AC/DC
Rock Or Bust

Reviewing your favorite band is never easy because you might be too biased, but I'll try to be as impartial as possible. At first, I wanted to give 3/3.5 stars, but then listen after listen, my opinion changed as you can see. The album doesn’t present anything new, nothing groundbreaking, it sounds like any other album by the band, and deep down we fans, that’s exactly what we want. We don’t want novelty, we don’t want a different sound, we always want that dirty Hard Rock, with a pinch of blues that made us fall in love with the band. "Rock Or Bust" is a historic album, as for the first time Malcolm Young doesn’t appear. The leader and founder of the band alongside his brother Angus, unfortunately, as we all know, suffers from dementia. It is said he will never be able to play the guitar again. At this point, I would like to sincerely wish Malcolm a speedy recovery, hoping that one day he will overcome the illness. Returning to the album, the duration immediately stands out, as at 34 minutes and 53 seconds, it is the band's shortest record. There are no tracks that make you shout masterpiece like "Highway to Hell," "Back in Black," or "Whole Lotta Rosie," but there are 11 honest tracks that sound great, making "Rock Or Bust" one of the best releases of 2014.

The title track and "Play Ball" (second and first single released) start the party and immediately make you want to move. Catchy and overwhelming riffs, easily catchy choruses, especially the one from "Play Ball," with that "Play play Ball" that gets stuck in your head in a captivating way. "Miss Adventure" is one of the surprises of the album, very cheerful. It stands out a lot from the band’s standard style and makes it one of the most interesting tracks. Beautiful choruses with that "Aaah Aaah" that take us back in time to "Thunderstruck," even though here they are more provocative. "Hard Times" is the classic blues present in every album by the band, very simple but very beautiful thanks to Angus's extraordinary performance. "Baptism by Fire" is the best track of the bunch. It features a beautiful riff, more elaborate and articulated than usual, giving us pure "rock n roll" vibes. Really beautiful, a gem that makes you want to play it again on the stereo as soon as it ends. "Rock the House" is another gem, with that initial riff that reminds us of Led Zeppelin, too bad it only lasts 2:42''. "Emission control" closes the album in more than a dignified manner. More articulate riff like in "Baptism By Fire" and with a singable chorus.

Great performance by Brian, who sings impeccably. He tries not to overdo it, few "screams," a more accurate voice that accompanies each track admirably. Steve Young defends himself well. Angus is as immense as always, although some solos could have been structured differently. As mentioned, the album is a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect such work without that riff generator that is M.Young, but I had to change my mind. Now I already know that some will write the usual things like: "The usual warmed-up soup," "They copy themselves," "They always make the same song," etc... Well, to those people I dedicate a thought taking inspiration from the great Lemmy, who once said: "If you don't like Rock, it's not a matter of taste, the problem is only yours!", well I change a few words and tell them "If you don't like AC/DC it's not a matter of taste, the problem is only yours!".