Review Summary: *Beavis and Butt-head chortling intensifies*
The prospect of Rick Rubin producing an AC/DC album seems like the ultimate no-brainer. Every other band that Rubin took under his wing in the late eighties and early nineties was essentially revamped to sound more like them and they’d been enjoying an elder statesman status with the Razors Edge’s success five years before. The pairing also showed some good proof of concept with the “Big Gun” single in 1993 and they even brought the master metronome himself Phil Rudd back for that extra hit of classic lineup dopamine.
Sure enough, the presentation on Ballbreaker is the most organic that AC/DC has sounded since Flick of the Switch and might even reach as far as the seventies if you’re feeling generous. The opening “Hard as a Rock” (Beavis and Butt-head chortling intensifies) immediately shows off crackling dual guitars building simply over a steady bass line. The vocals are also quite refreshing, sounding clear and effects-free and Johnson’s aging howl has some extra husky grit to it. The band subsequently expressed annoyance with Rubin’s perfectionist tendencies during the recording process, but they certainly put the work in.
From there, the rest of the album generally sticks to that mid-tempo pace, admittedly making for rather one-note listening. “Boogie Man” manages to hit some old school appeal with its bluesy shuffle and seductively threatening gravel coming straight from the High Voltage days while the title track closes out on a hearty stomp with amusing ‘step on me, mommy’ lyrics to match. On the flip side, the grooves on songs like “The Honey Roll” and “Love Bomb” are serviceable but superfluous while “Cover You in Oil” and “Caught With Your Pants Down” don’t offer too much beyond those ultra-horny titles.
In an interesting twist, there’s also an undercurrent of social commentary afoot. “High Caesar” is the biggest standout on this front with its fluctuating dynamics, chanted chorus, and dusky breakdown detailing the Roman Empire as metaphor for abuse of power. “The Furor” and “Burnin’ Alive” even tap into contemporary issues like the Waco siege and the Clinton presidency for extra uncanniness. These aren’t the deepest insights, especially when going back and forth with some of this raunchy teenage boy fodder, but it is a neat change of pace.
Ballbreaker falls a little short of the hype built up by The Razors Edge, but it’s a solid effort that makes do on its throwback aspirations. The rather monotone pacing is the sort of thing that would become another bad habit, but the production and playing are worth the price of admission to the point that I lament that more of their albums didn’t sound like this. It’s also cool to see the lyrics start to matter a little more again, even if the duality of the themes at play can seem a little at odds with each other at times. Had the writing been as tight as the execution, we’d be talking about some top tier AC/DC.
