AC/DC
Blow Up Your Video

THE REVIEW

Once you get past the initial prejudice that every AC/DC album without Bon Scott (r.i.p) should be considered rubbish, we can start discussing this one. I will only refer to the band with Johnson as the vocalist, as there is no comparison with the previous singer. Having made the necessary clarification, let's move on.

Having absorbed, listened to, danced to, and moshed to it for half my life, I can unequivocally say that it is one of the best of the "second period." Contrary to many who consider it a mediocre album: I don't think it's that way. Probably the motto "don't change a winning team" applies, given the quality of their previous works, of which I'll briefly mention only "For Those About to Rock" and "Back in Black." Vitriolic rock'n roll, with various hard rock nuances, that never spill over into sappy ballads like Scorpions (and no offense to their fans, please). This is indeed hyper-adrenaline music, maximalist, very "catchy," for the enjoyment of "metalheads" (not all, not all...). And one cannot help but appreciate the technical abilities of the two crazy brothers on guitars, capable of delivering somewhat predictable solos and fairly ordinary rhythms, yet highly enjoyable and fitting. Wright/Williams on drums/bass are somewhat subdued: they keep the beat, not much more. But, in the end, that's just fine.

This album features the presence of the classic "That's the way I wanna rock'n roll" (...just say it!), "Meanstreak" and "Two's Up" (my favorite), but it also stands out for its excellent overall production. The compositional vein is indeed static but quite original, and Brian Johnson seems very inspired. The tracks sometimes wear out, but there is a certain variability, though still limited to the usual blues progressions, the usual pentatonics, and whatever else has already been heard. But they, like Manowar for metal, have made repetition a school, a creed to be followed religiously, at the risk of being labeled "infidels." And so, "experimentation," or more crudely "variability," is automatically abolished. The school is that of the blues, no need to repeat it, with heavy influences of themselves(!), repeated without shame until the last note. How wonderful(!). Indeed, here too, AC/DC are self-celebratory but accessible to everyone, proud "opponents of musical intellectualism," of progressive, of sophistication, and of mind games: they become charmingly unbearable, heavy, raw, making them THE quintessential hard-rock band. But forget the genre: "Blow up your video" should be enjoyed with the right mindset, ready to get excited like crazy, to simply enjoy the guitar riffs of the Young brothers, to sing the lyrics without thinking too much, and to "shake it," for example, with "Nick of time," or the furious "This means war," whose title couldn't be more fitting. There is little left to say about the album in question: the fierce Jerry Lee Lewis-like attitude brought to 1988, the use of reverb in the guitars and the vocals of the first track (as proof of a modest attempt to do "something new"), a few tracks that start well and end in boredom, a presence of overall pleasant "mid-tempo," perhaps mundane solos (but Young & Young guarantee them), and a rhythm based on chord sequences that even a completely drunk guitarist could play (and it's no coincidence!).

Enjoy... "Getting ready to rockGetting ready to roll..."

Angus Young - Guitar
Malcolm Young - Guitar
Simon Wright - Drums
Cliff Williams - Bass
Brian Johnson - Vocals