ARTIST: AC/DC
ALBUM: Rock or Bust
LABEL: Columbia
RELEASE DATE: November 28, 2014
Let There Be Rock
Written by Silas Valentino
Here are some of Rock & Roll’s greats, seeping deeper into grandfatherhood but not without pounding on a few more eardrums. 2014 was a tough year for Australia’s answer for everything, AC/DC were forced to carry on without their founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young who left the band due to health reasons and longtime drummer Phil Rudd recently found himself tangled in accusations of hiring an assassin to kill two men—a dirty deed indeed.
Even with all this hovering above AC/DC continue to perfect the three chords, thumbing bass, snarling howl ensemble that made them the biggest band in the world in 1980. And 34 years later Angus Young can still summon Satan with a crunchy guitar riff.
Their 15th album is titled Rock or Bust proving AC/DC can still find new ways to fit “rock” somewhere in their titles. Imagine them sitting around on their Marshall stacks tossing out suggestions for a new record: “Rock and Old,” “A.A.Rock.P” before singer Brian Johnson hacks up a lung to suggest, “The Rock and Roll Toll.” Jokes aside, AC/DC rock harder than most bands 4 decades their junior.
Rock or Bust begins with “Rock or Bust” which itself begins with a stone cold four-strum guitar chord that’s just waiting to be unleashed in an arena near you. The show starts and the lights kick in just as Rudd’s signature drum pattern trumps in rupture a spleen. It doesn’t get much better than this and AC/DC must be a gang of wizards for the way they can churn out the same structural rock songs in ways that force your right hand to shoot up into the air followed by your pointer finger and pinky.
One of the lowest points on the record is the uninspired “Rock the Blues Away” which reeks of lyrical boredom. “Driving in my car/ Heading for the local bar/ Picking up my girl tonight/ Everything is going to be alright,” sings Johnson sounding like a frequent patron of some small town dive. Beyond the obvious five-minute writing process that plagues this song what really brings it down is that you know this song’s protagonist is inevitably going to drink and drive home.
“Dogs of War” shares a melody with Pearl Jam’s “Betterman” and I think both bands would be proud of this union. Hard rock producer Brendon O’Brien lends his talent for thud on this album and back in 1994 he provided the organ part on PJ’s “Betterman.” This coincidence is worth the noting.
These eleven songs last to just about the 35th minute mark which makes it AC/DC’s shortest album since 1983’s Flick the Switch, another record riddled with problems due to Rudd who was fired halfway through its recording. Similar to Flick the Switch, Rock or Bust may have a future in obscurity but it won’t go away without inspiring a few bleached-blonde bar flies to shake and jerk along to the digital jukebox while the trucker-hat crowd goes woo. The absence of Malcolm is evident because Rock or Bust is without a signature “You Shook Me All Night Long” standout but even when the blood flow is staggering, AC/DC can still find the charge to keep it up.