UMUR "Power Up" is the 16th internationally released full-length studio album by Australian hard/heavy rock act AC/DC. The album was released through Columbia Records/Sony Music Australia in November 2020. It´s the successor to "Rock Or Bust" from 2014 and almost miraculously features the same lineup who recorded the predecessor. The miracle consist of the fact that three out of the five members of the lineup have been out of the band at various points and for various reasons since the release of "Rock Or Bust (2014)", but they all returned for the recording of "Power Up". Bandleader and guitarist Angus Young dedicates the album to his brother and fellow AC/DC founder Malcolm Young who passed away in 2017. The material on "Power Up" is credited to both brothers and much of it is vault material Angus Young digged out and rearranged.

Stylistically there are next to no surprises on "Power Up", as AC/DC sound exactly how they have sounded since 1980 when Brian Johnson joined the band after original vocalist Bon Scott´s untimely death. Rusty raw vocals (and well placed backing vocals), sharp hard rocking blues based riffs, a solid rocking rhythm section, and blistering brilliant guitar solos. "Power Up" also features a powerful, raw, and hard rocking sound production (courtesy of producer Brendan O'Brien), so as usual it´s the quality and memorability of the songwriting which separate "Power Up" from other AC/DC albums. The last couple of releases have featured decent quality material and a couple of highlights, and the same can more or less be said about "Power Up", but to my ears AC/DC do sound a little more enganged on this album and there are some really strong tracks on the album like "Through the Mists of Time", "Demon Fire", and especially "Shot in the Dark". The latter even has the qualities to have a chance to become an AC/DC evergreen...only time will tell...

So upon conclusion "Power Up" is not a revolution of AC/DC´s sound but it´s probably exactly what their fans expected from them and in that respect they deliver like they´ve always done. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "'74 Jailbreak" is en EP release by Australian heavy/hard rock act AC/DC. The EP was released through Atlantic Records in October 1984. The material on the EP were however recorded in 1974 - 1976 and wwere originally featured on the Australian versions of "High Voltage (1974)" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)". "Jailbreak" from the latter and the rest of the tracks from the former. None of the tracks were featured on the worldwide versions of those albums, hence the premise for the release of this EP.

Stylistically there are no surprises as this is early AC/DC as we know them. Hard rocking rhythms, blues based hard rock riffs and solos, and Bon Scott´s tongue-in-cheek lyrics and flippant vocals in front. The material on the 5 track, 24:16 minutes long EP are not their most memorable nor strongest though. It´s definitely not of a bad quality either, but I´d generally say there was a reason why these tracks were left of the worldwide versions of their respective albums, and replaced by other more catchy tracks (maybe except for the title track, which is pretty strong). This is AC/DC though and even outtakes and relatively standard quality material from their hand, is still quality material compared to most other hard rock artists, so "'74 Jailbreak" is still a worthwhile release.

The playing is as usual of a high quality and the sound production is also raw, powerful, and organic, suiting the music well. So despite not being the most necessary release in the band´s discography it´s still a pretty good release if you enjoy the early part of AC/DC´s output and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) is warranted.

UMUR "Rock Or Bust" is the 15th internationally released full-length studio album by Australian hard/heavy rock act AC/DC and the first since "Black Ice" from 2008. The album was released through Albert/Columbia Records in November 2014. Since the release of "Black Ice (2008)" and the subsequent tour there´s been one lineup change as original rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young was diagnosed with dementia and as a consequence retired from the band. He is replaced here by his nephew Stevie Young. Stevie had previously filled in for Malcolm on AC/DC´s 1988 U.S. tour, when the latter was treated for his alcohol dependency.

It wasn´t the only drama occuring during the writing and recording of "Rock Or Bust", as drummer Phil Rudd decided to turn up 10 days too late for the recording sessions and nearly got himself kicked out of the band. His eviction from AC/DC eventually happened anyway though as a consequence of Rudd being arrested in early November 2014 for attempting to procure the murder of two men and for drug possession. The most serious charges were later dropped but as Rudd did receive a house arrest sentence, he was unable to tour with AC/DC in support of "Rock Or Bust" and the band decided to recruit Chris Slade instead. Slade also played with AC/DC from 1989 to 1994 and appeard on "The Razors Edge (1990)".

Stylistically the music on "Rock Or Bust" is more or less AC/DC as they´ve always sounded, but that´s really no surprise by now. While they´ve always released quality material, development of sound stopped many years ago. You always know what you´re gonna get when you put on a new AC/DC album. It´s blues based hard rock/heavy rock with a hard rock beat, blues based heavy riffs, blistering blues based solos by Angus Young, and Brian Johnson´s unmistakable rusty voice in front. So when you can´t say much new about the musical style, it´s the quality of the songwriting that´s of most interest. Angus Young apparently constructed most of the tracks from bits and pieces left over from the recording sessions of previous albums, which would make sense since one part of the main songwriting team retired. That´s not audible at all though, if such a songwriting method should suggest a drop in quality, as the material on "Rock Or Bust" is generally both catchy, powerful, and memorable. It´s hard to argue that the songwriting style isn´t slightly one-dimensional, and while all tracks are enjoyable while they play, there are only a few really strong tracks featured on the album. That´s nothing new when it comes to AC/DC releases though.

It´s not audible that the guys in AC/DC aren´t exactly youngsters anymore either. Johnson screams/sings with as much power as he has always done, the rhythm section and new rhythm guitarist Stevie Young plays raw and intense, and the guitar solos by Angus Young are as energetic, well played, and inspired as ever. The sound production is also both powerful and raw, so upon conclusion "Rock Or Bust" is yet another quality release by AC/DC. It´s more of the same though, so depending on how you feel about that views may vary. Personally I enjoy the album a lot, but I don´t count it among their strongest releases and it doesn´t shake my foundation either, but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

siLLy puPPy AC/DC was formed in 1973 by the Young brothers, at the time Malcolm, Angus and George with a heavy rotating cast that found Bon Scott joining in 1974. The band released their debut album HIGH VOLTAGE in Australia in early 1975 and followed it up with their second “TNT” coming out at the end of the same year. In between the band found a more stable lineup with Phil Rudd joining in on drums and Mark Evans landing the role as bassist. While starting out more glam oriented with the 1975 version of HIGH VOLTAGE, the band had already developed their classic ballsy bravado that developed the bluesy hard rock into a sound all their own. Despite having carved out their own musical niche, the debut album didn’t quite have all the ingredients in perfect order yet and as a result the band quickly ironed out all the kinks that were fine tuned on “TNT.”

“TNT” found the band cranking out nine brash original rockers plus a Check Berry cover, whom the band claimed as a major source of inspiration. With this second release, the band became quite popular in their native Australia which attracted the attention of the international record label Atco which signed the band and preceded to release their international debut. Instead of doing something more sensible and concocting a new title, Atco decided to release a different version of HIGH VOLTAGE which would in reality take the seven tracks from “TNT” and only the two tracks “She’s Got Balls” and “Little Lover” from the Australian HIGH VOLTAGE. Just to make things more confusing, the title track “High Voltage” first appeared on “TNT,” NOT the debut!

When all was said and done, international HIGH VOLTAGE was nothing more than a compilation of the first two Australian albums which lifted the best tracks and compiled them into what most AC/DC fans of the world (including myself) have owned, loved and collected. To be honest, i have only experienced the Australian HIGH VOLTAGE in preparation for this review but in reality i have heard most of the tracks since many have been released as the compilation “74 Jailbreak” and elsewhere. International HIGH VOLTAGE is the much better product than the Australian debut. It shows the band in full bad boy boogie-woogie hard rock mode and already dripping in adrenaline fueled confidence. Graced by their garage rock sensibilities, AC/DC’s apparent middle-fingers-to-the-world attitude and hedonistic errancy found them being lumped into the punk rock scene as their debut hit the UK simultaneously as the burgeoning punk rock scene was getting underway.

While similar in many ways, the punk connection is one that the band bitterly deflected as they have always claimed that they were nothing more than a rock and roll band and accused punk of being nothin more than a fashion statement, not a musical one. The international debut of AC/DC found them instant success with tracks like “It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll),” “Rock N Roll Singer” and “The Jack” proving to be some of their best known hits that have found their way into the AC/DC playlist long past the premature passing of the late Bon Scott. AC/DC delivered a completely different style of hard rock that stood out from pretty much everything else that came out in the 70s. While the Young brothers were Scottish by birth, Bon Scott added yet another Scottish touch as he was pretty much the only bagpipe player to perform in a hard rock band as heard on the opener “It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll).”

While HIGH VOLTAGE isn’t the band’s best album, this combo version of the first two Australian releases was the perfect release to unleash on the world displaying their unique twin guitar riffing assault, Angus’ schoolboy persona and Bon Scott’s unique vocal style all coming together in perfect synergy. While the music is quite simple, it is addicting and dripping with attitude. AC/DC emerged as a band that took simple riffs, basic melodies and seemingly banal lyrics and animated them into a commercial powerhouse. While panned by the critics, the fans ate it up and catapulted the band to the top of the world in a very short time. The rest is history but outside of Australia, this is the album that started the whole ball rolling and the world has never been the same since.

siLLy puPPy Celebrating my 1000th review on MMA! I began this journey with my first review of AC/DC’s classic “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” the very first album i owned that exists on this site. I haven’t done another review from this band since and figured that hadda change. So why not start with another AC/DC classic, the very first album that was released twice. Once in Australia as the debut and once again internationally only with completely different tracks.

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Ugh. How incredibly confusing are the early years of AC/DC. The 60s British Invasion of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones was notorious for having dual identities of albums that were never supposed to be experienced on the other side of the pond but that was supposed to have died out by the 70s. However the record companies didn’t agree with that consensus and more pop oriented bands like The Sweet continued this trend into the 70s and the same happened to Australia’s AC/DC when they went international. The confusion in the case of AC/DC emerges from the fact that they released two albums respectively titled HIGH VOLTAGE and “TNT” in their native Australia, both in 1975. The problem emerges when considering the the band’s international debut which came out the following year in 1976 was ALSO titled HIGH VOLTAGE, however that edition was in reality a compilation album that contained tracks from both of the two Australian only releases.

AC/DC stood out from the crowd even from the beginning. While Australian, Angus and Malcolm Young were actually born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland but due to a massive freeze in 1963 ended up immigrating with their large family to the land Down Under. After going through the motions of warm up bands, the brothers (which originally also consisted of George) formed AC/DC in 1973 and went through many lineup changes before the classic band of Bon Scott joined in 74 in time to record their first album. At this stage, AC/DC was much more of a glam rock band although Angus Young already donned his signature school boy run amok look. What was lost on subsequent albums was the fact that Bon Scott too dressed in an alter ego but in his case a school girl complete with pig-tail adorned wig and a lovely dress to match!

The band released the Australian version of HIGH VOLTAGE early on in February 1975 and found almost instant success in their Sydney based homeland. This album stands out from the rest including the second album “TNT.” First of all, while Bon Scott was already at the helm on vocals and Angus and Malcom Young shared guitar and bass duties, the album includes different tracks that were recorded when George Young (bass, guitar, drums), Rob Bailey (bass), Tony Currenti (drums), Peter Clack (drums) and John Proud (drums) were still in the band, therefore creating a rather stilted debut album with a mishmash of performers on board. Despite the glam look and rather unstable lineup situation, AC/DC had pretty much developed their bad boy boogie-woogie swagger that implemented heavy blues rock riffing augmented by Bon Scott’s idiosyncratic vocal style.

While most fans in the world have most likely only heard the international version of HIGH VOLTAGE, since it’s by far the best known of the two, this homegrown first version still exists and has been reissued multiple times in Australia. The differences between the two include the fact that the international version was basically the second album “TNT” minus the Chuck Berry cover “School Days” and the track “Rocker” which would make it onto the international version of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” This Australian version only shares the two tracks “She’s Got Balls” and “Little Lover” with the international release. The rest of the tracks consist of the same hard bluesy rock that the following albums display only at this point, the band are a little less feisty and more emphasis is on the blues rather than the hard rock.

While the tracks are as catchy as ever, they don’t quite have the same ballsy bravado and would remain Australian artifacts for several decades before the majority of the tracks would finally make it onto the compilation release “74 Jailbreak.” This is probably the least essential of the Bon Scott era albums. Not only is it a bit harder to obtain since the YouTube videos are even blocked to most of the world but it is the least compelling of the band’s early albums as everything hadn’t quite gelled into place yet. The AC/DC that would climax into 1979’s “Highway To Hell” wouldn’t quite come into play until “TNT” hit the market at the end of 1975. Still through, if you are a hardcore AC/DC fan, this one is well worth the time.