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Rating: The 1977 for AC/DC was their most intense year until then: after a fundamental and rather triumphant first UK tour and a much less triumphant return to their homeland ('76), in the year of the definitive punk explosion they first lost bassist Mark Evans, who was fired in February due to personal disagreements with Angus; then came a return to Europe, where they opened for Black Sabbath until a misunderstanding between Malcolm and Geezer Butler led to the cancellation of the last part of the Swedish dates. Finally, it was time for their first overseas trip, to the States, where they were heavily opposed by the usual "cultured" press (not to name names, Rolling Stone) and looked upon with some suspicion by Atlantic, founded by the Ertegun brothers, and the same executives who in the blessed year of '79 would award them their first gold records.
After resolving the situation and finding the right tour managers, they landed in the USA, where they started to lay the foundations for the subsequent conquest of the globe. Once again triumphant in their tour, where they also fulfilled the dream of opening for Santana and especially for their idol Johnny Winter, they returned to the old continent to continue touring, but not before ending with some fantastic dates alongside their great admirers Kiss (who had discovered them in the previous weeks) under the ecstatic eyes, among others, of a young Guy Picciotto.
And then came the time to record the new album, which had the heavy task of following up the legendary "Let There Be Rock": "Powerage".
The recordings at the familiar Albert Studios in Sydney began at the end of the year, but with some complications: new bassist Cliff Williams, in his first studio trial, had passport issues that prevented him from joining the band in Australia, which slowed down the album's creation process and led to the temporary return of Big Brother George on bass. Bon also had problems, this time with the tax authorities, but for him, the absence of the official bassist was a paradoxical advantage: he could focus on the lyrics with more calm; moreover, all these problems developed a camaraderie and a desire for escape never before seen in the studio.
Once the problems were solved, they dived back into the tracks that were already the product of sessions dating back to the previous July and partially to the sessions of the predecessor album; the producers George and Harry Vanda devised psychological methods to create the right atmosphere, such as gossiping as much as possible about this or that person who was getting on the guys' nerves, and then resuming where they left off with those feelings to deliver their best. The sessions started at 8 PM and ended in the early morning; the band knew how to create the right atmosphere of brotherhood, as mentioned before, and the album developed over roughly 8 weeks of recording to be the most powerful and aggressive possible, along the lines of "Let There Be Rock," defying the label that pushed for work closer to radio rock sounds that were beginning to emerge in America.
The legendary "Riff Raff" (coming precisely from the previous sessions) was the closest song to that goal, an epic track that would even open the subsequent live album, certainly the masterpiece of the album. "Rock N' Roll Damnation", the track that opens the work, was instead the first track conceived as a single, yet without being a compromised track: it is another gem of this LP, in true AC/DC style, certainly the most famous; "Sin City", the last of the tracks known to those who don't own the entire album, is another powerful, very powerful piece, perhaps the most powerful of all.
"Gimme A Bullet" picks up the more classic AC/DC style like the first one, and "Down Payment Blues" is another masterpiece: over 6 minutes of powerful hard blues, second in length to few tracks until then and even after. "What's Next To The Moon" is another one that is very hard-hitting, second only to "Sin City" in this regard, "Gone Shootin'" is an honest blues ballad that doesn't particularly leave a mark despite being more than good. "Up To My Neck In You" is as aggressive as "Riff Raff", and "Kicked In The Teeth" follows in this style and at times recalls the old "Rosie".
Thus closes this fifth album from the five Australians, certainly one of their most underrated; I too initially underestimated it, only to be convinced at the second listen; it certainly suffers from being wedged between the weighty predecessor and even weightier successors, even the manager Michael Browning was partially disappointed at the time, while Malcolm also considers it underrated.
What can be added is that "Powerage" turns out to be, on one hand, less aggressive than "Let There Be Rock", on the other less polished and refined than "Highway"; a transition album but not a halfway point: a unique album in weight and power, if not the most aggressive, certainly the most compact and powerful, this being its main characteristic; only one single and only one track designed as a single. It was nonetheless a great step for AC/DC toward worldwide popularity, toward the great climb.
An album not as epochal as the ones previously mentioned but certainly not inferior to others in their unparalleled discography. Also noteworthy is "Cold Hearted Man": a great track excluded from the worldwide edition but recently restored in the "Backtracks" box set.
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 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 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.
