Well – I have limited myself to just one listen to Black Ice after picking up a copy on my way home from work last night. My initial thoughts on each track are listed below but what are my impressions of the album as a whole?
The band themselves have raised comparisons with Back in Black. After one listen I would say that Black Ice doesn’t even come close to emulating Brian Johnson’s debut withthe band, but then what does? In fact I would say that Airbourne’s Runnin’ Wild album is better – but AC/DC would have been hung, drawn and quartered for plagiarising their own past if they had produced anything like that. No, at first listen Black Ice is a good album, certainly better than Stiff Upper Lip and worthy of a place in the upper echelons of AC/DC albums – but another Black in Black? Unfortunately not.
Track by Track
Rock n’ Roll Train – I deliberately avoided hearing the first single from the album beforehand. My initial thoughts are that it is a solid rocker – nothing too out of the ordinary.
Skies On Fire – Another solid, unspectacular track.
Big Jack – The first track to make me sit up and take notice and with the best line on the album to date “Santa’s not the only one who’s got a full sack” – heh heh heh!
Anything Goes – Something different. You can imagine Journey covering this song. The best track yet.
War Machine – The only word that came to mind is ‘filler’. It might grow on me though.
Smash n’ Grab – A wee bit different. Almost a 70’s glam feel about it. Are those strings I hear? On an AC/DC album?
Spoilin’ For a Fight – Back to familiar territory but with a slight Southern Rock vibe.
Wheels – Riff reminiscent of Givin’ The Dog A Bone. Shades of Zeppelin – particularly BJ’s singing. Actually BJ is singing rather than screaming on a lot of this album and sounds a lot better for it. Another stand out track.
Decibel – ZZ Top comes to mind. Similar in style to a lot of Stiff Upper Lip but without the weird backing vocal arrangement. The type of sinister, brooding boogie that no-one does better.
Stormy May Day – Very southern rock influenced - even sporting some slide guitar! Let down by a weak chorus.
She Likes Rock n’ Roll – Nothing special on first listen but could well be a crowd please live.
Money Made – There’s that southern vibe again! Competent mid-tempo rocker but nothing out of the ordinary.
Rock n’ Roll Dream – Great vocals - a Plant-like performance. BJ to replace Percy? I’d pay to see it!
Rocking All The Way – A good old fashioned boogie with shades of ZZ Top again.
Black Ice – ZZ Top again but this time with a touch of funk – yes I said F-U-N-K!
Next review in a week......
0 comments:
Post a Comment