Review Summary: The perfect hard rock album.
1980 should have ended AC/DC. After years of sleepless touring and making five albums in five years, they suddenly began to have their name noticed, particularly after the 1979 classic Highway To Hell. But on the 19th of February 1980,tragedy struck. After a night out of heavy drinking, lead vocalist Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott died after choking on his vomit. The band considered splitting up, and who could blame them? After all, such magnificent bands as Led Zeppelin and Joy division disbanded after a member died within the same year. Who could possibly replace the unique charisma and personality of Scott and pull it off? And that's where Geordie Brian Johnson comes in. The young brothers were in the prime of their songwriting at this point, and Johnson had a voice which could strip paint. When combined, 10 instantly classic hard rock anthems are born.
The album starts with 20 seconds of bells ringing, to mark respect for Scott. Then, Angus Young's legendary guitar kicks in with a simple but catchy riff. Then, the thudding drums BANG........BANG........BANG. We are not even one minute into the album and yet I find myself excited and in suspense. The song has set the mood, and we are introduced to Johnson's voice with an almighty "I'm rolling thunder pouring rain I'm coming on like a hurricane!" The album is now in full throttle, and it stays this way until the final "It's just rock and rollllll!" 40 minutes later.
Every track on the album is a winner, no filler, no bull***, no messing around. The almighty "Shoot to thrill" still has the audiences jumping up and down like lunatics almost 35 years on, and contains the bands signature songs, such as "Back In Black" and "You shook me all night long".
Words don't do this album justice, you simply need to buy and listen to this album, regardless of your age, gender, or even what type of music you're into. This is truly a band at their top of the game, in fact so good they will never top it and they know it. Just 42 minutes of perfection. With 22,000,000 copies sold in the USA and 50,000,000 worldwide, Back in Black is currently the fourth best selling album of all time. And with good reason. Simply perfect.
