…I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back
I’m really, really excited. It is partly because Wales have just beaten South Africa at rugby* but mostly I’m excited at the fact AC/DC’s Rock Or Bust is released on Monday and I’m hoping against hope Amazon** deliver it tomorrow instead. I’m not daft I know this album is not going to change my life, that it will be full of songs with lyrics so predictable that I’ll be able to sing along the first time I hear them and I’d be surprised if it has more than 2 really good tracks on it. That’s what I know, not what I feel.
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
AC/DC are too much a part of me to deal with in a rational manner, we have too much history – too many air guitar sessions in various mirrors, too many great gigs, too many T-shirts, posters and badges decorating my life. My first ever band T-shirt? AC/DC; first band I ever paid to go see? AC/DC; first adolescent fumbles (soundtrack to)? AC/DC^; only band I’ve paid to go see three nights in a row? AC/DC. It’s funny all the mainstream press which have, for most of my life, reviled them are now fawning all over them and the travails of Phil Rudd and Malcolm’s illness has made them big news.
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You’ve been …
So I thought I’d pick a single of theirs, slavishly purchased by me in two different formats of course, that really excites me.
… Thunderstruck!
Funnily enough when I bought this in October 1990, I thought I was through with buying their new stuff Blow Up Your Video having been such a disappointment to me, in fact I actually avoided hearing Thunderstruck for a while. It wasn’t until a friend sat me down and made me listen to it that I realized that what we had here was a bona fide hard rocking act of God. That diddly, diddly, diddly picking thing at the beginning of the track is worth every penny I have ever spent on this band, only one guitarist would ever have built a song around it, with his brother.
The whole track just sounds brilliant, big credit to producer Bruce Fairbairn for that, he captures all the instruments perfectly so you don’t notice all the joins where a ghost Angus is playing the songs main riff AND doing the diddly, diddly in the background simultaneously. It’s also a really good performance from Brian Johnson at a time when his vocals were a bit hit and miss too, he’s better now in fact. I love the bit where it all breaks down into the ‘nerr-nerr-nerr-ner-ner’ chant – sorry if I’m getting a bit too technical for y’all there. It’s still a really strong shot in their, umm, canon; bottled lightning live too.
I was shaking at the knees
Could I come again please
For some mystifying reason ATCO teamed ‘Thunderstruck’ with The Razor’s Edge second best track as a B-side on the 10″ picture disc, ‘Fire Your Guns’. Another really great fast-paced out and out rocker, you can hear the whole band just revelling in their collective firepower – which is just how a bunch of hard rockers should be. This really should have been the second single instead of ‘Money Talks’, which I also like, but still.
Casually exploiting myself in the name of commerce I also bought the 12″ version despite the fact that all it contained apart from the above two tracks were the instrumentals of the Who Made Who album ‘Chase the Ace’ and ‘D.T’. In my defence it did have a great big poster, that I was never going to put on my wall, with a bunch of great images, particularly of Angus. Hey, I’m a fan, what else was I going to do?
Broke all the rules
Played all the fools
Yeah, yeah they, they, they blew our minds
And I was shaking at the knees
I saw them three times on the tour for The Razor’s Edge, supported a bit incongruously by King’s X and ‘Thunderstruck’ was pretty much the highlight of each show.
479 (struck) Down.
PS – Just watched a great documentary on Marshall Amps^^ where Pete Townsend was singing AC/DC’s praises – never heard that before.
*a bit like the rebels blowing up the Deathstar, this is a good thing.
**I know, I’m a hypocrite, I’ll just park my views on their tax issues until they deliver my LP, if that’s okay.
^you know like, umm, you know, with someone else! Who Made Who, since you ask so nicely.
^^All hail BBC 4 !!
Amen, brother. Amen.
Razor’s Edge was the tour my brother took me to see back in November of 1990. Great show.
First band I truly obsessed over. I’d collected all their albums on cassette by the time I was 13. While so many bands I listened to at that age I quickly grew out of, I’ve never not loved AC/DC. As I get older I appreciate them more and more. The simplicity, the guitar tones, the tight drumming…it’s all just perfect.
So how’s the new album?
AC/DC are legends! The new album is on my Christmas list.
I pre-ordered it and I’m still {Censored} waiting!! You’ll end up with it before me at this rate. Ever seen them?
Yes once in 1985 on the “Fly on the Wall” tour. They were brilliant. I do write an account of that concert in Rock And Roll Children.
I shall put that on my Christmas list then.
Thanks
Loved this, 1537! And I had to give a little “aww!” at your “^”. So BBC4 is the greatest channel? What makes it so good?
Thank you!
BBC4 is just intelligent TV, loads of great documentaries – music and non-music. I watch almost no TV, but if i do there’s almost always something really interesting and worthwhile on it.
Great read and I’m with on FTOTR. NO filler sir! And man Flick Of The Switch is just a fantastic listen!….
Yes! Come back anytime you want, borrow my car, make yourself at home friend.
Flick … in certain moods can be my face AC/DC – cant beat Rising Power and Bedlam in Belgium!
Yup FOTS is my fav ACDC of all time and man they did not conform to commercialism on that one! They went opposite with it and just did there thing……
That’s a very nice disc, that. Also, although only recently falling in love with some AC/DC albums, I dig this song a lot. I recall this and Big Gun being favourites of mine when I was a tad younger.
A great tune. Always sounded amazing in clubs. Huge sound. Never cared much for the album though.
And all hail BBC4. The best TV channel ever! Got that Marshall doc lined up for viewing on the iPlayer.
The album is meh. I rarely listen to the whole thing. AC/DC = Fairbairne = a big cup of “what the hell?”
I prefer semi-meh, although I haven’t listened to it since I was that high (gestures – to show about 4ft tall).
I have the remaster here, but it appears I never even ripped this one to my PC. Nor Blow Up Your Video.
Don’t get me started on BUYV !! (apart from Heatseeker)
It has a couple good tunes. That’s the Way I Like my Rock and Roll. Ruff Stuff.
I always quite liked the album, certainly better than Fly on the wall.
I was never all that big a fan of AC/DC to honest so my opinion doesn’t carry much weight! With the Brian Jonhson years I tend to like songs here and there rather than the albums.
NOOOO!!!! Don’t tell me you too are part of the international ‘FOTW is shit’ conspiracy?!! It’s not, it changed my entire life beyond all recognition! If it wasn’t for FOTW I wouldn’t be able to duck walk. True story.
Pah!
I enjoy a good solid half of FOTW. I think we’ve discussed this.
It is a great tune with a vast sound.
The Marshall doc is really good, Oliver Dawson features quite a lot on it too.
Just watched it. Very interesting. Some good chat from the interviewees. Some interesting choices of interviewees too! Whoever decided to get Mick Underwood, Nick Simper and Graham Oliver involved is a hero!
It wasn’t a great advert for British dentistry though!
Haha no. *cough* Malcolm Dome *cough*
We wrote a song based on Thunderstruck about our grade 13 English teacher Mr. Smith. We called him Smithers. I don’t know where the lyrics are that we wrote, but I do remember the chorus: You been…SMITHERIZED!
I’d have bought that on a 10″ picture disc!
I’d release it on a 10″ just for you!
Chuck in a poster and tote bag and you’re on.
I’ll have to talk to my people.
Why doesn’t this thing have a proper B-side?
They rarely do. Like ZZ Top they seem to produce just enough tracks to put out and no more. The odd live track maybe, but that’s your lot. No 7 disk expanded editions in 10 years time.
True but I know they recorded one or two for this album because I have them. I don’t like buying singles (even with fancypants tote bags) if all I get is more tracks from Who Made Who!