AC/DC - Black Ice Review

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 10.21.2008

And so rock 'n' roll returns. In all its glory?

And so rock ‘n’ roll returns. In all of its glory? We’ll see. I’d say that as far as rock ‘n’ roll goes, Motorhead are leading the way this year with their latest effort Motorizer. Of course, with Motorhead, what you see is what you get. They’ll release a new album every couple of years packed with blistering belters and their fans will lap it up. There are no surprises, no strings.

With AC/DC, not so much. Of course, they have the added pressure of being one of the most successful acts in music history. 200 million records sold worldwide; that’s a fucking shitload. And they’re widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. However, many would argue that they’ve been on something of a downward spiral ever since [1979’s] Highway To Hell, which itself sold in the region of 40 million plus copies.



AC/DC - Black Ice
Review by Dan Wilcox

Brian Johnson – vocals
Angus Young – lead guitar
Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar
Cliff Williams – bass
Phil Rudd – drums
Track listing:
1. Rock ‘N Roll Train
2. Skies On Fire
3. Big Jack
4. Anything Goes
5. War Machine
6. Smash N Grab
7. Spoilin’ For A Fight
8. Wheels
9. Decibel
10. Stormy May Day
11. She Likes Rock ‘N Roll
12. Money Made
13. Rock ‘N Roll Dream
14. Rocking All The Way
15. Black Ice

So eight years since their last release Stiff Upper Lip, AC/DC return and this time they’ve brought producer Brendan O’Brien along for the ride. O’Brien has produced a plethora of best-selling albums and has worked with some legends including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Rage Against The Machine, Velvet Revolver and more. But he doesn’t bring too much to the table that AC/DC didn’t have already. Production’s maybe a little cleaner, but that’s it. Really, there’s nothing surprising about this new album; it’s AC/DC for christ’s sake.

If you’re going out to buy this, you do so knowing exactly what you’re going to get so in that way, Black Ice does not disappoint. Indeed in the first half a dozen tracks, there are more than a few reminders of what made this band so great and popular in the first place. Such tracks as lead single “Rock ‘N Roll Train” and the massive “Big Jack” are great throwbacks, bringing back memories of the band’s finest work.

Black Ice is the band’s longest album to date and that’s not a good thing; the songs start to drag, the vocals become more monotonous than they already are and everything about the second half of the album is a mere reminder that this is a band who made a career out of puns about “balls” and beating the term “rock ‘n roll” into the ground. If you’re not a die-hard AC/DC fan, you will get tired off this album pretty quickly. It’s like they’re trying to make up for the eight-year wait by putting a bunch of filler in there, but it just makes listening to the album all the way through something of a chore.

By the time the title track, the last track, begins to play, I’m frustrated, irritated and frankly bored. On the other hand, Black Ice does come to a close in somewhat spectacular fashion, the aforementioned title track being arguably one of the best on the album featuring everything we’ve come to expect from this band – great riffs, powerful sleezy solos and average lyrics.

Still, ending on a high note isn’t enough to remove that sour taste from my mouth. I had genuine high hopes for this album and now I find myself puzzled as to why. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a particularly bad album, but there is absolutely nothing memorable here, nothing to make me want to listen to it again any time soon and indeed nothing to warrant its inevitable success.

I think it’s fair to say that the quality of your average AC/DC album is judged based on how good the riffs are, and in all honesty, there are a lot of good riffs here, particularly in the first half of the album. But unlike on some of the band’s better albums, Dirty Deeds…, Back in Black, Highway to Hell etc, there are no truly great riffs the likes of which the band are capable of here. None that I will remember when I wake up in the morning. And that’s a major disappointment for me because they’ve spent the best part of a decade on this album and it simply does not live up to my expectations.

The 411: And so rock 'n' roll returns. In all it's glory? No, not really, and that's a shame because I think Black Ice could have been much better than it was, even it was just cutting out up to half a dozen of the tracks already on here. There are moments when this album stirs memories of the band at their best, but there just isn't of those on here. Some tracks are huge, but too many drag and lack any real spark to ignite the glowing embers of Black Ice into the roaring volcano it had the potential to be. Fans will lap it up, but ultimately it's not a patch on the band's greater stuff. That said, there are worse ways to spend an hour of your time than throwing this record on.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]