AC/DC is back with their first album in six years with “Power Up” their 17th album and their first officially without Malcolm Young, rhythm guitarist/co-writer and brother of Angus Young, lead guitarist and the man behind all of their songs. Besides from losing Malcolm they had to overcome drummer Phil Rudd’s legal battles that got him placed on house arrest after threatening to kill a man amongst a few things, bass player Cliff Williams being in retirement due to health reasons, and lead singer Brian Johnson dealing with deafness that he needed a special hearing aid so he could continue to sing (he missed of the last tour due to that with Axel Rose replacing him for some shows).
Angus Young decided instead of wallowing in the loss of his brother he wanted pay tribute to what they’ve lost by focusing on what they still have by rocking out like they usually do on every album. They dedicated his album to him like they did “Back in Black” for Bon Scott. In place of Malcolm is Young’s oldest brother’s son Stevie Young so it can stay within in the family going further. This is not a band that are past their prime as Angus raided the AC/DC vaults of songs he co-wrote with is his late brother Malcolm and a good amount sound like old school songs of theirs. With one being where he is thinking about Malcolm in “Through the Mists of time” where it gives him the shivers.
Their two singles are some of the songs that sound like their old songs in “Shot in the Dark” as it reminds me of “Back in Black” and “Realize” (the opening track) has similar sounds to “Thunderstruck”. “Rejection” reminded Angus of the song “Problem Child” and “Witch’s Spell” also sounds like an older track in “Who Made Who”. Some say “Code Red” has a similar sound to “Back in Black” too but I am not sure what they are referring to in the song. While the track “Demon’s Fire” has the feel of “Whole Lotta Rosie” but also I get elements of “Cheap Trick” or “Thin Lizzy” as it would be perfect in a video game. The guitar riffs in “Wild Reputation” have the vibes of an older song in “Stiff Upper Lip”.
The other songs are all catchy especially “No Man’s Land” a personal favorite of mine, “Systems Down” that rocks out, “Kick you when you’re down” which we all can feel and “Money Shot” where Angus is looking for the perfect track.
The Young brothers are always going to be legendary guitar players and song writers and this album even without (Malcolm on it) is one of their best albums in years as there aren’t any bad songs as there are a good amount of great ones. Scott or Johnson it doesn’t matter who is singing/shouting the words as even though the words are an important part to the track. All we want to do is rock out and forget about our problems, which is what you can do with “Power Up”.