One of the most important bands with one of their finest moments. I remember how huge an impact
AC/DC had on me when I was a child, it was as if these guys cast the magic spell of heavy sounding music on me with their trademark of hard rocking, easily comprehendible and highly melodic tunes. The band has always been able to strike a balance between party rocking tracks and songs with a darker and harder approach, resulting in great varied records that nevertheless has the classic
AC/DC style written all over them.
Bon Scott was and forever will be remembered as an incredible positive personality with a very strong voice, the band nevertheless found an outstanding replacement with Brian Johnson (as the future should unveil) and what an album to debut with!
Hells Bells opens the festivities with a nerve-filled guitar melody that sets the eerie mood just perfect. The double Young brothers guitar riff attack is simply brilliant and Brian's raw vocals match the dark lyric in amazing style.
Shoot To Thrill is another classic and a most excellent live cut; the tight rhythm guitar work by Malcolm is extremely powerful. A hard and pounding drive is broken with a jamming mid-section that slowly gains tempo and explodes with Angus's wildly lead approach.
What Do You Do For Money Honey contains some cool grooving bass lines from Cliff Williams and the chorus is simply huge and highly catchy, making way for a great intense track.
Given The Dog A Bone is based on a more unexciting and rather tiresome riff and I have never really found the chorus that well working, a bit too ordinary and repeated to the limit. This is clearly not among my favourites even though Brian's vocals are very strong as goes for the melodic guitar solo.
Let Me Put My Love Into You is a whole other story, I have always thought of this track as one of the bands best and unfortunately also forgotten songs seen in a live show context.
A more sensitive side of the band but delivered with a fantastic groove and with amazing vocal passages.
Back In Black is in one word a perfect song; everything just melts together in one magic unity. The monster riff is filled with raw power and I simply love the solid drums by Phil Rudd, I have always been a big fan of his down to earth and ultra tight approach.
When talking about party songs or ear-hangers no one get around this next jewel, clearly one of their best ever in this category.
You Shook Me All Night Long has a chorus that just sticks to your head like honey on bread.
A brilliant positive vibe in the rhythm and the harmonious solo is firmly executed.
When dealing with this genius band one should not neglect an extremely important aspect: attitude, and
Have A Drink On Me glows with it. Packed with a cool "easy going enjoying life" vibe where a soothingly laid back tempo is perused, still rocking hard though. The way the two guitars supplement each other works splendid and gives more depth to the overall impression.
Shake A Leg contains a refreshing up-tempo style and the high energy level really shines through.
On the other hand the flow of the song lacks a high melodic touch and the chorus seems bit simple in comparison when the rest of the album.
At the end we find a true classic tune in
Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution. A nerve-filled rocker with a cool provocative profile that fits the band so well. I get into a pleasant relaxing mood when it blast through my stereo, featuring a brilliant huge chorus and a rock solid groove.
As always the band's direct and rather simple style is delivered with great solidity and especially the heavy tightness is a real treat on this release. Looking at the lyrical side it's all good old classical
AC/DC stuff, well fitted into the songs; especially the chorus' seems to flow in a very dynamic fashion.
Back In Black is also one of the bands best-produced albums; the sound is crispy, tight and with a finely weighed balanced between each instrument.
Some might disagree with me but I see
AC/DC's real strength in their extensive back catalogue with plenty of great records more than a band that has made a few stunning masterpieces. This one nevertheless is without doubt one of their best even though it has a couple of songs that doesn't quite get up there with the rest.
Back In Black contains some of the most impressive and ear-hanging tunes ever written and the drive and energy level found is extremely contagious.
Written by
Tommy Thursday, December 4, 2003
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 8.5/10Members: 9/10 - Average of 2 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Steen (Staff)
Rating: 8/10
The first AC/DC album with Brian Johnson on vocals and quite different from Highway to Hel... · Read more · |
 | notrap
Rating: 10/10
Back in Black it's an absolute Hard Rock classic.
To be honest I never was a die hard fan... · Read more · |
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