(TheBRHM.com) I had gone through the 1970s AC/DC albums and finished taking notes on Highway to Hell but knew 1980’s Back in Black was right there. Featuring new lead singer—well, new at the time—Brian Johnson and the electric approach to hard rock that the band was known for, this had to be quite the welcome release in 1980.
The Change in Hard Rock on Back in Black
Perhaps most amazing to me is that the band got to work right after losing their long-time lead singer Bon Scott earlier that year. Not only that, they managed to produce an incredible album that takes that bluesy hard rock approach of the 1970s and add more bite and gunpowder to it.
Listening to the album, one thing that contributed to this had to be improvement in production. It doesn’t sound overly polished but it’s not dank, cavernous and tinny. Of course, the Young brothers, Rudd and Williams did their thing here but Johnson’s vocals from song to song—powerful.
I’ll admit, there were song from the 70s stuff that I’d love to hear redone with these vocals because they just have more bite. Dirty Deeds Done Cheap with Johnson’s vocals? I’d give that a spin or three. From start to finish to album slams and it slams very early in the decade!
AC/DC Delivered on the Singles
Back in Black had four singles and three of them are well known since they’ve been peddled out for ads, movies, and so on forever. The fourth is this album’s closer “Rock N Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and I was going to tackle this one first because it’s the first time I’ve run into an AC/DC—while listening to write—that we have an ending that doesn’t do it for me.
Actually, this is one of those rare times I’ve gotten an album that could’ve had a better closer. It’s not a bad or dismal song, it just didn’t end on a high energy note. Which is odd because you have this guy with this amazing voice—give him something to really blast and roar through. I mean, he did it throughout the album!
The easiest solution would be to just swap tracks around. You have a straight up wipe on the A-side with it having all bangers and four on B-side: anything could close this out on a big note. Personally, I like “Let Me Put My Love Into You” and “Shoot to Thrill”.
Then again, it did extremely well in the market it was ran as a single: the UK. The U.S singles of “Back and Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” are powerful tunes that continue to get played daily on the radio—as does European single “Hells Bells.”
Of the four singles, “Hells Bells” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” were my favorites on the entire album. Other songs I really dug included “Shoot to Thrill” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You”. These are songs that if released in the previous decade might not hit like they did here.
That’s my last thought on this album: it makes me think of how a lot of the Scott-era stuff would sound with Johnson on the mic. There’s great stuff in AC/DC’s early catalog that probably could’ve used more bite to it or a different kind of bite.
Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.