AC/DC - Black Ice. (Or, The JoePa of Rock)

We've got a juggernaut on our hands, my friends. In case you've been living in a cave, AC/DC released their first studio album in 8 years last month, and it has peaked at #1 on album charts all over the world except in Japan & The Netherlands (#3 in each respective country, but what do they know?). Wal-Mart has dedicated more floor space to the launch than for any other album (yes, even more than Garth Brooks). Every football game I've watched this season seemingly uses a different track from Black Ice as they cut to commercial during timeouts. AC/DC is everywhere folks. Hannah Montana: pack your bags girlie, or it could get ugly.

The 8-year gap between albums is paying off quite nicely for the Aussies. No longer under the pressure to consistently put out albums (read: sub par albums) the aging Rock Gods have carefully constructed an AC/DC classic with Black Ice. This is a tricky proposition, however. AC/DC's musical style has not changed much, if at all, in 33 years. It's aways been about the blues first & foremost, with Angus & Malcolm Young's crunching guitars, driving bass, thundering drums, and the signature course, screeching vocals by Bon Scott and Brian Johnson driving it home. How much better could they be than they already are? Why not just sit back & maybe throw together a tour once in a while like other aging rock icons? Not sure, but this album's release and the marketing storm that goes with it has been very profitable. Even AC/DC's back catalog has seen incredible sales, with younger audiences picking up the torch and carrying it to the next generation.

Now, I'm probably not the right person to be reviewing an AC/DC album. I'm a casual fan of the band, but not hard-core. I have a healthy respect for their body of work, but I'll admit it has been an acquired taste. Initially as a kid I was scared to death of AC/DC. I used to look through my uncle's albums as a kid, as he was a big AC/DC fan. Their covers scared the crap out of me though, especially their live album If You Want Blood, You Got It. Once I became a teenager I overcame that disturbance & got into them some, especially when Who Made Who came out, which was the soundtrack for Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive. Never really got into the whole Back In Black thing; it was played-out for me before it got started with "You Shook Me All Night Long" & "Back In Black" emanating from every scuzzball's Camaro at school & cruising town on the weekend. I did re-discover the older Bon Scott albums I was initially terrified by later in life though, & I really enjoy them now. They're good fun, kinda raunchy (well, REALLY raunchy actually), and very powerful. AC/DC is the kind of music I'm ready for on a Friday night after work, ready to scream and cut loose.

Black Ice fits the old AC/DC mold better than any in recent history I guess. I make the analogy that listening to AC/DC is kind of like ordering a Big Mac - you know what you're getting every time. Smells the same, tastes the same, & you feel the same after eating one. The Young brothers aren't trying to pull a Coldplay or U2 on us and reinvent themselves for our, er their amusement. It is what it is, and you will have you ass kicked just like you did 30 years ago so just bend over. I will say though, it is mildly creepy to hear Brian Johnson sing about little schoolgirls when he himself has a daughter that is 40 years old, I believe. (Speaking of mildly creepy, check this out.)

Another analogy for Black Ice is octogenarian Joe Paterno. Joe's been written off so many times at Penn State but don't look now, the Nittany Lions are on the doorstep of another national championship. Being at the top is a helluva way to go out, and JoePa and AC/DC are both right there. Of course, I came up with this analogy as I sat & watched my Buckeyes lose to Penn State last week in Columbus (where the opening to "Hells Bells" plays over the PA system when the defense is in a tight spot)...and yup, we were led to every commercial break by The Thunda From Down Unda, AC/DC. Coincidence? You betcha...owwww!!