AC/DC
Powerage

THE REVIEW

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.