I realized in another thread that I really didn't know AC/DC at all, so I listened to the entire album and have now decided to return to my previous state of blissful ignorance. Really don't know what the fuss is about--they sound like a decent bar band, nothing to get excited over.
Back in Black
- Thread starter spintheblackcircle
- Start date
I’m not a fan of their type of music or the singers voice but I have to admit that I occasionally crank some of these songs up loud when they come on the car radio. Back in Black is just a great rock song imo. There’s an energy to the whole album that just spills out when you listen to it. Also, from clips I’ve seen they look like a great live band. Like I said it’s not what I’d listen to very often but every once in a while it works for me.
Sometimes, the problem isn't with the album, but with personal taste
. Not everyone appreciates the classics, and that's OK.
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WeThreeKings
Habs cup - its in the BAG
I can't stand the vocals (didn't even know they had two vocalists since they were both equally irritating) and the lyrics are pretty underwhelming.
I can understand the appeal from a guitar perspective, but let's be honest, the majority of their material sounds pretty much the same. The drumming is so simple and is the same pattern you learn in your first drum lesson, to the point they could have just had a drum machine for their entire discography and you wouldn't lose much in the expression or differences.
Cheap shot.Kind of ironic considering that's how many feel about your posts.
That's their distinct style. Almost all other hard rock groups went for complexity in beat, guitar work and musical arrangement, but AC/DC deliberately kept things simple and catchy. I imagine that they could've been more complex but deliberately chose not to. It's almost anti-hard rock. I think that that's a reason why I wasn't too enamored with them when I was growing up. I gravitated to the more complex, "harder" hard rock. I only really started to appreciate them as an adult. To use an analogy, their songs are as simple and similar as most hamburgers, so it's fair to not be excited by them if you prefer fancier food or more variety, but they're great if you just love burgers and all always down for one.
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Shareefruck
Registered User
It's really frustrating that whenever people get really into something and love it, if they hear a contrary opinion about it that they disagree with, they automatically get really defensive and insulted, and feel the need to tear down the other person.Kind of ironic considering that's how many feel about your posts.
Personally, I want threads to be an honest representation of what people think about the subject, even if it's something I'm passionate about and there are dissenting voices. There's really no need to be so petty and childish about it. I'm not saying it to attack you or anything.
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ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
Absolute classic album. Every song's good. Not an ounce of filler anywhere.
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet is AC/DC's massive influence on musicians...because it's so simple it's the discography of anyone learning to play rock and roll. It's the fundamentals hammered home; power chords, 12 bar blues, droning bass line, 4/4 over and over. Sure, you grow beyond it pretty quickly if you practice, but it's where everyone starts. It's how you get the basics down. Big hooks and simple beats that anyone can bob their heads to...it's not like that hasn't been a winning formula. Throw in a sense of humour, and they're one of the all-time great rock and roll bands.
If you expect sophistication or profundity, you're in the wrong place.
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet is AC/DC's massive influence on musicians...because it's so simple it's the discography of anyone learning to play rock and roll. It's the fundamentals hammered home; power chords, 12 bar blues, droning bass line, 4/4 over and over. Sure, you grow beyond it pretty quickly if you practice, but it's where everyone starts. It's how you get the basics down. Big hooks and simple beats that anyone can bob their heads to...it's not like that hasn't been a winning formula. Throw in a sense of humour, and they're one of the all-time great rock and roll bands.
If you expect sophistication or profundity, you're in the wrong place.
ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
Brian Johnson is a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, part 1/2 (Series 13, Episode 6)
Also, AC/DC did venture into genuine heavy metal in the 80's. Behold the heaviest ever AC/DC song (on a very underrated album):
The three albums after Back in Black are not usually played very much on the classic rock stations, and I think they're really missing out. Sure, you get For Those About to Rock every once in a while, but that's about it. Nothing off Flick of the Switch, nothing off Fly on the Wall, nothing off Blow up your Video...it's like that whole decade never existed. And it's a shame because there's some classic stuff in there. Sure it's sophomoric lyrically, sure it's simple, but that's the band. And also, For Those About to Rock is a very, very underrated evil album. Listen to Evil Walks and tell me that guitar riff intro doesn't send shivers down your spine. C.O.D., Spellbound...a very overlooked followup to a landmark album.
Also, AC/DC did venture into genuine heavy metal in the 80's. Behold the heaviest ever AC/DC song (on a very underrated album):
The three albums after Back in Black are not usually played very much on the classic rock stations, and I think they're really missing out. Sure, you get For Those About to Rock every once in a while, but that's about it. Nothing off Flick of the Switch, nothing off Fly on the Wall, nothing off Blow up your Video...it's like that whole decade never existed. And it's a shame because there's some classic stuff in there. Sure it's sophomoric lyrically, sure it's simple, but that's the band. And also, For Those About to Rock is a very, very underrated evil album. Listen to Evil Walks and tell me that guitar riff intro doesn't send shivers down your spine. C.O.D., Spellbound...a very overlooked followup to a landmark album.
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ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
Okay, I just realized what AC/DC is in metal. It's the Ford Model T. It's the Volkswagen Beetle. You can drive a GT-R or Ferrari and look down at the guy in the Bug beside you at the traffic light...but without that your car would've never existed. It's the source that everything later is built on. It's the simple, classic combination of form and function that everything can develop further from...but without which nothing happens later. Where would the sandwich be if someone hadn't invented the simple PBJ or BLT? Where would Las Vegas be if Bugsy Seigel hadn't sunk millions of mob dollars into the Flamingo? It's easy to look back at the founders and say it's easy, it's trite, it's stale...but it's the foundation for everything after.
Without blues, there is no rock.
Without Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, there is no rock guitar.
Without Black Sabbath, there is no heavy metal.
Without AC/DC, there is no thousand bands and trends that came after.
Without blues, there is no rock.
Without Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, there is no rock guitar.
Without Black Sabbath, there is no heavy metal.
Without AC/DC, there is no thousand bands and trends that came after.
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Hockey Outsider
Registered User
- Jan 16, 2005
- 9,166
- 14,499
Good observation and analogy. That being said, it would have been interesting to see them try faster/harder songs occasionally. One of my favourites is "Beating Around the Bush" from "Highway to Hell". I don't think they had another song quite like that.
Shareefruck
Registered User
I think the way I would look at it is:
* Soulless commercial pop music is like hard-candy that's bad for you and should be avoided
* Nickelback is like gross gas-station food that's bad for you and should be avoided
* AC/DC is like a fast-food/McDonalds burger that probably isn't worth admiring all that much, but.... I mean, I get it-- it does the obvious things, it easily clicks at a young age, there can be a reasonable compulsion for it, and for some people, it gets the job done
* Early Led Zeppelin (or, I don't know, something like CCR maybe?) is an actually great and well made burger that nobody should think outright poorly of and is worth admiring-- once someone develops a taste for it, I don't see why there would ever be a need to go back to a McDonald's burger, personally (especially with price not being an issue).
* The Stooges is when someone understands that an unpretentious sloppily made burger can be just as effective (if not more-so) if done right, and is worth admiring.
* ... and then obviously there are better foods/artists available than even the best of that. I'm the furthest thing from a food connoisseur so I won't even bother trying to tackle that, but I imagine that even the best burgers are pretty low on the totem pole of the kinds of delicacies that are out there and however good food can get.
* Soulless commercial pop music is like hard-candy that's bad for you and should be avoided
* Nickelback is like gross gas-station food that's bad for you and should be avoided
* AC/DC is like a fast-food/McDonalds burger that probably isn't worth admiring all that much, but.... I mean, I get it-- it does the obvious things, it easily clicks at a young age, there can be a reasonable compulsion for it, and for some people, it gets the job done
* Early Led Zeppelin (or, I don't know, something like CCR maybe?) is an actually great and well made burger that nobody should think outright poorly of and is worth admiring-- once someone develops a taste for it, I don't see why there would ever be a need to go back to a McDonald's burger, personally (especially with price not being an issue).
* The Stooges is when someone understands that an unpretentious sloppily made burger can be just as effective (if not more-so) if done right, and is worth admiring.
* ... and then obviously there are better foods/artists available than even the best of that. I'm the furthest thing from a food connoisseur so I won't even bother trying to tackle that, but I imagine that even the best burgers are pretty low on the totem pole of the kinds of delicacies that are out there and however good food can get.
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They are playing this album in full on the radio right now. Currently on “You shook me all night long.”
Rock and roll!
Rock and roll!
angusyoung
Back in the day, I was always horny!
angusyoung
Back in the day, I was always horny!
Shareefruck
Registered User
ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
That's actually my least favourite song on that album. Overplayed and trite. Give me Hell's Bells or Have a Drink on Me any day over the radio staples.
Hells bells is killer. I dunno, everytime I hear shook me all night long I really get into it. Such a great tune.
It just occurred to me for the first time that the song Back in Black and, thus, the album as a whole, was a tribute to their late lead singer. They were "back" with a new album "in black" because they were in mourning.
Mind blown.
Mind blown.
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Not back in black, but.....
MUST be played at the maximum volume your stereo will allow.
MUST be played at the maximum volume your stereo will allow.
