The Return of the Kings (of Rock)

As alot of you may or may not know/care, AC/DC is finally making a comeback this year with their new album set to be released sometime this quarter entitled Black Ice. Some guy somehow managed to obtain a copy of the album and uploaded it to youtube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pswgmNMbbY&feature=PlayList&p=761371E0F04837F4&index=0&playnext=1

I’ve been listening to the tracks on the album, and overall it’s still got that visceral AC/DC rock out loud feel – despite their age they’re still pretty good at kicking ass. That being said however, I find that their older work definitely outshines it by quite alot. I doubt there ever can or will be any track can top the greats – Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Hell’s Bells, Let the be Rock, A Whole lotta Rosie, You Shook Me All Night Long, etc. Against this their new album just comes across as being quite…tired? I can see the energy, but I don’t really feel it as much as I did in the above tracks. With kickass names for some of their songs like War machine and Decibel, what I’m hearing comes across as a pretty big contrast. I suppose it’s nigh impossible to match what you did in your youth at 50, and don’t get me wrong – the album still seems pretty kickass, and I’ll probably buy it (I rarely never buy albums) – but they were really too good in the past. Right now Black Ice is a group of old men trying to relive former glories, and succeeding somewhat, but to give an analogy of what their new album’s like, it’s like how sometimes at sporting events (hockey matches, marathons, etc) you see that random old guy competing in a crowd of 20-30 year olds. Instead of getting completely smashed, he still manages to beat more than half the pack, but he’s more or less kept standing by his various appendages like compression sleeves, etc, while the “old dogs” stand at the sidelines talking about how good he used to be.  

All in all it’s a nice return of good ol’ fashioned classic rock for a generation full of weekend warriors from the golden era of rock, most of whom are now wearing suits and driving minivans. AC/DC, however, have refused to succumb to the call of aging, and stand as rock luminaries teaching the new generation how to rock out old school. I’m still hoping that there’ll be a return to the good ol’ fashioned face melting rock and roll rawness in the music scene – more tracks like She loves Rock N’ Roll from Black Ice – but I doubt that may happen, so I’ll have to satisfy myself with looping Highway to Hell amidst thoughts of a bygone generation that I was never part of.

In the meantime, here are my favorite tracks from the new album: 

Smash N’ Grab

She Likes Rock N’ Roll

Rock N’ Roll Dream

Edit: 

Looks like Sony/BMG took down the clips on youtube. Oh well, I guess I’ll just put jpeg of their greatest album: