“Through the Mists of Time”.
This one was for Mal.
PWR/UP (Power Up), 2020
I remember watching Malcolm’s funeral on YouTube. Mal’s wife, Linda, supported by his kids Cara and Ross. And Mal’s brother, Angus.
Angus solemnly placed a Gretsch in the casket, and watched his brother rejoin the source of us all. That was 2017.
I had gotten divorced in 2016. I like noise-canceling, over-ear headphones. When I was getting ready to get divorced, I played Powerage practically on repeat. I broke 3 consecutive pairs of Bang & Olufsen earbuds. Basically, my left ear bud would stop working. And that would piss me off, and then the store would only warranty my purchase from 6 months prior. I switched to skullcandys that were Bluetooth and over-ear. And that was my life. Staying the fuck away from her, and blaring Powerage until I couldn’t feel feelings.
I barely registered “Rock or Bust”. It was a new AC/DC record while I was dealing with some of the most awful shit in my life. I moved on. I made a new life. I met the most amazing woman in the world. We both immediately knew that it was right.
News trickled out. Brian Johnson was back as lead singer. Cliff Williams was back on bass. Phil was back behind the kit. This one was for Mal.
And thankfully, Trump’s nonsense went away. Not quietly, but it went away for a while. Covid happened. And my wife and I got comfortable thinking about food storage and hunkering down.
And then like a “Shot in the Dark”, AC/DC showed up with a POWER UP.
When I needed them most, AC/DC realized their bookend album. An immediate smash hit. It’s all bangers.
Yes. Power Up is a good record. Their best in years. They seem to be at their best when bouncing back after tragedy.
My favorites are the all time jam, “Realize”. And the best of a record specifically dedicated to Malcolm is the song that is ABOUT Malcolm: “Through the Mists of Time”.
As the boys said, “This one’s for Mal”.
Their best since Back in Black.
When my son has kids, and they ask me what Rock ‘n’ Roll is, I am gonna play AC/DC.
This is the inside artwork of the vinyl album:
“Rock or Bust & Highway to Hell”, opening the 2015 Grammy Awards. Introduced by LL Cool J. Check out Lady GaGa, Tony Bennett, Jay Z, and Katy Perry rocking out with their devil horns.
Rock or Bust, 2014
Malcolm was done. He died 3 years after this album, and that sucked a lot for everyone around him. Angus said Malcolm’s death was a relief. He watched his brother slowly disappear for 4-5 years.
Stevie Young, Angus and Malcolm’s nephew, had previously filled in for Malcolm in 1988 when Mal was in rehab. He became a permanent addition with this record.
Malcolm and Angus played riffs together. They’d sit in their homes and record guitar licks and then collaborate and expand. When the songs were ready, they’d bring in the band and record the songs in the studio. Rock or Bust was what Malcolm and Angus had left in the tank as a duo, and it resulted in a lean, mean 35 minutes of no bullshit AC/DC music. It’s not great. It’s a lot better than Black Ice. Partly because of how lean it is. It’s the shortest record the band ever released. But it’s a banger.
With Malcolm’s death in 2017, the reviews were basically saying that if this is the last AC/DC record… they went out on a high note. I agree.
The tour that followed this was just as full of drama. Phil Rudd relapsed and got into drugs. He was arrested and subsequently left the band while under house arrest. They hired Chris Slade to come back and play the tour.
Cliff Williams announced his retirement.
Brian Johnson is a car nut. Loves racing cars and so on. He’s been a frequent guest on BBC’s Top Gear and he appeared on Amazon’s Grand Tour. Decades of singing in front of screaming fans didn’t help, but it was a screaming engine that fucked up his hearing.
Angus brought in a ringer. A life long fan named Axel Rose sang for the back half of the tour.
They played “Rock or Bust” to open the Grammy awards, followed by a shortened version of “Highway to Hell”. The Grammy’s didn’t want them to play the second verse. Fuckers.
“Rock the Blues Away” is my other pick.
Live at River Plate (Buenos Aires) 2012
Great crowd at this one. The concert footage was well shot. It’s yet another example of how great they are playing live. This was recorded during the Black Ice Tour, so the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is a big set piece.
Malcolm retired in 2014 due to poor health. He had lung cancer, but dementia was the real issue. He had effectively lost all of his short term memory. He performed with the band until 2010, but that was it. Malcolm drank and smoked weed until his brain turned to mush. He died at age 64.
This was how Marshall Amplifiers, Gretsch Guitars, and Sweetwater Musical Equipment memorialized Malcolm:
His beat-to-shit Gretsch, left on a stand in front of a Marshall Stack.
I cannot overstate the influence of Malcolm Young. Just Google musicians talking about Malcolm Young. He is widely considered if not the best, he’s a top 3 all time rhythm guitarist.
Think about it like a pro-athlete’s statistics. Malcolm wrote or co-wrote hits in every decade of his career. He was the band leader for the band that has the number 3 selling album of all time. In any genre. The criticism of AC/DC is usually some form of “all their songs sound the same”. Well, Coca Cola always taste the same too, doesn’t it? Four chords, and 20 albums worth of riffs that stick in your head. Turn on rock radio for a day. Any day. You’ll hear two or three of Malcolm’s songs. Every day of the week, you’ll hear two or three of his songs.
I honestly rank him as the best rhythm guitarist of the last 50 years, but other musicians are probably more qualified than me to say so. And they did.
From Wikipedia’s entry on his legacy:
Iron Man 2 Soundtrack, 2010
I drive my son to daycare most mornings, and he usually wants to hear “Iron Man”. He means this album.
Not much to say here, because they did not record any new songs for the movie. Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. are both big fans of AC/DC, so they begged and pleaded and this is what the band gave them. It’s a fun compilation record.
they made a new music video for “Shoot to Thrill”.
Backtracks, 2009
…there’s simply too much here for me to cover in one succinct post. This boxset was made for diehard fans.
Yes, of course I have one.
The box itself has 9-Volt Battery in it and you can plug a guitar into the top of the box. It reportedly works. There are reproductions of tour posters and memorabilia, a temporary tattoo of the parrot on Bon Scott’s arm, a guitar pick, a vinyl record of rarities, DVDs of even more videos, a concert from 2003. And more. Live rarities. Songs from when they were a bar band that never got recorded or only showed up as B-Sides from old singles. It’s a box made for fans that have loved this band for their entire history.
Of course I fucking love it.
My favorite thing on it is the lost Bon Scott gem, “Carry Me Home”.
“Carry Me Home”
the lyrics make me laugh every time:
The bartender's working on a late night shift
Cheap bums and blondes and barmaids on a midnight drift.
And the dance band's playing the same old slam
I'm sinking whiskey and you're sipping fine wine
I don't know what it is you're trying to prove
Well it should be you but it's me who can hardly move
And I've got my reputation lying on the line
Come on baby, be a good dog and help the blind
Oh won't you carry me home
Won't you carry me home
Won't you carry me home
(like a truck, pick me up)
You ain't no lady but you've sure got taste in men
That head of yours has got you by time and time again
My arms and legs are aching and my head's about to blow
And your back's been breakin' and I'd hate to spoil the show
But I've just spent next weeks wages and I'm right out of coin
But you want more and it's half past four and they want to close the joint
But we can't afford a taxi, and it's too late for the bus
But I've been told by friends of mine you're someone I can trust
Carry me home
Oh won't you carry me home
Ohh! Carry me home
(don't let me lie here in all this beer)
You drank all your booze and half of mine
I'm bleary eyed and you're waiting for the sunshine (to come and kill me)
Just like the man who threw me on the floor
Don't matter, while I'm down here I might as well try and find the fucking door
Excuse me, have you seen it? it's about this big
And have you got a plastic bag 'cause I'm gonna be sick
I'm dead drunk and heave'n hanging upside down
And you're getting up and leaving, you think I'm gonna drown
Carry me home
Yeah won't you carry me home
(I need your help)
Carry me home
Carry me home
Oh won't you carry me home
Yeah carry me home
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Train”, live at River Plate 2009
Black Ice, 2008
Meh. It has good songs on it. The tour lead to their last great concert movie (in Argentina), and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is classic AC/DC all the way.
Best review I’ve read says that any of these 15 songs could’ve shown up on any record after Back in Black and no one would have noticed. I agree. I listened to it a lot when it came out. Couldn’t wait to buy the CD.
It’s not a bad record. It’s a record made by a band that has nothing to prove, nothing new to show us, and nothing much to say. It’s the AC/DC album that came out in 2008, and if you’re not a diehard fan this one won’t win you over.
My picks are “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” because it’s an instant classic arena rocker from the best in the business at making arena rockers, and “Stormy May Day” has Angus playing some nice slide guitar licks.
Stiff Upper Lip, 2000
Man, this one was great. This is like a perfected version of Ballbreaker. It’s full of bluesy, boogie woogie stomping rockers. Brian sounds like he’s having the time of his life singing this one, and it sounds age appropriate for the guys. They were all in their 50s at this point, and while howling innuendo is fun, so are bluesier jams.
Malcolm and Angus’s older brother, George produced the record by himself. (Harry Vanda was not involved). This is the last time George produced a record for the boys. He died in 2017.
I can’t shake the feeling that this is almost a musical successor to Powerage. Powerage was all heartbreak and down payment bluesy blues. This record is another bluesy jaunt, but coming from a better place lyrically and personally. I’m not sure I can explain it more than that, but I really feel like this was the record where Brian was the happiest as lead singer of the band. He stills talks about how much he loves this album in interviews.
Great, great record.
Given the timing of the release, “Safe in New York City” has not aged as well, but it’s a great song. The cover of the single is kinda hard to look at without thinking about what happened in NYC a few short months later.
The singles are all good tracks.
My favorites on the record are “Can’t Stand Still”, and “Meltdown” is a JAM.
Bonfire, 1997
A lot of AC/DC’s fan base had grown up without having heard their Bon Scott era work. This boxset was a really well crafted, thought through tribute to Bonny.
It featured:
Disc 1: a great live performance that was originally broadcast live on the radio from Atlantic Studios in 1977. Bonny was at his best when you heard him live, with his distinctive wild-man charisma and howling mischievous tenor on full display.
Discs 2 and 3: the best of the set. AC/DC released a movie called “Let There Be Rock: the Movie - live in Paris”. It had a limited theatrical run. It was recorded in December of 1979. Bonny was dead 2 months later. To me, that movie is the definitive live footage of Bon Scott at the peak of his singing abilities and charisma. They were touring Europe for Highway to Hell. Mutt Lange had helped Bonny improve as singer while recording the album. It was Bonny singing the greatest hits of the band live, with all of their best elements on full display. The movie is on Amazon Prime. I will be posting videos from it, but you should watch the concert.
Disc 4: alternate versions, outtakes, and stuff previously unreleased in the US. It’s good stuff.
Disc 5: was a remastered edition of Back in Black. The implication being that this boxset explained the context of Back in Black.
Great retrospective boxset from the boys. If it was available on vinyl, I’d buy it.
Watch the concert film.
“Livewire”, their concert opening track.