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Rating: After a long time, I am once again about to write a review, talking mainly about an album I discovered late and about which I intend to write today: it's an album by the very well-known AC/DC unjustly forgotten (or almost) by critics, written in 1978 and titled Powerage.
The year 1978 is, for Rock music in general, a year of great changes on the horizon: on one side, the explosion of Punk with the imminent sonic booms of the Sex Pistols and similia, on another, the necessity for once-prominent bands to modify their sound to keep up with the times (see Led Zeppelin in the controversial In Through The Out Door or The Who in Who Are You of those years), but yet again, as in the case of the famous brothers Malcolm (born 1953) and Angus (born 1955) Young, to remain consistent with their starting line, if not even staying "hard as a rock," paraphrasing one of their 1995 songs.
This Powerage, as mentioned, passed unjustly in near general indifference of the time, actually proves this: set between two gems of the caliber of Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell, it opens with the gripping Rock 'N' Roll Damnation, yet another heartfelt anthem declared by Bon Scott and the two blazing guitars of Malcolm and Angus towards that hard and healthy Rock 'N' Roll of the early days. The following Down Payment Blues deals with the theme of a man living beyond his means, as Scott sings in these verses: "I got myself a Cadillac, but I can't afford the gas." and the sound, spiced with a powerful central solo by Angus, proves engaging with even a hint of a final Blues motif lasting a few seconds this time by Malcolm.
Gimme A Bullet is a "ballad" (in heavy quotation marks), always marked by the roar of the guitars, essentially talking about a love gone sour, but nothing so innovative.
Then we move on to the central section of the album which contains, without a shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful and interesting numbers: it starts with the adrenaline-filled Riff Raff where the excellent Angus literally shows his muscles with an initially powerful chord progression and a middle solo of excellent craftsmanship.
With Sin City, another excellent highlight especially in the band’s concerts, the atmosphere becomes decidedly darker and heavier, thanks also to Scott's usual cutting voice and another masterful number by Angus who pulls another beautiful central solo out of the hat, in addition to a notable bass line by London's British Cliff Williams, the band's new recruit in place of Mark Evans.
What's Next To The Moon, on the contrary, is as fast and playful as basic, but it is quite appreciated.
But the apex of the album is reached, above all, with the Rock/Blues gem Gone Shootin': from a nearly funk-like beginning, thanks to Malcolm's excellent rhythmic work and drummer Phil Rudd, another solid certainty of the band, the song decidedly grows in tone with Angus’s usual monstrous solo and seems never-ending, indeed!
Up To My Neck In You, which can be considered the godfather of Shoot To Thrill from the famous Back In Black two years later, is notable for a long solo always by Angus that goes on for about a minute and a half.
Kicked In The Teeth is the track that closes the album: after an initial Blues outburst by Bon Scott's voice, the song assumes its usual fast but incisive tone with the guitars of the Young brothers always in the spotlight.
In short, this album, which at the time did not achieve any significant commercial success, represents, despite the (inexplicable) criticisms received at the time, not only another fixed point for our Young brothers but above all an authentic springboard towards greater critical and sales successes that will soon be achieved with the band's two masterpieces, namely Highway To Hell and, in particular, Back in Black.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples 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 alfo
Powerage is a splendid album that finds AC/DC in great shape and definitely in their most creative moment.
There are no valid reasons to put an album that rightfully belongs among AC/DC’s best works on the back burner.
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."
