Music Review: AC/DC - Black Ice

AC/DC’s first new album in eight years sold an impressive 193,000 copies on its first day of release last week. The album, which is available exclusively at Wal-Mart and through the band’s official website, is projected to sell an outstanding 800,000 copies in its first week.

The sales numbers easily make Black Ice the highest debut of the year. The Australian hard rock band remains as popular (if not more so) as ever as it prepares to embark on a world tour. This week, AC/DC’s Back in Black is #1 on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog charts, with Highway To Hell and High Voltage at #22 and #25 respectively. In fact, Back In Black is among the highest selling albums of all time with an estimated forty-two million copies sold worldwide.

What is responsible for AC/DC’s continued popularity? Perhaps it’s that they are the quintessential hard rock band. They may not be as musically interesting as Led Zeppelin, or have the songwriting skills of The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, but they have never made claims to be anything other than the hardest rocking band around. AC/DC has survived critical disapproval as well as the loss, and subsequent replacement, of a lead singer. Released only nine months after the death of original lead singer Bon Scott, 1980’s Back In Black showed the world that AC/DC wouldn’t let anything keep them from rocking. They were out to show everyone that rock 'n' roll was all about having a good time and kicking ass.

Black Ice follows right in those footsteps. The album probably could have been released as a follow up to Back In Black and fans wouldn’t have batted an eye. Well, they might have wondered where all the sex and drugs went. I used to say AC/DC wrote about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, but age has given some lyrical maturity. Gone are the days of heavy drinking and loose women, now the focus is on – well, it’s on rocking. With titles, “Rock 'N' Roll Train,” She Likes Rock 'N' Roll,” “Rock 'N' Roll Dream,” and “Rocking All The Way,” the theme of this album is very blatant. As always, AC/DC is still about thundering drums with thumping bass and power chord guitar riffs.

Article Author: Sherry Lipp

Sherry writes mostly music and dvd reviews and on occasion she gets to do an interview. She plays the guitar, enjoys playing with her dog Pepsi and she and her husband are currently in the process of internationally adopting from Poland.

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