The official story was that Brian was going through a divorce so the boys took on the lyric writing. Money does talk however and Brian has certainly contributed lyrically since and not been credited.
They knocked it out of the park with Thunderstruck to be fair, but the likes of Rock the blues Away from the last album are hard to defend.
I like Thunderstruck more now than ever. We were listening to it last night on the big system at substantial SPL's, all I can say is WOW.
I was excited after The Razor's Edge came out and the idea of Rubin producing the next one. Ballbreaker was a bit of a let down. It started off strong and ended pretty strong but some of it was just middling. I like Hard As A Rock, Cover You In Oil, The Furor, Hail Ceasar and the title track - so not bad I reckon. Maybe could've used a little more punch to elevate it all?
I’m no wordsmith but the lyrics let it down. Sounds a bit like Anything Goes from the previous album too.
The Furor This song has been getting some good feedback, so I have been interested to hear it. Sure enough it starts of with a really nice variation on a blues riff, and moves into a nice dual guitar arrangement. It has a sort of dark feel, and in the chorus it has an almost folk type arrangement. Lyrically ... I have no real idea what the hoo haa they are going on about, but that's cool, it's Acdc, I rarely pay too much attention to the lyrics. The feel of the song is very cool, and we get all sorts of fresh sounding Acdc music. For me it is nice to hear the doing something a bit different, and for me, yea, this works really well.
Boogie Man I think I had this on a live dvd .... No Bull? .... This is one of Acdc's dirty blues/rock tracks and it works very well. As has been pointed out, a few times, it may be a little dry, but I don't think that effects this song too much. We have a nice groove, and that sleazy Acdc vibe that was always a calling card. This works pretty well.
That's for sure. I love post Bon era ACDC but there is not a lot of lyrics that mean anything to me save for those on Back In Black and a few others.
Hey, I love both era’s but Bon is pretty much universally loved by fans and I don’t think AC/DCs fan base is divided like say Van Halens?
Some nice basic boogie in this one. Great to hear Angus get some solo space on a slowish groove just like the old days. Otherwise the boys were definitely embracing a bit of diversity on the last few albums You occasionally hear snatches of middle eights and choruses that catch you by surprise and make you think 'Pop music' I miss some of the old 'crunch' of the guitars and Malcolm and Angus sound like they're 'weaving' a bit more. Some more good stuff coming up on this album before we get to the next one which is a pearler of an AcDc album imo.
The Honey Roll We open with another blues derived riff, it kind of makes me think of John Lee Hooker. This drops into a nice groove. To a large degree the groove is what is selling this song to me. I really don't understand the Rudd factor, but it seems the band rises in groove factor, even down to the writing of the guitar parts when he is around. Having followed the album in the way these kind of threads do, it becomes more apparent to me how real the groove factor is, and the thing is, for what is essentially a boogie band, groove is everything. Anyway, we get a solid Angus lead break. We get some nice change ups, and this ends up being a pretty cool track. It feels like Angus and Malcolm have a more natural connection to Rudd too, because they are grooving better, and the whole feel of the band just puts this over the top of the last few albums with mercenary drummers.
Burning Alive We open with a very Bon era feel, and again that feel is really very good. The little riff is simple, but in this context it works really well. Again this just rises to the occasion via the groove. This is a cool chord and riff arrangement, and I am enjoying this album much more than I expected to.
Burning Alive is a good song. Strong riffs, excellent delivery from Brian, varied dynamics despite the slightly muting production. Would have liked to have heard it live.