Sinkadotentree AC/DC released two dark albums after the death of their frontman Bonn Scott in "Back In Black" and "For Those About To Rock". In 1983 we get the followup with the white album cover and that darkness is gone. The music here is much like the music on "Highway To Hell" and "Powerage" in that we are hit with upbeat guitar driven tracks again and again. I bought this when it came out and got a lot of mileage out of it. My top three were "This House Is On Fire", "Nervous Shakedown" and "Deep In The Hole" with the title track the runnerup. The mourning seems to be over for the band and they are having a blast which means the listener will have a hard time not headbanging throughout this release. A low 4 stars but like "Powerage" it's a release i like too much to go lower with my rating.

Sinkadotentree If i remember correctly this album had a resurgence after the title track started getting some air time on the radio after the success of "Back In Black". Because of this i bought the cassette which i must say was a disappointment after owning "Back In Black", "Highway To Hell" and "If You Want Blood". I still remember sitting in my car that i used to put away in the Winter and trying to get into this one to no avail. It seemed too silly and immature for my tastes even back then. Of course there was some good stuff on here regardless but none of it compared to the three albums i already owned. Lots of funny and dirty lyrics to be sure with Bonn's suggestive vocals. This is almost one of those novelty albums.

Sinkadotentree Well after owning the big three by AC/DC in "Back In Black" , "Highway To Hell" and "If You Want Blood" the next one i got was "Dirty Deeds" and man that was a disappointment for me. I knew from the live "If You Want Blood" that they had some amazing songs from the seventies but as an album it paled to the three i just mentioned. One day while driving around with the music cranked i spotted an old buddy and pulled over. He wanted to check out my cassettes and asked if we could swap some music for a couple of weeks. I wasn't too into it but obliged and this was one of the ones he lent me. Yes i was impressed even though it's a definite step down from the big three. At least it's melodic with those usual riffs and Bonn's great sounding vocals. Actually listening to this this morning it reminded me of seeing them in Toronto at Sars Stock where they played a lot of the seventies stuff. As i looked around almost everyone looked like a bobble-head doll with their heads bobbing up and down. Anyway this needs to be played loud and the fact my ears were ringing as i got out of my vehicle to go into work this morning testifies to that. "Riff Raff" is my favourite track but i get something out them all. This would be British bassist Cliff Williams first album with the band. A low 4 stars but i'd feel wrong giving this 3.5 stars.

Sinkadotentree It was like it was mean't to be. I had heard AC/DC for the first time around June of 1980 through this girl i knew. It was "Highway To Hell" and i was blown away. So i picked that one up and later that summer picked up "Back In Black" that had just been released. Man i played those back to back relentlessly. In fact i know without any doubts that "Back In Black" is the album i've listened to more than any other record. I had just turned 19 years of age and i had never heard music that was so energetic and powerful. I always liked "Back In Black" a little more than "Highway To Hell" because it was more serious and darker. I remember well going to parties back then and they'd just keep turning this album over each time it ended. People never got sick of it. Well it took years before i finally put it away, bringing it out on the rare occasion. Songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the title track are tracks i'm still tired of hearing. The first two songs are my favourites although "Given The Dog A Bone" and "Have A Drink On Me" still sound amazing after all of these years. These guys had sex on the brain when they wrote these tunes didn't they ? Haha. In my opinion "Back In Black" and "Highway To Hell" stand head and shoulders above every other studio album that they've made. I would add "If You Want Blood" the live release if you want the best three albums they've released.

UMUR "Back in Black" is the 7th full-length studio album by Australian hard rock/heavy rock act AC/DC. The album was released through Albert/Atlantic in July 1980. It´s the first AC/DC album to feature new vocalist Brian Johnson after Bon Scott´s tragic death in February 1980. The band shortly considered disbanding after Bon Scott´s death, but only few days after the funeral, they decided that it would be in Bon Scott´s spirit that they would carry on. Soon after they hired former Geordie frontman Brian Johnson (who Bon Scott had been very impressed by) and started working on songs. By April they were ready to record and went to Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had also been responsible for producing the highly successful "Highway to Hell (1979)". They finished up the recordings at Electric Lady Studios in New York in May 1980.

While AC/DC had enjoyed a lot of success with their previous releases, nothing could have prepared them for the success of "Back in Black". The album sold extremely well and gave them their final breakthrough in the US. "Back in Black" has today sold around 50 million copies, which makes it one of the best selling albums in the world.

...so what is it that makes "Back in Black" such a special album, that so many people love it and worship it? First of all it´s one of the few AC/DC albums where each track are killer material and there are no fillers. Secondly "Back in Black" is an extremely well produced hard rock album, that is raw enough for the heavy rock audience to love it, but also "polished" enough to reach a mainstream audience. Last but not least, it´s an album that shows AC/DC in fine form despite the very recent tragic event. They are positively on fire and new frontman Brian Johnson more than passes the test. While some of us may prefer the more filthy vocal style of Bon Scott, it´s hard to argue that Brian Johnson isn´t the perfect replacement now that we can´t have Bon Scott singing.

Tracks like "Hells Bells", "Back in Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" are AC/DC "classics", but as mentioned above there are no fillers on the album and tracks like "Shoot to Thrill" and "Given the Dog a Bone" also score high in my book. As such there´s nothing new about the music style besides Brian Johnson´s more raw sandpaper delivery and we´re still treated to hard rocking bluesy rock´n´roll of the highest caliber. The rythm section is tight, the rythm guitar riffs by Malcolm Young are heavy, sharp and organic while little brother Angus Young plays those catchy solos and licks.

"Back in Black" is still and probably always will be the most commercially successful album by AC/DC. The great thing about "Back in Black" though is that it´s also one of the band´s greatest artistic achivements and a 4.5 - 5 star (95%) rating is fully deserved. They don´t come much more "classic" than this.