Australian rockers AC/DC have delivered their best album in decades, based on a sample of tracks from the upcoming album Black Ice. NEWS.com.au today heard seven tracks from the new album in the studios of the band’s Sydney headquarters, Albert Music.
The songs – Anything Goes, War Machine, Stormy May Day, She Likes Rock N Roll, Money Made and Black Ice, along with the current single Rock N’ Roll Train – suggest the band has made a remarkable return to form after a series of fan-only albums in recent years.
Judging by these songs, the 15-track album is the band’s most consistent and accessible release since Back in Black.
Opening with a guitar sound that recalls Bon Scott’s bagpipes in Long Way to the Top, Anything Goes is a delicious 1970s tune with blood-pumping, 2008 production values.
The Young brothers would disagree, but it is the closest thing to a pop song the band has done and will pull in many new fans.
The songs heard today draw from periods throughout the band’s career.
Black Ice is a head-banging anthem from the For Those About to Rock era, with a riff as good as any the Youngs have written.
Producer Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, The Offspring) and long-time AC/DC mixer Mike Fraser should take a major credit for the album, delivering a very contemporary sound -- probably the best production value of any AC/DC album to date.
The vocals are one of the big surprises of the album. In a modern medical miracle, front man Brian Johnson’s vocal chords have patched themselves up to deliver his best vocal performance since the 1980s.
O’Brien has also worked hard on the back-up vocals, which makes a tremendous difference in the choruses.
Anything Goes has the potential to be the band’s biggest hit since You Shook Me All Night Long if released - under one plan - as a second single.
Opening with a guitar sound that recalls Bon Scott’s bagpipes in Long Way to the Top, Anything Goes is a delicious 1970s tune with blood-pumping, 2008 production values.
The Young brothers would disagree, but it is the closest thing to a pop song the band has done and will pull in many new fans.
The songs heard today draw from periods throughout the band’s career.
Black Ice is a head-banging anthem from the For Those About to Rock era, with a riff as good as any the Youngs have written.
War Machine is a hard and fast affair reminiscent of Back in Black’s Given The Dog a Bone.
Money Made is a bass-heavy boogie with guitar chords that seem to hang back, teasing, before sling-shotting into a chorus from the Blow Up Your Video era.
Money Made is a bass-heavy boogie with guitar chords that seem to hang back, teasing, before sling-shotting into a chorus from the Blow Up Your Video era.
Stormy May Day offers something new - a huge over-driven slide guitar hook that is a favourite in the Alberts studio.
Producer Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, The Offspring) and long-time AC/DC mixer Mike Fraser should take a major credit for the album, delivering a very contemporary sound -- probably the best production value of any AC/DC album to date.
The vocals are one of the big surprises of the album. In a modern medical miracle, front man Brian Johnson’s vocal chords have patched themselves up to deliver his best vocal performance since the 1980s.
O’Brien has also worked hard on the back-up vocals, which makes a tremendous difference in the choruses.
This is not Back in Black. It won’t sell the 45 million copies of the 1980 classic.
But on a first listen it is by far the best thing AC/DC has produced in a quarter of a century.
Black Ice is due out in Australia on October 18 and around the world on October 20.
Source
But on a first listen it is by far the best thing AC/DC has produced in a quarter of a century.
Black Ice is due out in Australia on October 18 and around the world on October 20.
Source
