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Rating: I was young and had no criteria for purchasing my records, the only two factors that vaguely influenced me were the covers and the “Special price” offers.
I have never wanted to criticize this primitive method which, albeit a little adolescent, has proven useful and fun over time. Buying in this way, or in the absence of a way, broadens musical horizons - perhaps too much - forms a complex taste and discovers music from other generations and origins (the LPs on sale are those) rather than the ones approved by MTV.
Speaking of AC/DC… they entered my life precisely through this whimsical method. After watching a disgusting film called "Maximum Overdrive", one day among the many covers in a supermarket basket, I reread and remembered the name of those holy protectors, who shielded me from total perdition during the viewing of the atrocity, and I proceeded with the purchase. I remember the great help of the soundtrack in enduring the 80 minutes of projected indecency; against that imagery, the celestial notes of our heroes seemed like a masterpiece! Back to reality, I realized that it wasn’t exactly the compositional peak of AC/DC ("Who Made Who"), but that in much other realms lay the properties of that group. Maybe it’s because I don't have a strictly Rock background, but I still haven’t figured out why an album like "Powerage," which I consider one of the most valid of AC/DC’s, often takes a backseat, overshadowed by other decidedly mediocre ones ("For Those About To Rock"). As proof of what I am saying is the absence of "Powerage" among the current reviews.
"Powerage" is a splendid album that finds AC/DC in great shape and definitely in their most creative moment, an album that follows a raw and raucous "Let There Be Rock" (and that’s not a bad thing) and, unfortunately, precedes the ruinous collaboration with John Mutt Lange, which, in my personal opinion, will excessively clean up the band’s sound. The record is short and fast; there are 9 songs and in some ways 9 singles… sincerely, there are also moments where the album slightly dips, but those are physiological transitional tracks that serve as necessary cushions between rock pieces that are true history (Riff Raff, Sin City, Up To My Neck In You).
What is immediately appreciated in this precious work is the greater variety it presents and thanks to which each piece is well distinct from the others, an exceptional thing considering AC/DC’s rock lens (nauseating and uncontrollable repetition). It starts with "Rock’n’Roll Damnation," which is more an anthem than a song, with a non-exhaustive but engaging rhythm. Next is a rich blues, that of "Down Payment Blues," which grows slowly until the end where Malcolm is left bare with his guitar. The interpretation of the never too lamented - at least personally - Scott is to be noted. It develops the theme of the poor ragamuffin full of debts and vices who survives only with the strength of his blues. Next is "Gimme a Bullet," a champagne rhythm decisive and compelling, a nice sound different from the usual. Then come two gems where AC/DC demonstrate their mastery and ownership of the highest rock wisdom: "Riff Raff" is something sensational, now the rhythm pulls and no one can resist, no one can stay still. Breathlessly, you reach the attack of "Sin City," well, what can I say, in our condition only that powerful and sly riff can help us keep up with the frenzied pace of the race. After the city of perdition, we stumble upon "peace" and "innocence" in "What’s Next To The Moon," which after those two rock monuments serves to present us with the unusual AC/DC going up and down the scale with multi-voiced choruses. In "Gone Shootin’" we find a splendid game of guitars having fun and chasing each other in a blues-divertissment, it is pointless to reiterate again that the great variety of this record is facilitated by the presence of a great, grand rock’n’roll singer. "Up to My Neck in You" squeezes our last energies, it’s devastating, if it lasted a minute longer, we’d find poor Angus in ashes! Finally, "Kicked In The Teeth" closes the album remarkably without regrets.
Summing up, for those who weren’t there the previous time, this "Powerage" is a decidedly rock, fun, varied album - at least as much as one can expect from AC/DC - great even for those who are unfamiliar with this band and would like to approach it. In conclusion, I would say that there are no valid reasons to put an album that rightfully belongs among AC/DC’s best works on the back burner. The rating of 5 is justified both within AC/DC’s discography and in the history of the genre, it’s a pity there wasn’t a 4.5!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Gimme a Bullet (03:23)
She had the word
Had the way
The way of letting me know
She knew the game
Called the play
Oh she hit me low
She said now you go your way
And I'll go mine
And that's a start
Doctor doctor
Ain't no cure
For the pain in my heart
Gimme a bullet to bite on
Something to chew
Gimme a bullet to bite on
And I'll make believe
I'll make believe it's you
Don't need no drink
Don't need no drug
Don't need no sympathy
Sooner or later
Send me a bill
For what she's doin to me
I'll call right up
Long distance lips
On the telephone
Come tomorrow
Come to grips
With me all alone
Gimme a bullet to bite on
Something to chew
Gimme a bullet to bite on
And I'll make believe
I'll make believe it's you
A bullet to bite on
Gimme a bullet to bite on
Cmon now
Yeah yeah bullet to bite
Bullet to chew
I'll make believe it's you
I'll make believe it's you
Gimme a bullet to bite on
You're a bullet baby
I wanna bullet to bite on
05 Riff Raff (05:14)
See it on the television every day
Hear it on the radio
It ain't humid but it sure is hot
Down in Mexico
The boy is trying to tell me
Near enough to the edge (beginning of the end)
Say they've all been there
Too late my friend
CHORUS:
Riff raff
Always good for a laugh (ha ha ha)
Riff raff
Go on, laugh yourself in half
(Smile awhile)
Now I'm the kind of guy who keeps his big mouth shut
Don't bother me
Somebody give me one arm up
Leave me in misery
I've never shot nobody
Don't even carry a gun
I ain't done nothing wrong
I'm just having fun
CHORUS
06 Sin City (04:46)
Diamonds and dust
Poor man last, rich man first
Lambourginis, caviar
Dry martinis, Shangri-la
I got a burning feeling
Deep inside of me
It's yearning
But I'm going to set it free
CHORUS:
I'm going in to sin city
I'm gonna win in sin city
Where the lights are bright
Do the town tonight
I'm gonna win in sin city
(I'm gonna rule you baby)
Ladders and snakes
Ladders give, snakes take
Rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief
Ain't got a hope in hell, that's my belief
Fingers Freddy, Diamond Jim
They're getting ready, look out I'm coming in
So spin that wheel, cut that pack
And roll those loaded dice
Bring on the dancing girls
And put the champaign on ice
CHORUS
07 Up to My Neck in You (04:15)
Well I've been up to my neck in trouble
Up to my neck in strife
Up to my neck in misery
For most of my life
I've been a fool
And you know what a fool can do
I'm telling you
You came along when I needed you
Now I'm up, I'm up to my neck in you
And I've been up to my neck in pleasure
Up to my neck in pain
I've been up to my neck on the railroad track
Waitin' for the train
To cruise on through
Well baby my time is due
Oh it's way overdue
You came along and you pulled me through
Now I'm up, up to my neck in you
Well I've been up to my neck in whiskey
I've been up to my neck in wine
I've been up to my neck in wishing
That this neck wasn't mine
I was a loser
You weren't lost
Baby you were too good, too good to be true
What you've got no one else could do
Now I'm up, I'm up to my neck in you
Yeah you came along when I needed you
Oh I'm up to my neck in you
09 Cold Hearted Man (03:39)
No one knew
Where he came from
He never knew himself
Call her Ma
Call him Pa
But he was born to someone else
No one fooled
Or messed him around
Cause they were all afraid
Ain't no lies
Ice in the eyes
Of Leeroy Kincaid
CHORUS:
Cold hearted man
One time lover heart in his hand
Cold hearted man
And you can't trust nothing you don't understand
Cold hearted man
Cold hearted man
Like a snake
He had no friends
He didn't need no one
Hurt his pride
Deep inside
He was another mother's son
Reputation
Broken glass
Everybody prayed
For their lives on the street
Where they happened to meet
Leeroy Kincaid
CHORUS
Sometimes you can't see
The other side
It's too well hidden
For the naked eye
One time lover
With his heart in his hand
Two time loser
A broken man
Cold hearted man
10 Kicked in the Teeth (03:53)
Two faced woman with the two faced lies
I hope your two faced living made you satisfied
Tell me baby I was your only one
While you've been running around town with every mother's son
Told your story about the women like you
Told your story about the things you do
I used to think that you were sugar and spice
I should've listened to my mother's advice
CHORUS:
Kicked in the teeth again
Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win
Kicked in the teeth again
Ain't this misery ever gonna end?
And I've been kicked in the teeth
Kicked in the teeth again
Two faced woman, such a crying shame
Don't know nothing, you're all the same
You run around, hope you had your fun
You never know who's gonna win till the race been run
CHORUS
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Other reviews
By Hardrock92
The best moment of the record is surely "Sin City," where the main riff is repeated ad nauseam and Bon Scott's performance is full of screams.
"Powerage" is still a great album in full AC/DC style, capturing the energy and spirit of the Bon Scott era.
By teenagelobotomy
"Powerage turns out to be... a unique album in weight and power, if not the most aggressive, certainly the most compact and powerful."
"Riff Raff... certainly the masterpiece of the album."
By JonnyORiley87
Powerage passed unjustly in near general indifference of the time, actually proving its strength between two gems of the caliber of Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell.
The apex of the album is reached with the Rock/Blues gem Gone Shootin’: a nearly funk-like beginning grows into a monstrous solo that seems never-ending.
