Listening Post: AC/DC Powerage

They wrote one of the 10 greatest RAWK songs ever. The pretty much invented the fist pumping, devil horned, head banging arena rock sound. The lead guitarist is the star, in his outrageous schoolboy uniform but the real backbone is the Rhythm Guitarist. Without Malcolm there is no AC/DC. Just a lead singer and a cock of the walk screecher.
I have heard about a dozen or so songs, and, like everyone who grew up in the 70s, Back in Black was your graduation present.
But aside from the big tunes, what do I really know about the Aussie boys?
Let's find out.




AC/DC - Powerage - 1978 (buy it)

My ears hurt. It turns out you can't turn your headphones loud enough for Angus Young. This is, what, their fourth album in four years!?!? They just keep sounding fresher and bolder with each release. Either they had a huge cadre of songs in the vault already or Young/Young/Scott were on a tear.
As always I think there's really no flow to the album, it's just one big barroom blisterer after another but, that's okay, I don't think they give much thought to the overall soundscape. They aren't writing concept albums here, they just want you to replace the needle of your turntable after it glows so hot from the searing licks, screaming vocals and barn-door blasting solos.
Special mention has to go to Riff-Raff. Possibly one of the greatest unheralded rock classics ever. It's on par with Queen's "Dead on Time" for me. The late 70s were a great time for this kind of music and it never feels dated.
The staples are there: Rock? Check. Girls? Check. Sex? Check. There's even a song about heroin addiction (Gone Shootin') though it's probably the weakest offering.
They're not reinventing the wheel here, to be sure. And I, for one am getting a little sick of the stupid album covers. This one is particularly bad. I imagine that it caused not a few people to avoid the album. But, it's more than a solid effort. It's the best of their catalogue so far, and after "Let There Be Rock", that's saying something.

Grade A
A Side: Rock and Roll Damnation (an album opener if I've ever heard one)
Blindside: Riff Raff (Do yourself a favor, listen to this and tell me if you don't wish Harmonix would put out an AC/DC version of Rock Band.
Downside: None. There isn't a bad song on the album.

Listening Post: AC/DC Let There Be Rock

They wrote one of the 10 greatest RAWK songs ever. The pretty much invented the fist pumping, devil horned, head banging arena rock sound. The lead guitarist is the star, in his outrageous schoolboy uniform but the real backbone is the Rhythm Guitarist. Without Malcolm there is no AC/DC. Just a lead singer and a cock of the walk screecher.
I have heard about a dozen or so songs, and, like everyone who grew up in the 70s, Back in Black was your graduation present.
But aside from the big tunes, what do I really know about the Aussie boys?
Let's find out.



AC/DC - Let There Be Rock - 1977 (buy it)

Oh, that fucking title. This is what Spinal Tap was after, wasn't it? It's almost hard to crank this one up without thinking about Tap. But, from the first clang, Nigel Tufnel goes away and Malcolm and Angus have their say.
This is different. It's familiar, it sounds like the AC/DC I expect and am more comfortable with. It's a big sound. Wider. Grander. But, it's also slightly less clear. The bass doesn't pound as much as thump. The drums are set way back except for the high hat and when the rest is really needed. This is the Young/Young/Scott show. It's aggressive and breathless. I'm really surprised the album doesn't kick off with the "Let there be Rock" track because THAT'S a showpiece. The first one, the dirty oral sex song (Bon......!) and the socio-political Dog Eat Dog don't even begin to set the table for what is about to come. The truth is, the album could be 40 minutes of that track and I'm not sure I would tire of it. (How have I never heard this song before???)
After that the boys settle in for some classic rock and I just want to get into a convertible with a blonde with big tits and white sunglasses and drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. I don't even mind the repeat of Problem Child that much It replaces the racier "Crabsody in Blue" (a racy tune about crabs v.d. that the label had removed).
On "Overdose" Bon is finally showing some signs of vulnerability. being hooked on a woman's love is not what I would have expected from the guy talking about how big his balls were just an album before. But, then again, maybe he is overdosed on the oral talents of Ruby, the object of affection from the opener "Go Down".
Oh, yeah. THIS is the record that unleashed "Whole Lotta Rosie". You know AC/DC is the only band I know of that has more female cover bands than any other. One of them was "Girls Got Rhythm", who had a smokin' hot asian chick lead guitarist who who smile as she shredded and a clumsy but super cute bassist who would get tangled in her cables.
The other was "Whole Lotta Rosies". I wish I had seen them. Any band that names themselves after this classic scorcher must blow the doors down.

Grade A
A Side: Whole Lotta Rosie
Blindside: Let There Be Rock (Yeah, I'm probably the only one who doesn't know it, but does it get ANY airplay after 1978?)
Downside: Problem Child (only because it's a repeat place holder)

listening Post: AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

They wrote one of the 10 greatest RAWK songs ever. The pretty much invented the fist pumping, devil horned, head banging arena rock sound. The lead guitarist is the star, in his outrageous schoolboy uniform but the real backbone is the Rhythm Guitarist. Without Malcolm there is no AC/DC. Just a lead singer and a cock of the walk screecher.
I have heard about a dozen or so songs, and, like everyone who grew up in the 70s, Back in Black was your graduation present.
But aside from the big tunes, what do I really know about the Aussie boys?
Let's find out.



AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - 1976 (Buy it)

Hey, guess what? It's more of the same! I kind of have a feeling it's gonna be like this for the next 11 albums. A scary proposition at best. One which raises the question: How much AC/DC is too much AC/DC?
I don't think I've reached saturation by any means, yet. For DDDDC is a much more accomplished and solid offering. It's bluesy and ballsy and the perfect soundtrack to a ripped jeans, beach town living pot-filled summer. A nice companion to Voltage, I found myself grooving to DD a lot more. For one thing, the first half of the album clips along at a neat pace, nothing clocking over 4 minutes like the first offering. Much of the songs on that album sounded like excuses for guitar solos but not here. Here it actually seems like Scott has some stuff he wants to say. It's still all girls and balls and money and rock but it's less obnoxious. The song Big Balls being the obvious exception. That is just embarrassing.
Yet, for all the bombast and bloat that pervaded that album, the longest one here clocks in at over 7 minutes and is never boring. Ain't no fun (waiting to be a millionaire) is a joy, accelerating and groovy, it's the kind of performance that suggests that they might be better live than on record.
Another point that I would like to make is that this time around they seem to have found the endings to their songs. Tunes come to conclusions more than the easy and lazy fade outs of the first record.
And, with "Squealer" Bon Scott shows just what a lascivious and dirty fuck he is.

Grade B
A Side: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Blindside: Squealer
Downside: Big Balls. (Please. Stop with the ball talk.) Ride On. These guys just aren't slo-groove guys.

Listening Post: AC/DC High Voltage

They wrote one of the 10 greatest RAWK songs ever. The pretty much invented the fist pumping, devil horned, head banging arena rock sound. The lead guitarist is the star, in his outrageous schoolboy uniform but the real backbone is the Rhythm Guitarist. Without Malcolm there is no AC/DC. Just a lead singer and a cock of the walk screecher.
I have heard about a dozen or so songs, and, like everyone who grew up in the 70s, Back in Black was your graduation present.
But aside from the big tunes, what do I really know about the Aussie boys?
Let's find out.



AC/DC - High Voltage - 1976 (Buy it)

High Voltage explodes with a crunchy, stereo-guitar assault that sort of winks at KISS and says, "Oh, yeah? THIS is what you're trying to sound like!".
It's pretty audacious in lyrical content, too. Now, I don't imagine that Bon Scott is too deep a guy and judging from what I've heard here, I'm right. He's interested in telling you how great he is, how great they are, how much like sex, girls and rock. I think that's fine. I mean, that's sort of the template for rock and roll all the way back to Leadbelly, isn't it? Here it's dressed up in a more vicious posturing that will either influence or happen to come at the same time as Foghat, ZZ Top and every fist pumping blues based bar band that ever came down the "Classic Rock" road.
The audacity I am talking about is "It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll". Spoken with such authority, as is "Rock and Roll Singer" the guys come across as seasoned Rock vets telling it like it is. In truth, this is their first album, basically a redux of the same stuff from a year earlier when Epic picked up their contract.
There can be no surprise here, however, just a passing appreciation. Inasmuch as they were just putting their spin on Blues Rock and were SO influential that this seems tame.
It has it's moments, though. And it definitely has me looking forward to more.

Grade B
A Side: T.N.T. & It's a Long Way To The Top [if you wanna rock and roll]
Blindside: Can I Sit Next To You Girl? (Unexpectedly goofy and glammy)
Downside: The Jack (I actually fell asleep listening to it and had to go back to make sure it was as dull as I thought)

Listening Posts

There have been a few requests for some more Listening Posts and the suggestions are....interesting, to say the least.
The project started when I realized that i owned Make Believe by Weezer but had never listened to it. And, with the Red Album coming out, I thought I would go through the discography to see, well, to see what I thought.
And what I thought was, Red sucks, Blue is antiquated, Pinkerton is a clunky classic, Green is short and to the point, Maladroit is correctly titled and Make Believe is unfortunately maligned. Weezer are the last decade's version of The Cars and Make Believe was their Heartbeat City. Red, on the other hand, is an ep's worth of music at best.
Then I decided to delve into another band that I owned but only occasioned: Everclear.
What I discovered there was Art Alexakis writes two or three songs over and over and over again and, once you are past So Much for the Afterglow and American Movie part One, it's all over. There's absolutely nothing you haven't heard and been bored by before.
Which brought me, somehow, to U2. You've read that. That was fun.
So, where to go next? The thing about the Listening Post, for me, is it has to be a once-iconic band, I have to be peripherally knowledgeable of their music, mainly the hits and it has to be a challenge.
Some of the bands that have been mentioned, R.E.M, Pearl Jam, Beck, hold some interest and I might, MIGHT, visit them but I am more inclined to look at the oeuvre of the likes of Cheap Trick, Bon Jovi, Journey and, dare I say, AC/DC.
So, prepare yourselves. A Listening Post is on the way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

the Guest House Part 2

Remember this?





Well, now it looks like this:















That's better, no?
Kind of beachy, no? It's hot and I still have to do something about the grass. But, for the time being, lovely. Already had someone inquire about renting it. Too bad there's already someone in there.

The Guest House

Oy.
We are finally getting the guest house painted.
It's been a long time coming, but the change is gonna come.
Beth's dad and her nephews, Tommy and Aaron are coming out in a few weeks to do the back yard. Decking, grass, drip system, trees, a little oasis in the back.
It seems a shame to have to stare at this the whole time.


Here is the front. The look of desiccation. The guest house is about 90 years old. It was built 10 years after our house, in 1922. The side door with the steps no doubt was access for the housekeeper, maid, slave, wife, husband, who knows? We had a toilet on the porch, that was for that person as well.
It is currently housing a sweet older church deacon and his 30-something son. They fell on hard times and have to live together in this...thing.
We inherited them with the house, they had been living there for 7 years before we bought it.
The inside needs a lot, A LOT of love but that would entail them leaving and, truth be told, if they go for the amount of time I need to make it nice, then they won't be back.
Most of what makes the inside so bad is their stuff. They have enough crap to fill a 1000 foot storage space and they are living in a 600 sq foot house. Do the math.

Anywho. It's getting the much needed and much deserved paint job.

This will be the view from Zoe's room and the kitchen.



I will post the new pics when the coats are done.

This will be dual posted in Life of Zoe.

Listening Post: U2 Wrap up

So, thanks for sticking around, those of you that did. I hope I did it justice. It was a really interesting experience, rolling out records by a band that I had listened to but never really listened to.
I tried to add video to the posts but, as you get later and later in the band's career, they disallow embedding of video so, fuck it.

All in all, missteps aside (Zooropa, Pop) I have to say that U2 deserves the recognition that they get. They belong in the pantheon of great rock bands of all time. Longevity doesn't just make for greatness but consistently changing, inventing, reinventing, creating and destroying and building does count for a lot.
They aren't just an epic singles band, as I once thought. They are so much more.

I am, I am proud to say, a fan.

Someone suggested R.E.M. next.
I will consider it. I'm a little too close to the material. Okay, the truth is I just don't want to listen to Up, Reveal and Around the Sun ever again. And that's what waits at the end of the tunnel, but the glimmer of Accelerate shines like a beacon that says, maybe, just maybe.........

listening Post: U2 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

And so we reach the end of the U2 listening retrospective.

.



U2 - How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 2004

The more I played this album the more I felt like turning the volume up, up, UP. This is a crunchy album. It rocks and pounds and you know the reason?

The Edge.

The fucking Edge.

The guy they dialed back wayyyyyyy back in the 80s. He's front and center and shredding and chopping and crunching and ripping the sonic landscape to shreds. It's really all everyone else can do to keep up. I mean, a U2 album with some songs UNDER 4 minutes?? That's just crazy talk.

Bono is a little hoarse. He should be, shouting and yelping for 25 years. Welcome to your forties, dude.

If "All that You...." was a gentle reminder of a supergroup that lost it's way, they have definitely found it here.
We could go song by song, but that isn't the point. It's to take the album as a whole, if I can and it just swells and grows like a monster.

So, how do you reinvent yourselves if you are U2? Crank UP the guitars and give the world what you haven't in almost a decade and a half: A true, epic rock album. Nice


Grade B+
A Side: Vertigo & City of Blinding Lights
Blindside: Peace on Earth & All Because of You
DownSide: You know what? Let's give them a break. Nothing really falls flat and, hell, they're old. Give em a break.

listening Post: U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind

Almost at the end of the U2 retrospective....



U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind - 2000 (buy it)

U2 crashes into it's THIRD DECADE of releasing music with this cd. Think about that. Their first four major releases were on vinyl. They have been making (somewhat) relevant music for almost 30 years at this writing. Not bad for a bunch of teenagers who answered an ad posted by a drummer looking for a band.

All That you Can't Leave Behind is just....well, it's just right. It's not overwhelming. It's not brilliant. It's highly enjoyable. There are some great tracks (front loaded as always). It's extremely well produced. It sounds like what I imagine are a bunch of guys who were staring down the barrel of their forties and realized they were nothing without each other. Together they are u2. Seperately they are a bunch of rich Irish musicians. The trouble with Zooropa and Pop is they sounded like some members of the band were being dragged behind the "I want to do disco" bus. I have no idea whose idea it was, maybe it sounded like a good idea at the time, but it wasn't. And they did what they have done over and over in their career: They reinvented themselves while never straying from themselves.
Part of this album seems like it was meant to sound underwater. Specifically the first track, Beautiful Day. Which works for when Bono sings about seeing the tuna fleets clearing the sea out. There is some really pretty stuff here. It's a gentle album, a far cry from War and ...Fire. It's a little precious, almost like a perfect cover band putting out a mature, inoffensive album of originals.
It's not agressive, or dangerous but it is heartfelt and sometimes sad. Specifically, "Stuck in a moment" which Bono has said is based on the conversation he WISHED he had with Michael Hutchence before he killed himself.
Knowing that only makes the song deeper and richer but never maudlin. It's touching and that's it.
The production is bold and layered. The band has learned something from their forays into Disco and House and they have let their producers play with that stuff and pulled back where need be. I don't know where Evans is on this album, probably at the keys or something, but Clayton and Mullen are at their best.
It's a treat, this, after almost a decade of crap.

Grade B
A Side: Stuck in a Moment....
Blindside: (tie) Wild Honey & When I look at the World or Peace on Earth.
Downside: New York. (Bono! Stop writing songs about cities. They suck.) And Grace. (Bad bad bad lyrics, man)