Lots of things are changing in my life right now, but who says it doesn’t need a soundtrack. Do I have one this week. Two great bands release their best in over a decade, probably more, and some interesting stuff under the radar. There was some complete dross that I won’t bother even mentioning, but overall quite a good week.
AC/DC: Black Ice
I hate to be reviewing this album this week. I would love to have a hell of a lot more spins on this great CD. Alas, the pile or rather shelf, of review discs tells me to get on with it. The short verdict on this album is that it's their strongest since For Those About to Rock and certainly the best thing they have done in the last 20 years. As many other reviewers have said, there is no way the band will ever top their huge album Back in Black second only to Michael Jackson’s Thriller for worldwide sales. This album has come damn near close to getting the same formula down.
Now AC/DC do what they do and don’t change the basic formula. They could care less that many of the snotty critics take them to task for this. They do advanced bar room boogie as only they can do it. They are not just masters, but gods of the genre. This album, which might be their last, as they are pushing on a bit, is chock full of AC/DCisms. It's about getting drunk, laid, and having a damn good time while you are it.
While the excellent title track might be literally about “Black Ice,” as in what killed Cliff Burton of Metallica, the rest is AC/DC doing their normal. Without a doubt the best track on here is “Rock & Rock Train” which would have fit perfectly on Back in Black. This is a consistently good slab of blues-heavy hard rock. Forget the new Metallica ladies and gents, this is the real return to form of a great band.
Motorhead: Motorizer
I am a bit late to the party on this one. The review copy of this CD g0t mixed up with other stuff and sat undiscovered until recently. Like AC/DC’s latest this is one of the best releases by this venerable band for at least a decade. Almost every Motorhead album has a couple of decent tracks, this one on the other hand, sees most of the songs of top value.
Lemmy & Co are, as you can imagine, tight as a monkey’s arse and play with all the gusto of a band 20 years their junior. Motorhead have yet again laid down the gauntlet to all who might follow in their footsteps with their hard driving, heavy rock cacophony. From the opening strains of the fine “Runaround Man” with its statement of intent on this album to the last track “The Thousand Names of God” the album delivers in droves.
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