Style: heavy metal, blues-rock
Label: Columbia
Year: 2020
Home: Australia
Members: Angus Young ~ lead guitar
Brian Johnson ~ vocals
Stevie Young ~ rhythm guitar/b. vocals
Cliff Williams ~ bass/b. vocals
Phil Rudd ~ drums
If AC/DC had closed their legacy with Rock Or Bust many fans felt it would have ended on a satisfactory note, something I agree with. Yet, much to everyone's surprise they returned with more new music in Power Up. What can one say about AC/DC other than they have one sound that they have never strayed far from? After multiple decades the sound should have worn thin or lost its spark, as that's what has happened to every single one of their peers, but somehow every album is welcomed joyously, even though fans know what to expect with the first notes. Perhaps its the fact they have never tried to do anything other than what they know they do well. Every other band with a recognizable sound has tried to experiment with good & bad results. AC/DC have slimmed down or fluffed up, but have essentially kept to the same sound. They've never brought in keyboards or tried a new approach. Perhaps its the fact that their blues-rock always verged on not being trendy, so why not just do what they always do & when success comes it comes. Yet, its also easy to forget that while today their albums might be instant chart-toppers, they have not all been & there have been some albums with lots of forgettable filler. The answer to why AC/DC is successful is an enigma that defies logic & comparison. They just are. Maybe that mystery is what keeps drawing people in. While pondering the above thoughts I thought of Krishna's flute. Krishna is the Supreme Being who is often seen in Hinduism playing a flute. Supposedly the flute is infused with Krishna's divine beauty & thus no one can resist its music. AC/DC might just be enchanted in the same way. They have turned blues-rock into an art form. Its really amazing how they keep it fresh sounding, even when the songs sound like something you've heard before. Enchantment might be the only explanation. Yet, having said all this, digging in there are different sides to the AC/DC sound. Whereas Rock Or Bust was a stripped back gutsy affair, Power Up is much more commercial & sounds like a companion piece to The Razor's Edge, or maybe if The Razor's Edge was made in 2020. Big big riffs, big vocal parts, kick ass rock songs with sex laced through all of them. "Witch's Spell" & "Kick You When You're Down" sound like something I might have heard on The Razor's Edge alongside "Mistress For Christmas." Yet, it isn't all raunchy. "Through The Mists Of Time" might be one of the most sobering & somber tracks of their career. If they ever made a sad power ballad than this is it. After an initial listen of this album I went back to listen to older stuff. Brian's voice has always been raspy, but I hadn't realized how it had changed. He used to have more of a high range, but all that has now just been lost for a rough voice. I would put him in a minority of singers who actually are better now than ever, as they now really are how they were always trying to be. Power Up is a great balls to the wall album, but personally I like the stripped down feeling of Rock Or Bust better & thus would recommend that album first. This album had a bit too much filler & the songs started to blend. On the other hand, if songs sounding alike is the worst I can say about an AC/DC album than we're likely already off to a good start.
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