This is the sound of five guys and the brother of two of them laying down a wonderful rock and roll record. The sound, gritty and warm, on this album is extraordinary. It puts you right there in the room with boys or rather it puts the boys right there in the room with you. Every member of the band stands out throughout the record as the mix and production gives each their space to deliver stellar performances. On the title track Angus and Phil kick us off with a great bluesy lick and a counting hi hat as Brian comes in on a deeper register than usual before Mal and Cliff drop into the track Brian takes off ‘like a dog in a howl’ (maybe, who fucking cares?) and we get locked down tight into a groove from which you never want to escape. Angus blesses us with one of his most expressive solos in years, the ones where he tells you really what’s going on in the song through power of his SG and his fingers alone. As is so often the case the real stars of this song are Mal and his brothers in the world’s greatest rhythm section and in fact despite a record full of wailing leads from Angus and Brian giving every little thing to every single track this is true across the entire album. Stiff Upper Lip is conclusive proof that when it comes to laying down rock and roll grooves you can fight, fuck and dance to, AC/DC have no equals.
Not a track goes by where there isn’t a touch here and there of magic that brings a special flavour to the usual ingredients, maybe the presence of brother George in the control room has something to do with this. The placing of the backing vocals on Meltdown, the raw as hell crashing chords that bring that song to an end; THAT guitar tone on House Of Jazz which is worthy of a place on the next satellite we send into space to introduce us to passing aliens, not to mention the moment when the whole thing kicks off and you can feel the elemental presence of true rock and roll, there’s a reason why thunder and lightning play such a prominent role in AC/DC iconography it’s because they literally play up a storm.
Hold Me Back is a lesson on how to build a song from a series of basic components into an engine that feels like could run for ever on the energy it generates for itself, the placement of the cymbal crashes, the arrival of the guttural backing vocals, every part adds to the building intensity of the track. Even the quicker tracks like Safe In New York City and the bonus track Cyberspace have grooves you still move too, you just move quicker, there’s really no other choice. And if you ever doubt the band still mean it watch the video for the first of those tracks; you’ll sweat just watching it. Can’t Stop Rock And Roll makes you believe that it’s an established fact. Satellite Blues opens up with a classic stop start Young brothers riff before bemoaning the ‘dumbed down news’, that’s right now you can now dance to social commentary.
The most joyful song on here for me is Come and Get It, a filthy blues stomp that invents the concept of a double decker bed whilst making it perfectly clear that should you want it, you can get it right here. The album closes out with Give It Up the very last thing you want the boys to do, it is everything you could ever want from an AC/DC song, the Rudd opens it up with a shimmering beat that begs Cliff to get funky while Mal and Ang produce an archetypal interlocking riff and Brian invites us, no demands, that we ‘rip it up’ and ‘stick it out’. Yessir, fucking right I will. You have made yourself very very clear.
Rock’n’Roll Damnation crashes in as a statement of intent “They say that you play too loud, well baby that’s tough!”and straight into a classic ‘DC riff. Handclaps, gang vocals and Bon straight talking and reflective on the rock and roll way of life; what more could you want? A pulsing bassline, a pounding beat and strutting guitar line announce the arrival of Gimme A Bullet. The story of a man kicked to the kerb by his girlfriend and looking for another woman, any woman to fill the hole left and numb the pain just for the night. Bon knows he’ll be OK in the long run “Come tomorrow, come to grips, with me all alone.” But right now, tonight, he needs a bullet to bite on to stop the ache, just so he can “make believe” that he hasn’t lost her. You only have to hear the delivery on the next tune to know that truth is being spoken. Down Payment Blues is heralded by chiming, gruff guitars subtly joined by a driving rhythm section building to a galloping charge of an intro that drops down a notch to allow Bon room to meditate on the ‘rock and roll lifestyle’ . Couple this with a great solo from Angus and you have a bona fide classic.
For me Gone Shootin’ is the centre of this album and the Bon eras finest five and a bit minutes. It boasts an effortless groove, an almost funky interlocking riff topped off with that fabulous bluesy lick from the Young’s and Mr Scott’s greatest lyric. Here Bon tells us the story of another love lost, this time to drugs, “She backed her favourite nag, but she could never win”. This is the song that made me realise that Bon was not just a 'cut out' rock and roller. When you add in that solo and just before that superb coda the “ I used to love her so…” it is just a perfect beautiful heartbreaker rock and roll song. Riff Raff, what can you say? Killer, killer riff, astonishing opener for a live gig, witness the Glasgow ’78 footage. Rebel lyrics from Bon this time, but it is all about the other boys. It’s just a lethal track.
Another tune, another classic, Sin City, a story–esque lyric from Bon about looking for that one chance to make it big. Mal’s superb slashing rhythmic chords power this monster along, Phil’s sounds like he’s smashing glass with his crashes, and Ang produces a solo that takes you right to the edge before that dark breakdown in the middle of the song before Bon ramps up the atmosphere for the final charge and Ang loses it totally. Even if Bon hasn’t got a “hope in hell” he’s still going in even if he is destined to be another loser. Awesome live, witness Midnight Special. What’s Next To The Moon adds yet more variety to the mix. A rolling riff and a tribal beat from Phil produce another dark edged track. Bon’s lyrics only add to the air of mystery. Worked incredibly well live, where the chorus was absolutely thunderous.
Surely time for a breather but not a chance, Up To My Neck In You. It’s a juggernaut of a song, a total destroyer of a track, all slashing chords and relentless beats, while Bon weaves his magic again, managing to sound regretful, grateful and filthy at the same time. This song also has a claim to feature Ang’s greatest solo, furious and tuneful. Naturally it is a beast live. Cold Hearted Man is a true ‘story song’. Again full of darkness, aided by the space created by the boys and Bon’s delivery. Loss hangs heavy on this track again, as Bon explains how an orphan child “Called her Ma, called him Pa, but he was born to someone else”, grows through experience and heartbreak ,“one time lover, heart in his hand” to be a cold hearted man “you can’t trust nothing you don’t understand”. Bon acknowledges the other side of the hard man image, and how it can it form, in the breakdown before the final chorus. It is a magnificent song. To end the album? As close to a straight ahead rocker as can be seen on this album. A faster tempo, with guitars that crash in waves while Phil powers the tune like a machine. Bon vents his spleen on a women that ‘done him wrong’, and in the final verse on all womenkind. Hard edged rock and roll, full stop. No other band, no other frontman could deliver with such authority.
Why is Powerage this band’s greatest achievement? Because it goes beyond being just a hard rocking album, it adds loss, longing and heartbreak to the mix, in short it is their most human, most honest album. Bon opens up on this album and lets reality and us in, giving this album a depth that none of their other releases even approach. This is Bon’s record and it is a thing of fierce, raw and bleeding beauty.
