02. AC/DC Back in Black 1980 (Atlantic)
Hard Rock
Back from mourning and shooting to thrill!
Overview
The tragic death of Bon Scott had occurred when AC/DC were at the height of both their creative and commercial powers and this had surely been a huge blow for the other band members. Like any band in this situation the other band members had considered quitting, much like Led Zeppelin had decided to do after the death of John Bonham. But staying true to the spirit of the deceased Bon Scott and also to the wishes of his family, the band finally decided to carry on and do what they do best and that is supply us with riff after riff. Once this decision to carry on had been made, there was probably no doubt in the minds of the other band members in the type of replacement vocalist that they wanted and that was a vocalist that was capable of continuing with the sound and style already laid down by Bon Scott. This was hardly surprising considering that the band’s sound had been built around the mammoth riffs of Angus and then complimented by Bon’s famous bellow. Because the somewhat one-dimensional blues inspired hard rock sound of the band was seemingly only really suited to a vocalist in the style of Bon Scott. So as could be imagined for a band of AC/DC’s stature, the auditions for a new replacement became a somewhat rigorous affair. Among those auditioned included blues rock man Terry Slesser (Back Street Crawler) Buzz Shearman (Moxy) a band I always loved and I reviewed their excellent debut album on my 1975 listings and finally there was a certain Noddy Holder of Slade which would’ve been very interesting had he joined! But the job ultimately fell to Geordie vocalist Brian Johnson with his distinct gravely yelp and he also just happened to be in a band called Geordie, who had already released several albums over the last several years. Brian Johnson had also been known to the band prior to joining, as Bon Scott had been a fan of his singing style and actually likened him to Little Richard and in many ways he was the perfect choice to step into Bon’s shoes! Meticulous producer Mutt Lange was retained and the album was recorded in the luscious surroundings of the Bahamas and would become the band’s biggest selling record ever and to date has sold a whopping 50 million copies worldwide, easily making it the biggest selling album by an Australian band of all time!
Back in Black was also the album that broke them big in the USA and would launch them as one of the biggest stadium rock acts in the world. The band also become regular headliners at the Castle Donnington metal festival back in its heyday, which was one of the shrines of everything metal and hard rock. The songwriting for the album had actually started when Bon Scott was still alive and these songs were mostly retained, so when Brian joined the band he started to write the lyrics to the songs and the influential Young brothers continued to write the music. The all black album cover is one of the most famous of all time and also a suitable gesture considering that the band were still in mourning at the time of its release and needless to say the album has made a multitude of best ever lists and they’re far too numerous to mention here! In 2004 American death metal act Six Feet Under did a cover version of the whole album and one of these days I need to get around and listen to it but I’ve no idea if it’s any good!
Verdict
With its all black over and with an opening song called “Hell’s Bells” initial assumptions could easily assume that this was a going to be an album focused on mourning for Bon Scott in a somewhat twisted style, but once the album gets going it reveals itself as more of seamless exercise in hard rock bliss and serves as the perfect tribute to the spirit of Bon Scott. The mid-tempo heavy “Hell’s Bells” starts with the onimus drone of church bells and leads us into the first offerings of Brian Johnson who instantly becomes the mouthpiece of the AC/DC beast on this song. The mid-tempo power is maintained on gems like “What Do You Do for Money Honey” “Give the Dog a Bone” “Have a Drink on Me” and “Shake a Leg”. All the above tracks are essential in every way, but the album saves certain tracks that could be labelled its higher classics like the rapid “Shoot to Thrill” one of the many tracks seemingly built for Brian Johnson, the controversial “Let Me Put My Love into You” a couple of ground tremblers in the title track “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” and rounding off the ten track bonanza is the trademark “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”. Nearly all the album tracks are both anthems and staples of stadium rock and no band could make blues inspired hard rock sound so delicious circa 1980as AC/DC either! Finally no review of
Back in Black would be complete without tackling the endless debate on Bon v Brian as the best frontman of the band. But for my two pennies worth Bon Scott was AC/DC and much like any other excessive rock frontman (Jim Morrison, Phil Lynott and Lemmy just to name three) he fully encapsulated the ‘sex, drugs/drink and rock ‘n’ roll’ lifestyle to its absolute maximum. Brian Johnson followed much in the same style, but where he was different to Bon Scott was in his ability to fall in with the band sound and become part of the actual beast, instead of possessing the idiosyncracies of Bon Scott, who largely at times focused on sounding like an Aussie criminal with a twisted sense of humour, which for some makes Bon Scott more of an acquired taste. Personally I actually prefer Brian Johnson’s blended style, but the problem is with the exception of
Back in Black, the band’s discography with Brian Johnson falls well below the overall quality that the band had put out with Bon Scott and for that reason alone I’d take the Bon Scott era anytime! After the release of
Back in Black the band found the album too hard a match to follow and every release that I’ve heard since (some 30 odd years) doesn’t even come close to matching the hard rock messiah that is
Back in Black. After
Back in Black it would seriously be downhill quality wise for the band, sure they would maintain themselves as big as ever over the next 30 years as the premier hard rock act in the world and a prime example of a band resting on their laurels. In hindsight it always seems that on
Back in Black, that the personal anguish of Bon’s death focused the band to reach another creative height for possibly the last time and that height was certainly fuelled by a hungry Brian Johnson. After this album though, the spark or fire just seemed to leave the band permamantly and the following
For Those About to Rock We Salute You which despite having a superb title track simply pales in comparison to
Back in Black, overall
Back in Black is surely the band’s best ever studio album and sadly they'd never come close to matching it ever again!
Brian Johnson- Vocals
Angus Young- Guitar
Malcolm Young- Rhythm
Cliff Williams- Bass
Phil Rudd- Drums
Production- Robert John “Mutt” Lange