H -°, L 55° | Tomorrow: 
H 85°, L 67°At this point, AC/DC and their fans are in a marriage — all AC/DC has to do is put out once every half-decade, and fans are satisfied again. The offering doesn’t even have to be good it just has to exist and the fans, um, eat it up. It is with this logic that we have Black Ice after an eight-year gap.
Let’s be honest: AC/DC peaked (and began their descent) during the “Mutt” Lange years. Before him, they made good not great records. When he came aboard the Aussie battleship, they made Highway to Hell, Back in Black and For Those About to Rock We Salute You.
If producers matter when evaluating the AC/DC catalogue, then it’s logical to assume that Brendan O’Brien is wisely chosen for Black Ice. O’Brien, collaborating with longtime AC/DC engineer Mike Fraser, utilizes his full, bass-heavy sound he perfected in the ’90s that results in a fantastic-sounding album.
That is to say, Lange made AC/DC sound superb, but that was based around the ’80s guitar/drum mix. The bass was there, but it was hidden underneath the rest of the music. O’Brian, however, brings the bass to the front of the mix. Consequently, the guitars aren’t as crisp as compared to Lange’s work, but that small sacrifice is defensible with this outstanding mix.
That said, O’Brien’s expertise doesn’t carry over to the songs themselves. Several of the tracks stumble around as if a geriatric hospital recommended Angus Young and company not rock out too hard lest they break a hip or three.
The first single, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train,” is among the worst offenders. The song staggers around a lazy riff that sounds like Young required the help of a walker in order to play it. The lyrics are equally lame: The drunken, shout-along anthem includes the grade school-level lyric, “Give it all, give it/ Give it what you got/ Come on give it all a lot.” There’s lazy, there’s throwaway, and then there’s this.
However, not every song is clumsily put together. Mid-album highlight “Stormy May Day” has a boogie-fied, sinister groove that breaks the monotony of the other mid-tempo pap of this collection.
“War Machine” is also notable, as it’s the fastest track on the record. It recalls the Back in Black classic “Givin the Dog a Bone” both because of the driving beat and, sadly, because the riffs of the two songs are eerily similar. AC/DC has received criticism in the past for using so few chords in their “signature sound,” but this is going too far.
Then again, this is AC/DC we’re talking about here, a band that has never, in 35 years, been known to do anything but rock out — simple, efficient and fan-approved.
So why does it seem like an album crafted just for that purpose falls so short of their past glory? Oh yeah. ‘Cause they’ve done this before. Many times before. And that’s the problem; there are no new ideas here, lyrically or musically. The album is nothing more than an excuse for a world tour. As a result, Black Ice forces the listener to ponder a deep, philosophical question: Is it plagiarism if you steal from yourself?
2 out of 5 stars.
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“�Cause they�ve done this before. Many times before.”
This is the beauty of AC/DC.
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“…all AC/DC has to do is put out once every half-decade, and fans are satisfied again.”
Satisfied? Not exactly. I hear nothing but complaints, almost entirely from die-hard fans. They will buy it, sure, but “satisfied” is not the word I would use to describe their feelings.
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puuuuuuuleeeeeeeeeeeeze
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The statements made here are absolutely irrelevant to any fan of the band. When it’s stated that the album is “just an excuse for a world tour” is when I start laughing, how out of touch need one be in order to fail to realize that this band could tour every year with no album to support? If this review is exemplary of how little thought,effort,and fact finding are utilized by this puplication, one could only guess at how poor the information is that makes up the rest of the material. BK.
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AC/Dc have produced some amazing and original material since the mutt lang years, Heatseeker, Thunderstruck, Moneytalks, Hail Caesar all spring to mind. They are playing what their legions of fans want to hear. Who can tell so many of us that we are all wrong and belive their lone opinion matters.
AC/DC WE Salute You!!!!
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You came to the wrong place if you look for deeply meaningful lyrics man… I mean, AC/DC has some kickass lyrics but it’s not Shakespeare or something like that…
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This guy has no clue what he is talking about.
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AC/DC rocks. The new album is awesome and contains some great tracks. The only reason this author is making negative coments toward AC/DC is because he knows he’ll never make the money or have the great fans that AC/DC does.
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Hmmm……so the concerts sold out in MINUTES because AC/DC suck? Dude, if you have NO CLUE about AccaDacca, would you please just shut up and not bother us FANS with your scribbling? There’s so much %*&$^% going on in this world, we really don’t need another singer/songwriter to tell us about it. That’s why we got AC/DC - honest, reliable, rocking. That’s all there’s to it, and that’s all we want. We can go back to our boring jobs tomorrow, but tonight at the concert we’re not going to think about the economy or anything but ROCK’n’ROLL! And the CD is cheaper than therapy, too! CrazyMom
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Actually, its a really good album. I would say their best since “For Those About To Rock” They’ve released some good material since then, but an album as whole, not as good as this. The reviewer just doesn’t understand why people like AC/DC in the first place and why and how consistency and predictability can be satisfying to fans.
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yeh,theres a few slow numbers,but there still good.and this band have never too my knowledge played a whole album in its entirity on stage anyway.theres enough good material on this album,that mixed alongside other acca dacca classics,will produce the best ac/dc tour to date!!im offended that this guy gets paid to review albums ..hes obviously a classical music lover..god bless ac/dc.
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This guy’s job is to review the album, not the band.
So in my book, he’s not even doing his job and should be fired.
This is the best since Ballbreaker. SUL was good, but there were too many below-average tracks. And Brian just sounds soo much better now that he got his voice back.
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I watched the NO BULL dvd today and it was awesome. I seen them in 96 in Toronto, and I can’t wait to see them Nov. 7th. Buddy has no clue to what good rock is. I’m sure I won’t be disapointed.
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Black Ice not so good very dissapointed i will not add to my ipod ! Very sad !!!!
IP hash: edbd168e
Black Ice not so good very dissapointed i will not add to my ipod ! Very sad !!!!
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Rock n roll train is a great song, I have no idea what this guy is talking about..
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I to am not entirly happy with the sound that AC/DC chose for Black Ice. I would have rather it sound more like some of their earlier albums. But the songs are good, the hit song for me was Rock N Roll Dream. The bass sounding louder on the album is a positive in my opinion. I love hearing Cliff and you don’t hear him that often. In my opintion the album is a classic and is one of the best they have made.