AC/DC-Powerage Song by Song Thread

In honor of Malcolm Young, I am now going through with an AC/DC song by song, this time for 1978's Powerage, the last of the Bon era to be produced by Harry Vanda and George Young(who has also passed recently) and the first to feature Cliff Williams on bass. I hope to give a great thread in honor of the Youngs.

Before we start, here are some Ground Rules:
1 - Please limit your comments to the song at hand, or songs that have already been discussed. You can let us know what your favorite song on the album is when we get to it.
2 - Please support your stated opinions, simply because it leads much more fruitful discussion than "This rocks" or "This sucks".

But tell me what how you Discovered this record, initial impressions, etc.

 

I thought maybe you would do a weakest link for this lp.

 

I'll contribute what I can.

A great AC/DC album, imo.

Was working at Wherehouse Records & Tapes in Mission Valley in the late 70's - this was actually in rotation.

The store manager and I disliked the disco we were obligated to play in store, so this got played whenever we were overdosing on disco.

When I left, the store manager gave me the store promo copy - still have it.

 

Oh. Well I hope to still get your thoughts on this album.

 

My favourite AC/DC album also containing my favourite AC/DC song What's Next To The Moon.

I dread to think how many times I've played this album.

Great production, great songs, great Rock N Roll band...what else is there to say....its not for analysing!!!

Mal and Bon might be gone but at least we still have the albums to go back to.....

 

How I Discovered This Album:
I knew of AC/DC from radio, movies, etc. Around 2013 or 2014, I really got into them, and got every Bon album bit by bit. This one I knew of from Keith Richards and Eddie Van Halen both mentioning it, and I got for Christmas. I will say, it was a grower, I mean, it was good, but playing it more frequently made me love it more and more.

 

This was the first album I broke out to toast Malcolm. Riff Raff will always be my favorite AC/DC song.

 

My favorite Acca Dacca record

 

This is more or less what I was going to say. Many of the songs are not the kind to hit you in the head right away. Some of them still have some growing on me to do. But then that's often a sign of a great album. I've always liked the band but this LP I only discovered a couple of years ago. I stumbled upon it in a second hand store, it's the 1978 German pressing. I just played it today, along with Dirty Deeds.

 

I love this record. It’s a real shame they haven’t released a deluxe edition of it with all the different mixes and songs.

 

My favorite album by AC/DC.
It has special significance for me.
I saw ac/dc open for Aerosmith on the Draw The Line Tour 1978.
We had never heard of ac/dc and had no idea who they were, we were there to see Aerosmith.
Bon Scott and the boys exploded onto the stage that night and left that crowed stunned.
ac/dc's energy and hunger was so amazing to witness, they were young men with ambitions to conquer the world and they did.
I've rarely seen a band rock that hard, and whip an audience into a fist pumping fury like they did that night, it was magic.
I was with a car full of teenage buddies after the show and all we could talk about was ac/dc and that insanely great guitar player Angus.

I went to budget records & tapes the next day and bought the newly released Powerage and could not believe how great of an album it was.
I felt like we had discovered another all time great heavy hard rock band (how right we were.)
I feel incredibly privileged that I was there to witness ac/dc breaking big in the USA on that tour and I will never forget the energy and excitement of that time and place.

I think the album is at or near the top for songwriting and production.
Some of the best lyrics Bon Scott ever wrote are on this album and Malcom & Angus had riffs galore to display here.

 

I bought this one along with Let There Be Rock after getting into the band from listening to Highway To Hell. For me, the way I look at this album and LTBR is they’re kind of companion pieces. I’m don’t really favor one over the other, but material wise, Powerage might be a bit better. Several of Mark Kozelek’s covers on What’s Next to the Moon come from this one; the title track of that album is one, obviously. I’ll post some of his versions when we come to them (Warning: they’re nothing like the originals whatsoever).

 

This is probably my favorite AC-DC record.

 

Rock and Roll Damnation:

We begin the album with probably it's most popular song, the last song recorded during these sessions when the label pushed them to record it so they could have a single.
The track kicks off with a meaty guitar attack, with Cliff and Phil giving a rock solid support with the song kicking off at :14 with some handclaps to support the rhythm and as I said in the Cars S/T, I often hate handclaps, but they aren't intrusive here, they compliment Phil, who is laying a fantastic groove down here. I love the comment that he is the band's Al Jackson Jr, because he really is. And of course, the Youngs are doing some really beautiful interplay, which really stands out when you listen to it on headphones, hearing the way these two interact with each other, and you'll see how this band, despite it's simplicity, really manages to stand out, and of course Bon Scott is awesome as always.
This is a great catchy song and a great way to kick off the album, love it!!!!

 

Live in 1978:

 

In 2003:

 

Nice way to start the album off on good note. Probably the most commercial song on the album. Rock 'N' Roll Damnation was actually left off some early versions of the album and Cold Hearted Man was included instead.

 

Which we will cover once the album is through

 

Rock 'n' Roll Damnation, Down Payment Blues, Riff Raff, and Sin City are my favorites. Riff Raff is done better on the live album though.

 

During the 1977-78 school year, I was in 7th grade. My family had moved (again), and this was the one and only year I attended a private school. The following summer, we would move again, and thankfully, that would be the last move until I finished high school. Anyway, AC/DC were probably starting to become fairly well known among the older, hard rock, crowd, but I (at 12) certainly was not aware of them. A friend of mine in school that year was really into hard rock, and we used to talk KISS occasionally, and other bands as well. I remember him raving about this band AC/DC; they must have become his favorite band around that time. Finally, one day I heard him play cuts from Let There Be Rock and High Voltage. I can remember immediately responding to the power of what they were doing, but will admit it took me a little while to warm to Bon Scott's voice. I didn't dislike it, but it was just a bit off-putting to my young ears. When Powerage came out, I was already hip to them, but most of the people I knew weren't. I didn't get the album right away, but by the time Highway To Hell came out, I had already owned it and High Voltage for a while. I didn't get Let There Be Rock and Dirty Deeds... until a few years later. I do remember the Australian import versions of AC/DC's albums being available at certain record stores (remember those, with the loose-fitting shrink wrap?). Dirty Deeds was sorta mythological at that point because it wasn't available yet in the U.S. Anyway, those were fun times. I remember Highway To Hell positively blowing up during my freshman year of high school, but by then I had already been a fan for a couple of years. It definitely saddens me that I never got a chance to see them live with Bon.

Thanks for starting this thread! I haven't listened to this album for a long time, and am looking forward to it. Definitely a fitting gesture given the passing of Malcolm yesterday.

 

The perfect opening statement for a rock and roll album. Straight down to business. Shame the ten track Powerage version fades out. It is still the greatest rock and roll album ever made for me.

 

Rock 'n Roll Damnation

A good square kick in the balls, this one is. Great opener.

When I was a kid, for the life of me, I couldn't understand why this song wasn't more celebrated. It's got all the ingredients. Cool intro, laying into a lock down riff and groove, nasty verse Bon spits out and a great chorus that culminations in the classic "take chance while you still got the choice" line.

And best of all, Bon sings the living **** out of it, particularly the last lines of the last two verses - the "bite of what you got" and the "practice what you preach" lines.

Also, a cool outro with ad libbed (maybe not literally ab libbed but it certainly comes across that way) toss off lines call and response to the "damnation" refrain - not something the guys did a lot.

One of my favorite AC/DC songs. Killer.

 

In the words of Malcolm " That was a good one...."