AC/DC-Powerage Song by Song Thread

what's amazing is how rare is was played live with Bon.
It's so completely outstanding, and was forgotten mostly then.
The dynamics on this are amazing, I especially love the part after the lead at 3:22 here:


(was this posted yet as for discussion? ha ha ha! hope it's okay Musicman1998. Seems to have taken on a life of its own...)

 

A rare live version with Bon.



"I got holes in my shoes
and I'm way overdue"
Amen, Bon.

Edit: yes I think the pitch is a little fast, but it still sounds good. I love hearing Bon singing this live.
I'd love to hear ANY and ALL outtake versions of this!

 

Those are good lyrics! If only KISS had written something so good! I might have paid attention

Yeah, probably not ....

 

Down Payment Blues has my favorite set of AC/DC lyrics ever. I could relate to it as a young man. "50 cent millionaire" "Doing nothing means a lot to me".

 

"Down Payment Blues" is my favourite track on the album as well, and yeah, you can't help but to crank it up, be it in the car or at home.

Yep, some great lines in this song. Bon Scott was a great lyricist, "street poetry" I believe he called it. I think it's safe to say that lyrically the band lost something when Bon died. Yeah, most of Brian Johnson's lyrics seemed to revolve around either fighting or f--king as well but Brian was nowhere as near a subtle with his words as Bon was. Double digit IQ as opposed to triple digit, and Brian Johnson isn't really a stupid guy either. He just dumbed down the words a bit too much IMO.

 

One thing that struck me recently was that Bon kind of reminds me of Hank Sr, the voice of the common man. Hard living, seen it all, done it all, loved the lives of a hundred men. He spoke plainly but did it artfully, not an easy thing to do.

 

Everything that's great about AC/DC with Bon Scott is there at it's best on Down Payment Blues. All band members are on top form here. It's musically dynamic and powerful so it's tough but also slow. It's possibly Bon Scott's best vocal and lyrics. There's a lot of great lines here. "Can't even feed my cat, on social security".

Along with Let There Be Rock this is probably my favourite AC/DC song. There's nothing else like it. Another definite 10/10.

 

Funny how all these different pressings have different tracklists and sequences. Looks like my German pressing is not from '78 after all, must be from the 80s, but I like it 'cause it has both Damnation and Cold Hearted Man. It starts with Damnation, otherwise the sequence is like on the one Slick Willie has.

Down Payment Blues. Basically a variation of the 12 bar blues, with a very simple melody and a very simple riff. It works. Very in your face and to the point. Yeah, the lyrics are good and fit the mood perfectly.

The Hank Williams comparison is interesting. I'm a big fan of Hank's. I'll have to think about that.

 

The Rolling Stone album guide gives Powerage 2.5 out of 5. Wankers!

 

The same vinyl pressing I have. These were in print and pressed in Germany for Europe throughout most of the 80s. For me it's the definitive Powerage.

 

Rolling Stone is clueless and has no credibility to me.

 

Down Payment Blues: another winner on the most winningest album ever. When this came out, I was living on $5 a day, and $1.60 of that was spent taking the bus to my job at a record store. So if I had a spare 50 cents, I did feel like a millionaire. Lyrics are amazing.

9.7/10

 

"Got myself a Cadillac, but I can't afford the gasoline"

 

I'm livin in a nightmare, she's looking like a wet dream.

 

Yeah, I had a look at a list of albums they gave bad reviews too. I loved most of them! I'm glad I've never read it. I never will.

 

I love looking at old music guides and seeing how they felt at the time about stuff. I remember a Rolling Stone guide from the early 70s? had a review of The Bee Gees, before disco, it was so trippy. The take on them was so different from what they became. I enjoy the takes of stuff in the time. Old reviews and stuff, then comparing em to now. And many bands who were it, i never even heard of.

Man the lyrics from Bon are so cool on this record. It's interesting since Malcoms death i've been reading about their process and Bon would just come in after hearing the stuff and do the lyrics in the studio in the moment. Pretty cool. Great songwriter to me. Love his lyrics. Down Payment Blues has such cool lyrics.

As time has gone on AC/DC with young people have gained in respect and popularity. At the show near me 80 percent of the crowd was really young people. I had gone to a Scorpions show around that time and it was all grey hair. AC/DC move em now. The dislike of anything heavy by the press has totally gone away nowadays. Sabbath shows lots of younguns too.

 

Yeah, it's amazing, and Ronnie Van Zant was like that too, never wrote a word down on paper.
And yes, it really is amazing just how the band transcends genres, cultures, age, etc.

 

Gimme A Bullet:

And now Track Three, which I first learned about from that book about the Youngs that came out a while back when the author talked about how this song helped him get through a really bad divorce. As I said, this was one of the last Bon-era albums I got, so that started to pique my interest.
It starts with a stomping riff which Malcolm accents at :07, with Bon coming at :31, and he really paints this woman that was such a trip, and then the relationship really went south, and he's in total despair. Nothing, no drugs, no alcohol, no sympathy, it ain't workin' for ol Bon. Musically, there isn't quite as much to talk about here, but the band is tight as always, and even Cliff(?) gets a nice little lick in towards the end.
This is a solid album track that adds to the album really well. I love it.

 

Another sold track that I like quite a bit. This was played live a few times back in 1978.

 

DOWN PAYMENT BLUES

Rock N' Roll Damnation is one of the hardest songs to follow up, but DPB does it perfectly. From the master crafted rhythm section to the head banging Angus riff to the trademark Bon Scott-ing of the song, it's over six minutes of ACDC perfection. And a great one to blast in the car

 

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 doing to me

Stonking good riff. Remember it being used in a Top Gear sequence once.

I'll say this would probably be my weakest link. Reminds me a bit of Dog Eat Dog from the previous album.

.....but there aren't any weak links on here, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!

 

For such a young man, you sure come up with some very astute observations now and then. Kudos on your insightful remarks!

 

Gimme A Bullet works well as the opener on the UK original track list. It's a good solid track that sets up the better things to come well. I like it, it's just good AC/DC. Sometimes that's all that's needed. 8/10

 

Ahh shucks

 

Another brilliant tune, sort of in the same melancholy vein as DPB. Music and lyrics just fits perfectly, the sort of perfection and honesty that sadly was lost from 1980 and onwards...