For the longest time, my only AC/DC record was the live If You Want Blood, You've Got It. It wasn't so much that I didn't know about (or even like) the other albums, but more an issue of only so many LP-buying dollars to go around. Hey, I was a sixteen year old with a part-time job at the drug store!
Yes, we did absolutely love Highway To Hell when it came out. We ground the grooves smooth on that record, and were absolutely shocked at the death of Bon Scott. So much for a great band.
Some of us were more than a little skeptical at the rumor of a new AC/DC album, with a new lead singer. Well, somehow the boys managed to find Brian Johnson, whose voice paid respect to their tradition while adding something new. Back In Black was a statement. We're done? Oh, no we're NOT! Damnation, I loved that record. Still do.
The power of the band is more evident in concert. They're a relentless freight train of sound, with little cartoonish Angus flying all over the stage while unleashing crazy leads that splatter onto the walls. Though subsequent records still seemed like events, it was the tour that we looked forward to. The shows were always full of bombast and fun.
I even have to credit the band for making me realize how precious sense of hearing is. The AC/DC show in Portland, Maine on the For Those About To Rock... tour was the very last rock show I attended without wearing earplugs. The music didn't seem that loud, but those cannon shots? Oh, they were bad. The next day I was at a meeting at work and had to ask somebody in the conference room to repeat what he'd just said a couple of times. His words seemed fuzzy to me. That scared the bejeezuz outa me.
I have to say that I'm not all that thrilled with these exclusivity deals but hey, the musical marketplace is kinda weird these days. The fact that they're with Walmart is even more annoying. I hate the place for a number of reasons. Worse yet, I have to drive quite a distance just to get to one. But I needed a couple of quarts of motor oil, so what the hell. I schlepped over there, negotiated through the screaming kids at the Subway at the front of the store, and made my way to the music section.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Happy birthday! And sorry you had to endure the tortures of Wal-Mart to get this CD. Sounds like it was worth it though.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I like it when the lead guitarist blazes the minor scale with such ease & passion.
no wait, that was somebody else.
Happy B-Day Old Man... Sorry that your present was a crappy CD and a quart of oil *Smirk*
3 - Josh Hathaway
I knew you had a cabbage shooter! Happy birthday, liar.
4 - Pico
Happy Birthday, Mark! I'll bet you don't look a day older than Brian Johnson ;-)
5 - Glen Boyd
Like Josh, I got my copy of Black Ice through the label, so I didn't have to hold my nose at Walmart.
I was more curious than anything else, but I think its a very solid AC/DC record. But then again, I guess since I haven't listened to any Deathswitch Murderhouse or Obscurorama lately I wouldn't know true hard rock if it bit me on my blue Walmart shirt right?
Hi my name is Glen.
Have a Happy Birthday!
6 - El Bicho
happy birthday unless that is the part that is untrue
7 - Mark Saleski
by the way, i forgot to mention that on my way back to the car in the walmart parking lot, i was punched and knocked to the ground....then my attacker scraped "Bon Rulz!" on my left cheek with a rusty pen knife.
8 - Tom Johnson
Your attacker scratched "Bon Rulz" backwards. Is there something you'd like to tell us?
!yadhtrib yppah dna ,hO
9 - Bennett
Good fun Mark.
As I heard the reviewer say, "I used to make fun of AC/DC for making the same record again and again, but now I realize that the wonderfulness of AC/DC is that they make the same record again and again, but slightly different each time."
It's on the non-food list.
btw, HBD and sorry 'bout your cheek.
10 - Bennett
P.S. Every one in the world should be required to listen to "Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheep)" once a year.
for Perspective
11 - zingzing
happy birthday
and ac/dc is not the fall, so they don't get away with it.