I like when people just flat out say they don’t like BIB or that albums before it are better. I happen to think Powerage is better than both HTH and BIB. It’s silly to try and have to dissect credit for BIB simply because it was such a massive success. Just look at the Grammys tonight! Why even acknowledge that crapola?
What is "filler"? In one thread, someone defined it as: 1. The track is undistincitve. (i.e. It resembles many of the other tracks on the album.) 2. Most fans either don't like the track or, at best, are indifferent to it. 3. The artist never plays the track live or even acknowledges its existence. I don't much care for the side closers, so let's call them filler, for the sake of argument. ... But which of the other 8 songs are filler? And how much exactly is "plenty"? 40%? That would be 4 songs. I'm hard-pressed to call any of the other 8 filler.
I'm reading this thread from time to time, not really knowing much about what happened after February 1980. Few observations : AC/DC peaked in 1980 with Back in Black (this is only an opinion of course). It's strange that Brian (which is a great singer and was my introduction to AC/DC in '88) was never able to write anything as good after that. Anyway, scanning my iTunes library tonight, I saw Bonfire, which is a tribute to Bon of course, but the 4th CD's is... Back in Black. Really? Isn't it a bit strange? Ok, maybe it's just because everything on Back in Black was about Bon, but you know... I really don't know what happened after February 1980, I would just hope that AC/DC would be open to talk about it nearly 40 years after the facts. Maybe there is nothing to say... or maybe there'a a whole new story to be tell. One way or another, it won't change the way I'm thinking about the band, but I'd like to know if Bon Scott played a role on Back in Black.
For my money, Brian wrote some better lyrics here and there on subsequent albums but the whole package: lyrics, hooks, riffs, tunes, band interplay wasn’t as supernaturally there and locked into one package as it all was on Back In Black. Albums after were plagued by drummer changes, production snfus, the 80’s, and the simple problem of having to follow up the greatest album ever made, but Brian had some great lyrics post BIB.
@erikdavid5000 Do you think Mutt Lange had a hand in them? He's a songwriter too who contributed to many of his produced artists lyrics. Seeing as how AC/DC literally just lost their lyricist and were crunched for time, it kinda makes me wonder if Mutt wasn't somewhat involved.
I think the rest of the world rates Back In Black higher than Australians do tbh I guess it was the international commercial breakthrough so it makes sense.
I have no idea but I’m sure he had a hand in editing the lyrics, which is certainly an important factor in the finished product. Brian tells a story of kinda vamping words and phrases to Hell’s Bells in the studio while Mutt wrote the stuff down as he was singing it. So yeah, he had a hand. Though, I think we’re tending to confuse commercial/critical success with great lyrics and are mybe focusing too much on them. It’s an album full of dirty rock n roll come-ones and ***** puns. The success of the album is in no way down to the lyrics
True but also just a 6 or 7 year head start on the band in general I assume and it's not as ingrained in the aussie garden variety AC/DC fan psyche, it's not a starting point for us whether you were there or not.. Bon albums dominate here
In hindsight yes. At the time Powerage (my personal fav) came out AC/DC was something of a money pit and the record company wanted "hits". AC/DC just couldn't make the jump to big headliner. They were an opening act for almost everyone in the mid to late 70's. That led to Vanda and older bro' Young (even Mal and Ang knew they needed to try something new) being replaced by Eddie Kramer (the band hated him) and then "Mutt" Lange. Lange deserves to share in AC/DC's success with the one-two punch of Highway to Hell and Back in Black. I'm almost certain you don't have a Back in Black without Mutt. It's one of the best sounding and produced hard rock albums of all time. The Bob Ludwig cut vinyl and Barry Diament CD are both exquisite too.
Totally agree about Lange. His trio of AC/DC are the best sounding albums they ever made. My two personal faves are Powerage and Flick Of The Switch though still ;p
I've got no bone in any of these arguements. What I can say is this. My son is in a AC/DC tribute band. These guys put it out there when they play. What I see is that no matter where they play. People love AC/DC. To be honest I am partial to pre BIB. AC/DC will endure from my perspective. I see that people love them in all eras.
I'm trying to find the filler on BIB, and I'm having a hard time finding any. I think "Have A Drink On Me" and "Let Me Put My Love Into You" may be the two "weakest" tracks, but they aren't anything that would make a rock fan reach for the "skip" button. I'm sitting here listening to my Barry Diament-mastered version [Atlantic 16018-2] that I scrounged off of eBay.
This really freaks me out btw. Never in a million years as a kid getting into AC/DC in the 1970's along with a hundred or so other bands did I think they would EVER become "yuge" like they are. Absolutely blows my mind. At the time I knew more people that hated them than liked them, let alone loved 'em (like I did). Somehow, somewhere along the way they became accepted/acceptable/acknowledged/almost worshiped. As much as I personally dig them I don't know how it came to pass....
Bon died Feb 19 and Back in Black came out in July, plenty of time..... 2 months to morn, and still more than enough to time to write, particularly knowing some of it was already written. The part that's interesting, is that they also hired a singer in that period..Take that in and it's a lot to do in 5-6 months..
Not at all, if you know how they recorded all their previous albums. AC/DC doesn't waste time in the studio. The "Mutt" Lange albums were the longest. Plus, their JOB was being a rock band, and a band that was used to the record album-tour-record album tour cycle for YEARS. It's actually a tad tiring repeating this stuff, and I'm not sure why I keep coming back to this thread. Ahh, I remember now. AC/DC ROCKS! With Bon and with Brian - one of the greatest flat-out hard rock bands of all time. Love 'em!
Agreed, just meant a lot emotionally in 5-6 months....AC-DC could knock off an album in a month while sleeping...
Brian's performance on "Have A Drink On Me" - especially the "idle juvenile, on the street, on the street" coming out of the solo! - lifts it well out of any possible filler pile.
Let There Be Rock and Powerage were cranked out in two months and most of the albums before BIB took 3months at the most. AC/DC don’t waste any time in the studio.
I could be misremembering - but there was an article about Bon's death in a recent issue of Classic Rock Magazine, think it was excerpted from a new book (?) that I hazily think was saying that he DID write a bunch of stuff for the next album (which became Back In Black). I already gave that mag to a friend about a month ago so I can't go and recheck it (yet), although I did ask him to give it back so I could re-read it...
Yes, it’s the latest Jesse Fink book. An author who never tires of flaunting his theory based upon zero facts or evidence at all. Old news amongst fans
