanced, decent-sounding AC/DC record that holds up perfectly fine to this day, then you can't really go wrong with The Razors Edge. So how does the rest of the album hold up? Pretty well, thankfully. 'Fire Your Guns' rules for it's sheer energy, and 'Moneytalks' is a fine pop rocker with some great singalong vocals. The title track is one of the heaviest things they ever came up with, and features some really cool riffage from Malcolm as well as some neat leads from Angus from start to finish. The title 'Mistress for Christmas' sounds like a recipe for disaster, but in reality it sounds to me like another solid, mid-tempo AC/DC number with silly lyrics. Not a proper attempt at a Christmas song, thankfully! 'Rock Your Heart Out' too, is a solid, fast rocker. Sure, I've heard some that are better, but I've definitely heard worse too. It more than does the job. I get a really old-school 70's, Bon Scott sort of vibe from 'Shot of Love' - an extremely enjoyable, bluesy romp. And 'If You Dare' is the big, chunky, dumb closer, and I mean dumb in a fun way!

The main issue I (sort of) have with The Razors Edge is it's length. The bulk of their previous albums consisted of around nine or ten songs, with a runtime of roughly forty minutes, give or take. And I always thought this was ideal for a no-frills rock band like AC/DC. Razor has twelve tracks, and lasts around forty-six minutes, so it's a little too long for my liking. I mean, there's a ton of very good songs  throughout, but seeing as this is AC/DC - the most straightforward rock band in the world - they can still be tiresome after a while, regardless of the quality of the music. And annoyingly, a bunch of their later albums would be even longer than this one! Plus, I do think there's a couple of fillers in the latter half of the album - 'Let's Make It' is honestly a bit boring with that basic three-chord structure and 'Goodbye and Good Riddance to Bad Luck' is just a by-the-numbers AC/DC song. I really can't think of anything good or bad to say about it.

Honestly, if you cut out those two forgettable songs near the end, I'd have still been happy. Quality over quantity! In the end though, what we have is another respectable rock n' roll platter from one of the most unpretentious bands in the world. I don't quite like it as much as the predecessor, but I would understand if you did. The fact it's got 'Thunderstruck' on it really counts for something.

Adam's rating: 8.4/10

LIVE (2 CD COLLECTOR'S EDITION)          1992/2003           (Epic)

I gave this live album a 7.5/10 originally, claiming the song performances were a little too close-sounding to their studio counterparts (except for maybe 'Heatseeker', which is way faster here). Maybe that is true, but what was I expecting? Long, improvised jams in similar vein to 70's Deep Purple?! And since when is a straightforward live performance a bad thing? This is AC/DC for crying out loud! And what they deliver on Live - which was all recorded during The Razors Edge period of the band in the early 90's - is pure balls-to-the-wall, energetic rock n' roll with songs from almost every album! What more do you want?! Ya know, I like live albums, but I find them really hard to review for some reason. Most of the time my favourite songs on a live record depend on if that was one of my favourite songs from the band in the first place, if that makes any sense. But at the same time, I can enjoy some songs that I wouldn't normally enjoy, in live perspective. So yeah. Uhh, this is a great live package! It should be noted that the version I own is the 2 CD Collector's Edition, which is part of the 2003 remastered series. The original version came on a single disc and featured fourteen tracks, this one has twenty-three in total, so surely it's a no-brainer in terms of which edition to buy.

Adam's rating: 8.5/10

BALLBREAKER          1995         (Eastwest)

- Standouts: 'Cover You in Oil', 'The Furor', 'The Honey Roll', 'Hail Caesor'

It's been fun going through the AC/DC discography, and updating these reviews. Seriously, I've actually been enjoying many of their albums now more-so than when I was younger. I'm surprised at just how many albums I've actually upped my ratings for. True, I've always been a huge fan of the Bon Scott albums, and my ratings for those have largely stayed the same, but honestly, a lot of the Brian Johnson stuff has been better than I remembered - Fly On the Wall is a prime example of this. And then we get to '95's Ballbreaker, an album I originally gave a 4/10. 

A fucking 4/10!!!

Did I really think this album was that bad, or was I just having a bad day?! I think a rather large reason for that rating is due to the fact Rick Rubin produced Ballbreaker, and I suppose I do have a few nasty things to say about this man. While I can't knock him for many of his earlier production credits with albums like Slayer's Reign in Blood, The Cult's Electric, Danzig's debut album and Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik (all those records sound fantastic), he's also managed to fuck up a lot of the material he touches. Example, Black Sabbath's 13 - Jesus, where's the balls on that thing! And Metallica's Death Magnetic, why is this man so obsessed with making metal bands sound so dry, so unnatural? Where's the bass? Where's the reverb? Why the huge amounts of compression? Luckily Ballbreaker doesn't sound entirely awful, although it's certainly weaker-sounding than The Razors Edge or anything the band recorded in the 80's (save for Fly On the Wall). It's definitely still quite a thin-sounding record however, almost like a foreshadowing of what his production style was to be a few years down the line, just not to the same extent as an album like Sabbath's 13. The guitar tones on Ballbreaker are my biggest problem in terms of production as there's just no real sustain or heaviness to them. Malcolm Young supposedly did not get along with Rubin, which doesn't surprise me given some of the things other artists have said about him (see Corey Taylor's comments). Rubin claims Malcolm was extremely anal and went through nearly a hundred different amp setups to find the right tone, but I reckon it's because he wasn't happy with what Rick was trying to get him to do. That would make more sense.

In terms of the actual songs Ballbreaker has to offer, they're certainly good enough for me to increase the rating, but not significantly. I'd be lying if I said there were zero good tracks here though. I've always liked the poppy opener (poppy in a good way) 'Hard as a Rock', though I dunno if I'd label it 'classic AC/DC'. 'Cover You in Oil' is a nice and rhythmic, bluesy rocker. I do think 'The Furor' is cool too, it has some really great, tuneful guitar melodies throughout. I also like the boogie rock of 'The Honey Roll'. Most of their boogie-style songs tend to be quite fast, this one's not, but it works. It's still a lot of fun, especially the Young bros. guitar work on it. Same can be said for 'Hail Caesar', which is just great whichever way you look at it. 'Caught with Your Pants Down' is another boogie rocker that's almost, but not quite a fast song! Still enjoyable however. The title track finale is passable. The main riff is a bit uninspired, but the chorus is great, and I like Brian's vocals on it.

While this album easily deserves more than the 4/10 I initially gave it, it sure ain't perfect. The vast majority of these tracks are either mid-tempo or just slow in general. If they'd replaced two or three of these numbers with some faster shit, then I'd have easily raised my score a bit. Sadly, with all these songs following a similar pace, I just find a bunch of them to qualify as filler, even if none of them actually suck. 'Boogie Man' - I have nothing good or bad to say about that one, it's just "meh". 'Burnin' Alive' is just AC/DC on autopilot - harmless, plodding hard rock with no real standout qualities. And there's more forgettable, generic filler on here with 'Love Bomb' and 'Whiskey On the Rocks'. The last point I'd like to make regarding the issues I have is the fact the album's even longer than The Razors Edge. It's almost fifty minutes long this time, and there's absolutely no reason for a 99% mid-tempo AC/DC album to last that long!

Yep, there's still a lot of problems here. Not enough to warrant the initial 4/10 rating, because even AC/DC in their most generic format is still listenable. However, the questionable production, guitar tones, the album's length as well as the fact there's just too many goddamn slow tracks still make Ballbreaker the worst AC/DC album for me! At least I can say that even what I consider to be the worst AC/DC record, it isn't entirely poor. Just mediocre.

Adam's rating: 5.8/10

BONFIRE (Boxset)          1997          (Columbia)

This boxset was first released in 1997, but it's been reissued and rereleased over the years, and is still in print to this day. That's a good thing, because I only just picked this thing up in 2021, at the same time I I picked up the newest album, 2020's Power Up! Honestly, I remember considering picking up Bonfire in like 2004, not long after I started getting into rock! Anyhow, my copy is from 2011, and from what I can see, they've changed the packaging since the earlier releases, but the content is still the same of course. The whole point of the boxset was to mark what would be Bon Scott's fiftieth birthday in 1997. So essentially, it's a Bon Scott tribute (if the punny title hadn't already given it away). You get five discs in total, and the first is the Live from the Atlantic Studios, uh, live album. It's a performance from 1977, and I love it. It's an awesome disc from the early period of the band, before they were really starting to get noticed worldwide. So obviously the setlist is composed entirely of High Voltage, Dirty Deeds and Let There Be Rock tracks. All the songs are performed similar to how their studio counterparts sound, so there's no real surprises here - just a solid, entertaining live disc.

Discs two and three make up the Let There Be Rock: The Movie - Live in Paris section of the boxset. I guess having 'The Movie' in the title is kinda misleading seeing as this is a live album, but apparently this concert, recorded at the Pavillon de Paris, was originally filmed and released as a VHS tape in 1980 (and DVD much later). Given that this thing has been spread across two CD's, there's a lot more songs here than on the first disc. Highway to Hell was already out at the time of the recording, so the setlist has songs from every Bon Scott album, and while the performance itself is great, the sound quality's not quite as good as the first CD. I'm not sure if this is because of the big, echoey nature of the venue, or the fact the music is taken from what was originally a VHS. But really, this is just a minor complaint because overall the sound quality is still well above bootleg quality. 

The fourth CD is entitled Volts, and is a collection of studio rarities and alternative versions of songs (apart from 'It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)' and 'Ride On', which are just the album versions for some reasons). 'Dirty Eyes' for example, is pretty much just 'Whole Lotta Rosie' with different lyrics! The 'Touch Too Much' demo is almost entirely different lyrically and musically - the final version on Highway to Hell is better of course, but this version is cool to have. 'Back Seat Confidential' here eventually became 'Beatin' Around the Bush' etc.. There's also a couple of rare live versions of 'Sin City' and 'She's Got Balls', plus, at the end of 'Ride On', there's a small interview segment with Bon himself. It's a nice CD for the fans, and I was sort of hoping it would be the highlight of the boxset for me. In the end though, I like disc one most.

Lastly we get to disc five, which is almost entirely pointless. Well, actually, I sort of do get why they decided to make the last CD the entire Back in Black album - Back in Black was dedicated to Bon after all, but let's be real here: AC/DC fans are probably the only people who are gonna pick up Bonfire, and every single fucking fan already owns Back in Black! Hell, nearly every rock fan under the sun already owns Back in Black! It's only one of the best-selling albums of all time!!! But whatever. If you look hard enough, you can get Bonfire for less than £20, so even with Back in Black in there, it's worth the money. Plus, you also get a thick booklet with a shit ton of photos and notes, and that's always nice.

Adam's rating: 8.6/10

STIFF UPPER LIP          2000          (Columbia)

- Standouts: 'Stiff Upper Lip', 'Meltdown', 'House of Jazz', 'Hold Me Back', 'Safe in New York City', 'Satellite Blues', 'Come and Get It', 'Give it Up'

The mediocrity of Ballbreaker was down to a few factors. One of 'em was the fact the whole album was just, well, slow. But maybe that's just their age showing? Five years on from Ballbreaker and the band return with Stiff Upper Lip, which is another kinda slow AC/DC album, only this time it works far better. Unlike Ballbreaker, which was full of cookie-cutter riffs, Angus and Malcolm's guitar work is stellar this time around. And Rick Rubin's not producing it either! In fact, George Young - the older brother does. The other reason why the overall tempo of this record works is because they delve deep into their blues roots - this is by far the bluesiest of all the Brian Johnson material (but not necessarily in a generic, twelve-bar blues style), and often has more in common musically with their earliest albums like High Voltage than it does, well, anything from Let There Be Rock onward. And despite the deliberately bluesy nature of these tracks, they still manage to retain that essential AC/DC vibe. It still sounds like an AC/DC album, 100%.

I guess the most rockin' numbers on here are the opening 'Stiff Upper Lip', and the up-tempo boogie blues of 'Safe in New York City', but these songs rock hard in a more mature-than-usual sort of way. And they're great! Tracks like 'Meltdown' and 'House of Jazz' are full of all these excellent blues guitar licks and leads that manage to be catchy and memorable, but also show off the Young brothers' talents as guitarists. And I'm still tappin' my foot along to 'Hold Me Back' - jeez, now that is a catchy little tune! Go listen to it now! 'Can't Stand Still' has a very retro 50's rock n' roll attitude, 'Satellite Blues' makes me feel good while 'Come and Get It' sounds like vintage, Bon Scott AC/DC to me. The last track on here, 'Give It Up' is one of the most energetic on the album, and again, really sounds like something from the golden age of the band. Despite fear of sounding like a hypocrite, I'm okay with the length of this album this time around. It's similar in runtime to The Razors Edge and Ballbreaker, but since this is not AC/DC in party rock mode, it just seems more acceptable here, somehow.

I was tempted to give Stiff Upper Lip a 9/10, because nearly everything on here is really good (although 'Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll' is a bit of a generic anthem, and I also find 'Damned' to be forgettable, though certainly not bad), but the fact is I don't actually play this album all that often. Sounds like an odd thing to say considering how much praise I've given it so far, but it's achievements are also it's downfall in a weird sort of way (okay, maybe 'downfall' is a bit strong). Because this album sounds a little more mature than usual, and certainly far more bluesy, it's not really a go-to AC/DC album for me. Nah, it's the kind of record that I will play every so often and just appreciate and enjoy it for what it is. It's the oddity in their discography for sure, but an AC/DC collection wouldn't be complete without it. I'd argue that this is one of their finest works, musically.

Stiff Upper Lip - it's one of their best albums ever, but at the same time it's not one of their best albums ever!

Adam's rating: 8.5/10

BLACK ICE          2008          (Columbia)

- Standouts: 'Rock n' Roll Train', 'Skies on Fire', 'War Machine', 'Decibel', 'Stormy May Day', 'Money Made' 

I remember when this album was released. I was in my first year of sixth form college, and there was a a lot of hype in the rock world for Black Ice. It went to number one in the charts almost everywhere worldwide, and obviously I bought it as soon as it was released. Though I've gotta admit, it's not one of my favourites. I think the four singles are really strong, and there's a handful of other tracks here that I really dig as well. But my biggest issue with Black Ice is a rather predictable one, something I've already moaned about with a select few previous records - it's too fuckin' long! I'm sorry, but no AC/DC album needs to run for almost an hour, and consist of fifteen bloody songs! I feel like there's gonna be a fair amount of filler by default. Maybe the decision to include so much material was because they'd been absent for eight years (well, absent in terms of releasing new stuff that is)?

Like I said though, the singles are great. 'Rock 'n' Roll Train' is the biggest and best stadium anthem since 'Thunderstruck', it's one I almost always crank up loud. It never fails to make an AC/DC playlist. 'Big Jack' has a nice and melodic, poppy chorus, and to be fair, 'Anything Goes' follows a very similar, poppy and melodic direction. Both are very memorable, and follow a similar formula to 'Moneytalks' from The Razors Edge. The last single, 'Money Made', appears towards the end of the album, and while it isn't quite as strong as the others, it's still catchy as hell. Don't ask me why, but the vocal structure of the chorus reminds me of Def Leppard! And I mean that as a compliment!

Again, there's a handful of other goodies to find here too. 'Skies on Fire' and 'Decibel' are both driving blues rockers that just maybe could have fit on Stiff Upper Lip. And you've gotta love 'War Machine' - probably the heaviest song on the album, very simple but very effective. The chorus literally just has Brian singing "War machine!", with Malcolm and Cliff Williams repeating "War - Machine" in the background. Sometimes simple is best. The riff in 'Spolin' for a Fight' sounds dangerously close to the one in 'Bedlam in Belgium' from Flick of the Switch, but this tune's still fun. And the last real standout would be the almost bluegrass-style slide guitar riffage of 'Stormy May Day'. It's a welcome addition to the album.

As with basically every AC/DC record in existence, I'm not going to say any of these tracks are terrible. AC/DC is AC/DC at the end of the day, but you can still write songs that are noticeably weaker than others, even if they still sound like AC/DC. And the majority of them seem to be found on the second half of the album. 'Smash 'n' Grab' is okay, I like the little bridge section before the chorus, but the rest of the track is autopilot songwriting. 'Wheels' - this one's pretty good, but it's hard to really pick anything special about it. Same with 'She Likes Rock 'n' Roll' and 'Rocking All the Way' - they're by-the-numbers AC/DC - passable, but forgettable. The title song finale is marginally better, but why they named the album after it I have no idea.

In retrospect, maybe the album's length and high number of tracks weren't a negative. I don't recall ever complaining back in 2008 that this album was too long, but as I was saying in the first paragraph, I think that was probably due to the fact fans waited eight years for a new AC/DC studio album. The more the better! Listening to it again 2021 though, it does get tiresome after a while... but at least it's not quite as dull as an album like Ballbreaker... even if there is still filler to sit through. And I can't really complain about the production. This is a fine-sounding album, everything's clear and Brian puts in a solid vocal performance from start to finish. So, good album then. Not one I turn to very often, and definitely unnecessarily long, but solid effort.
Adam's rating: 7.7/10

LIVE AT RIVER PLATE          2012          (Columbia)

Got this as a Christmas gift in 2012. I wasn't even aware that AC/DC had released a new live album at the time. I didn't actually realize until later that it was actually recorded in 2009 on the Black Ice tour, three years before it's release. Anyhow, this two-CD live offering was recorded at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and while it is definitely weaker in comparison to the 1992 live album, uh, Live, it's still an enjoyable platter overall with songs from all eras. 'The Jack' and 'Let There Be Rock' have been hugely extended, improvised all over; for me, they're the highlights. This is what I like to hear in live albums as I reckon it's important for the whole atmosphere and vibe of a live setting. All in all though, the whole thing was good fun to hear.
Adam's rating: 7/10

ROCK OR BUST          2014          (Columbia)

- Standouts: 'Rock or Bust' for sure, then take your pick...

Around the time Rock or Bust was released in 2014, the band were running into a lot of problems. Malcolm Young had been diagnosed with lung cancer a few years prior, and was also suffering from dementia. He sadly passed away in 2017, a huge blow to the band. His nephew, Stevie Young took over rhythm guitar duties. Brian Johnson had to quit the tour early due to hearing loss, with Axl Rose filling in on vocals (I'm not denying Axl can sing, but I really can't stand the guy...). And drummer Phil Rudd was in trouble for all kinds of legal issues, including drug charges and even threatening to murder someone! So Chris Slade - who played drums on The Razors Edge - replaced him right up until 2020. As of 2020 however, Brian Johnson's hearing is back, and Phil Rudd is also back behind the kit. At the time however, I remember thinking Rock or Bust was the end for AC/DC.

Unlike Black Ice, an album which I like, but still find to be a little overblown, Rock or Bust goes the complete opposite direction - this is the shortest album AC/DC ever made, with a play time of under thirty-five minutes. So it's definitely on the short side, but I honestly have no problem with this. There's eleven tracks in total, and none of them reach four minutes. In terms of the music, I was struggling to decide whether or not I actually prefer this to Black Ice. I do think there's a couple of tracks on the predecessor (namely 'Rock 'n' Roll Train' and 'War Machine') that are better than anything on here, but at the same time, there's also a lot more filler to sit through on that record. And despite the lack of Malcolm actually playing on Rock or Bust, he and Angus still wrote every track on here, so it feels as if he's still present. The production has a slightly rawer sound here, but it's really no better or worse. And the opening title track, for some reason, gives me Fly On the Wall vibes - not in terms of production of course, just in terms of the overall big and heavy sound of the song. I get that most AC/DC albums largely follow the same direction, but I can still tell each of them apart, and Fly On the Wall is the first album that I compare the song 'Rock or Bust' to! And that's cool! 'Rock the Blues Away' has a few poppy hooks, and it's basically just another solid party rocker to add to the list. 'Miss Adventure' is another good bit of fun. 'Dogs of War' and 'Hard Times' are slower headbangin', heavy platters and 'Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder' is something of a singalong stadium rocker. 'Baptism of Fire' is a fast and bluesy rock n' roller. 'Emission Control' has a slight funk-edge within the main riff, I've not heard anything like that since 'Meanstreak' from Blow Up Your Video, which is also cool.  

This is a modest follow-up to Black Ice. I find it to be more fun and consistent overall, for sure - it excels in some areas where the predecessor failed, and vice versa. I'm totally fine with the short length, but it's honestly quite hard to really pick any standouts - they're all decent, but none are all that special aside from maybe the title track. But most aren't poor enough to qualify as filler either! So, erm... Rock or Bust... it's, uh, another solid, if inessential AC/DC album! Fans should totally buy it. As for everyone else, just pick it up if you feel like having more AC/DC in your collection! If not, then that's okay too! 
Adam's rating: 7.7/10

POWER UP          2020          (Columbia)

- Standouts: 'Realize', 'Rejection', 'Shot in the Dark', 'Through the Mists of Time', 'Kick You When You're Down', 'Witch's Spell', 'Demon Fire', 'Code Red'

Well, it's nice to see the band didn't completely fall apart around the time Rock or Bust was released. Brian Johnson's back and able to tour, and so is Phil Rudd. Of course the band won't ever be the same without Malcolm Young, but according to Angus, there's still tons of unused riffs he left. We've been without Malcolm since the end of 2017, yet the music on this album was written entirely by him and Angus! So there's absolutely no reason to worry about whether 2020's Power Up (or PWR/UP as it's sometimes stylised) is a true AC/DC album, 'cos it most definitely is.

The last couple of albums were decent, but still had a few issues - Black Ice was a little inconsistent and overblown, while Rock or Bust was short and sweet, but lacked any truly great songs. I've been enjoying Power Up more than either of the last two, thankfully. It's back to the (roughly) forty-minute length, and has a few excellent tracks to boot. The first handful of songs are all sweet - 'Realize' is an appropriately bombastic opener, 'Rejection' is a powerful, hooky singalong rock anthem while 'Shot in the Dark', the biggest single from the album, is a cool and fun little catchy rocker. The plodding 'Kick You When You're Down' has that blues-tinged guitar sound the band pull off so well, and 'Witch's Spell' has one of the most memorable hooky choruses on the entire album. 'Demon Fire' is a real fast one, proving they haven't ran out of steam yet. 'Money Shot' is another fine little cut, and the last song, 'Code Red' is has some really nice bluesy chops on it.

My favourite track on this album is the melodic pop-rocker 'Through the Mists of Time' - the backing vocal harmony for the chorus just really does something for me. It's an insanely catchy song, and probably my favourite AC/DC number since 'Hold Me Back' from Stiff Upper Lip! In terms of least favourite songs, well, I suppose there's a couple towards the end of the record that aren't quite up to the same standards. The slower pace of 'No Man's Land' is bordering on filler, but being AC/DC, I can't say it's outright bad - 'cos it is still AC/DC after all! Same for 'Systems Down' - not exactly bad, just kinda forgettable. 

One complaint I have that I feel is worth mentioning, despite not having anything to do with the music itself, is the packaging and presentation of the album (surprisingly). Right now I've got my copies of Power Up, Rock or Bust and Black Ice in front of me, and the quality of the packaging has dipped quite significantly. All three are in digipak format, but Rock or Bust has one of those lenticular, moving 3D covers (which I'm admittedly not a fan of, but I can still see a lot of effort went into it) while Black Ice has an embossed logo on it's cover. Meanwhile Power Up's digipak is basically just flimsy cardboard. The booklet is nice, with lots of cool photos, but the actual outer packaging just feels surprisingly cheap, and there's absolutely no reason for it to be this way. I'd assume the deluxe box set version, and the vinyl are a lot nicer than my standard edition release.

On the whole, I was surprised at just how strong Power Up is. I mean, Brian Johnson hasn't sounded as good as he did on Back in Black or For Those About to Rock for decades now, but he still sounds consistently good in his own right - and he's in his seventies now! And the majority of the songs here are better than the bulk of material on the previous couple of albums. I don't think it's one of their truly exceptional works, but it is a timely reminder that this band are still the kings of good-time, party hard rock! If this ends up being the band's swansong, they could've done a lot worse.

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

Closing thoughts on this discography:

This is an insanely consistent discography. Occasionally, the band weren't always up to snuff (I'm looking at you Ballbreaker), but those albums are few and far between. Even the stuff that's often considered 'mid' sounds like the AC/DC I know and love (e.g. For Those About to Rock, Rock or Bust etc.), and have enough highlights for me to easily recommend them. Also, there's plenty of underrated gems here too (Flick of the Switch, Stiff Upper Lip) AC/DC found a formula that worked for them and stuck with it. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the rawer early material with Bon Scott, or the point where they became global superstars with Mutt Lange producing them. But at the same time, if someone blindly plays me a track, I can almost always identify the era and the album. A reliable discography, and the live material is nice too.