You have to be pretty far up yourself to not find something to like...
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way at the top: yes, it all sounds the same. Are you happy? Now that we've dispensed with that nonsense, let's talk about Black Ice, the first new album from AC/DC in 8 years.…
Article comments
26 - Darren
Whenever the pissing contest is over, can some of us weigh in on what we think too? I have a passing interest in AC/DC's new record because it's been unfortunately labeled as a "comeback", in much the same way "Memory Almost Full" was supposed to be a comeback for Paul McCartney, "Endless Wire" for the Who,"Accelerate" for R.E.M. and a host of other eventually disappointing recent albums. What I want to see (and hear) is if someone can actually pull it off. This honest bit from the Boston Globe review might supplant my need to actually listen to the record: "quintessential, if not exactly essential".
27 - Josh Hathaway
The pissing contest never ends, Darren, so feel free to weigh in when you've listened to the record.
28 - Mark Saleski
i don't think it's a comeback album because i don't think they went anywhere.
of course, i also like Endless Wire and Accelerate.
29 - Darren
Hmm, point taken. I'm a big fat non-listening jerk. ;)
30 - Josh Hathaway
Not a jerk at all, Darren. Get a copy of the album and let us know what you think.
31 - JC Mosquito
Well, now..... I'm casting my vote for it doesn't suck. It's much better than Fly or Switch or Ball breaker, all albums with a couple of good tunes and lotsa filler. Guess what? The best ACDC albums, like Highway, Back in Black and, yes indeed, the brand new Black Ice are about half filler anyways.
Guess what else? Most "good" albums by everyone else are also half filler. And the albums that are pretty good most of the way through are few and far between. Maybe the aforementioned Back in Black and Highway to Hell are as close as ACDC will ever come too making a classic, but Black Ice doesn't suck - at it's worst, it just isn't brilliant, but it does have enough bright spots to keep it from becoming cutout bin clutter.
32 - Darren
Listen 1: So far so (really) good - I've heard Rock N' Roll Train, Skies on Fire, Big Jack, and Anything Goes and liked 'em all. They seem to have a penchant for really good pop-rockers, wish they'd write more of 'em. I hear that although lyrics are never a strong suit for these guys, Brian Johnson (age 61!) co-wrote with the Brothers Young for the first time since before Razors Edge. Gotta give them some longevity credits. The production sounds better than many of their 80s efforts, and most of the lame-ass Dandy-Warhol-esque modern rock I've heard lately. What's not to like? Too long? Take out the five songs you like least and make it into a neo-classic.
33 - JC Mosquito
"Take out the five songs you like least and make it into a neo-classic."
Ah....... instant revisionist history. Gotta luv the digital age.
34 - Mark Saleski
the too many songs issue has been with us for a while. i think that about many modern recordings, and it usually strikes home when i listen to an album i really like that came out in the pre-cd era. much easier to make a concise statement in 40 minutes than 70.
35 - JC Mosquito
And it's much easier to make a big statement in 70 minutes rather than 40. Better yet - 70 albums.
36 - Darren
...and ya gotta love instant hackneyed writing in the digital age. ;)
Have you never skipped a song in this or any other age? What's wrong with kindly helping some old rockers who can't edit themselves?
Four and a half stars for Glacè Noir. **** 1/2
37 - Josh Hathaway
I'm with you, Darren. 3-5 songs lighter and the album is stronger overall.
38 - Mark Saleski
Have you never skipped a song in this or any other age?
nope.
not even on a Yoko record.
39 - Josh Hathaway
I don't believe that, Mark. You've skipped songs.
40 - Josh Hathaway
Oh, and no one actually listens to Yoko records! :D
41 - JC Mosquito
Now that I think about it, the most concise statements seem to be between 2:45 - 3:30 minutes long on little flat round things that rotate around a stationary spindle at a speed of 45 rounds per minute.
42 - Mark Saleski
I don't believe that, Mark. You've skipped songs.
nope. i'm more likely to just bail on a record midstream. that...i've done a lot.
43 - Josh Hathaway
I've done both. I generally try to get through an album, though, even if that means skipping a song or two. There aren't a lot of artists these days who really make albums. Most albums these days are collections of songs, so I go looking for the good songs. A great album is still the pinnacle, but great is great and a couple of great songs are still worth something.
44 - musichyper
I'm in total agreement that for AC/DC to change would simply be wrong. Some critics need to understand that not everything needs to evolve and AC/DC being one of them!
I HYPED Black Ice on EverHYPE and scored it 94%, which I think is very accurate.
If you get on there rate me a 5 on it and request friendship.
45 - Bennett
"rate me a 5 on it and request friendship"
not going to happen.
46 - David
I've been listening to it since it debut ... I love the thing.
47 - madmatt
I love the new album ,but i also feel that with about 3-4 songs less it would have appeared to have been stronger.
However, Black ice has a dark quality/tone that runs thru it,that i haven't heard since "for those about to Rock",or "BON"era music.
I would give it a strong 7 out of 10 for my rating,but i have loved ac/dc since 1978 when I was 10!IT was also so nice to hear some slide guitar and some basic effects within the new album, most fans would like to hear something different on a new album "once in a while",
and i feel that they have added to thier mighty
catalog with this one!
48 - Gregg Orange
Just listened to the new Ac/Dc album, "Black Ice". There are a couple of good songs, the first one on the album is the best one and the rest of it is filler material. Pretty much the same formula that they have adhered to since "Let There Be Rock" over 25 years ago. There are more recycled riffs on this album than I can possibly count. I suppose it is somewhat ridiculous to condemn Ac/Dc for putting out the same album for 25 years though, that's just what they do. That would be like criticizing Johnny Ramone for writing songs that were nothing but 4 downward stroked, repetitive bar chords. Similarly, it would be like criticizing Coors for introducing a light beer. It works, it sells and if you don't like it there are plenty of other options. Here again, this is just what Ac/Dc does. I never honestly expected Ac/Dc to do a "Sgt. Pepper" album anyway. I mean what exactly would they do if they decided to produce some horrible art rock record in the first place? Overdub big a brass section or wheel out some synthesizers? Maybe they would do a collaboration album with John Petrucci of Dream Theater and Brian Johnson could write some introspective, sensitive lyrics about relationships. Right. Gong! I listened to the entire album twice and it has the usual assortment of open A, D, G and E open chord structured tunes that you have come to expect from Angus and Malcolm and it has the standard Brian Johnson lyrical themes about sex, sexual innuendos, the devil, rock and roll and more rock and roll, parties, good times, more sex, chauvinistic sex, etc. There are aspects about this band and its simple, straight ahead rock and roll formula that I still like but, I guess I have just heard the Ac/Dc formula so many times before in the last three decades that they are just starting to sound very undeniably retro and the lyrical content of their songs has gotten just plain silly and stagnant to the point of absurdity. So I guess it's sort of a damned if they do, damned if they don't situation. I would really like to hear them progress a bit and change it up, do something a bit more different, fresh and innovative. But, then again if they did it would probably be a horrible unlistenable mess. So we are stuck with records like this for better or worse, take it or leave it. It's Ac/Dc doing the same thing they have done for decades and I wouldn't expect them to change this formula. It's what got them where they are. They can retire on it and they most likely will very soon.
49 - Tony Brock
Bon v. Brian - This is like trying to get KIss fans and Rush fans to agree which is the best band - pointless.
There is some great ACDC material (title track, rock 'n roll dream) on here and there are some weaker tunes (She likes rock 'n roll, decibel) and almost funky stuff (black ice).
One of my favourites is 'anything goes' sounding like Jimmy Barnes/Cold Chisel.
On the whole a good album, just stuffed too full to stop the people who complain about only getting 40 minutes of material on a 79 minute disc.
50 - Clarence Yu
This is unbelievable! AC/DC rocks, Bon or Brian on vocals. They always kick ass, satisfy their fans and themselves while making tons of money. What is wrong with that? Critics love their albums. What's there to hate about them, especially now that they've proven that at their age, they can still make a record that can raise the hairs off my arm? I've been a hard core fan of theirs since the Mutt Lange era till now, and none of their albums suck.
Black Ice was exactly what I needed to re-invest my faith in rock and roll for the long term. I hope the next release by Aerosmith cements that.
Great review!
51 - J.Lopez
I was a ACDC fan from Back in Black to Fly to the Wall. After that I changed to other tendencies in music, and ACDC seemde to stick pretty much to the magic tricks that got them in the top. Then I forgot about the band. But some days ago, I was driving somelse´s car and the Black Ice CD was playing. Somehow, I found a new excuse to go back to ACDC, including some of the stuff I did not like. Black Ice is within the legacy they will leave for the future generations by being a trully ACDC album before they reachedhe big audiences.