Unknown Soldier

Overview
Powerage is something of an enigma album as far as AC/DC go. From some quarters and mostly from music critics, the album is seen as the lesser work in the band’s classic run from Let There Be Rock to Back in Black due to its uneven quality. Whilst others see it as the forgotten gem in this classic run and indeed the album is hardly forgotten, as it has appeared on both the prestigious Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time” list and Kerrang’s “The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” list as well and artists ranging from the likes of Keith Richards to Slash have stated it as their favourite ever AC/DC album. In fact amongst the AC/DC faithful it’s often seen as a real fan favourite and is somewhat akin to future Iron Maiden fans raving over Killers being a good comparison. But one thing for certain, is that most of the songs on this album seemed to have been covered or used in one way or another and that often speaks volumes about an album’s quality. Powerage still sees the band’s annoying habit (or better said the band’s label) of having a different track order listing depending on which country’s version of the album that you had and therefore Powerage had both a US/Australian and a European track listing order that differed slightly. All future CD releases of the album would actually follow the US/Australian version and that is the one that is used below, and the album cover was also repeated on its rear side, which was no great loss for any album owners as it’s a great cover anyway. Powerage also saw the arrival of bassist Cliff Williams, whose basic basslines would follow the rhythm guitar of Malcolm Young and forge a great working partnership between the two of them. Previous bass player Mark Evans has stated that he also played bass on the album, as the recordings for the album had started straight after the Let There Be Rock album. Also the influential production team of Harry Vanda and George Young, who had been there with the band since the beginning, would see this as their last album with the band and for this reason alone Powerage closes the curtain on the band’s early years, as after this release the band literally went from being just popular to worldwide superstars!

Bon Scott- Vocals
Angus Young- Guitar
Malcolm Young- Rhythm
Cliff Williams- Bass
Phil Rudd- Drums

Production- Harry Vanda and George Young

Album
Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation- With its hell bent for leather start, the song is typical AC/DC material hence making it typical hard rock material in every aspect and the song is a band signature tune. Down Payment Blues- With its steady and menacing introduction, the song is a mid-tempo effort that is perfectly suited to enhance the vocals of Bon Scott and it’s one of the strongest songs on the album. Gimme a Bullet- A steady track and a typical album track that really doesn’t ignite at all. Riff Raff- The whole album picks up again with this fast paced effort and at times it draws heavily back to the band’s Led Zeppelin influences and especially to the Led Zep song “Rock and Roll”. I recently read that Slash has revealed this as his favourite AC/DC song ever! Sin City- One of the best known songs on the album and also one of the most covered as well. What’s Next to the Moon- The second side of the album starts off with this competent effort, but the song does flatter to deceive and is possibly not as good as it threatens to be on its initial start. Gone Shootin- Once again the band attack with a mid-tempo effort, on a song style that would become the generic band sound of the 1980s and 1990s. Up to My Neck in You- A stronger later album track, which will certainly please any Led Zeppelin fans looking to hear some quality music and guitar licks, as the song certainly kicks butt where it matters! Kicked in the Teeth- A song that is built around the guitar of Angus Young and the vocals of Bon Scott, which means the quality is guaranteed here and this quality at times is an intense and manic document by this whiskey fuelled band. “Cold Hearted Man” a song released on the European version of the album.

Verdict
Powerage without a doubt falls out as being an uneven effort overall, but where it’s good it certainly is good and luckily the good bits heavily outweigh the weaker ones. The album certainly has that propulsive and meaningful AC/DC attack about it, and it displays all the facets that made up the band sound at the time. The album is heavy, loud and brash as you’d expect from a band at the peak of their powers and in songs such as the signature track “Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation” and the propulsive “Down Payment Blues” are two songs that surely rank as amongst the band’s best ever efforts. Then there is “Riff Raff” which is a virtual re-write of Led Zeppelin's “Rock and Roll” and “Up to My Neck in You” also leans heavily on the Led Zeppelin connection as well. Then there is a song like “Sin City” which is a song that typifies all the aspects of the band’s sound and especially Bon Scott’s colourful vocal storytelling dynamic, but the best is left till last in “Kicked in the Teeth” which shows the band at their most manic. On the albums negative side, songs like the 1970s generic hard rock sounding “Gimme a Bullet” are below par for the band and a song like “What’s Next to the Moon” actually has the beans to be a better song than it really is. The often highly rated “Gone Shootin” actually did more damage to the band long term than the passing of Bon Scott did, due to its future generic feel which would go onto characterize a lot of the band’s releases with Brian Johnson in the vocal hotseat. I’ve hardly mentioned the album’s riffs in this review, for the simple reason it would be impossible to pick out the standout riffs and like with Let There Be Rock, there is Angus Young’s signature riffage on every song anyway. Powerage as an album therefore falls somewhere between the two estimations that were mentioned in the ‘overview’ section of the review. The songs and spark are there in places, but in other places the songs are weaker than the previous album Let There Be Rock and also even more seriously certain songs fail to ignite in places and with a band like AC/DC the car ignition was even more vital than it was for some other bands! Despite these shortcomings, Powerage is still a guaranteed must for any AC/DC fans and shows these hard drinking and hard living Aussies enjoying themselves to the maximum!

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