AC/DC Black ice


Well, there been three important releases in recent weeks:
Metallica "Death Magnetic"; Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" and AC/DC "Black Ice".
I posted on the first two, and now just completed my first listen of the "Black Ice".
What a huge difference!!!
The best AC/DC in ages: unmistakable feeling of inspiration and spontaneity, all 15 tracks are done on a single breath, and not a single bad one.
Absolutely impeccable sense of rhytm and melody, if you will.
Music is stripped down to it's bare essentials, as truly great rock supposed to be like, IMHO.
There is nothing there, that detracts from the musical message, not a single slow down, no annoying moments whatsoever.
I have to give it to Angus and Malcolm, who wrote all the tracks- they are some of greatest R&R songwriters ever.
honest and inspired album.
What a stark difference with the other two- Metallica is pretty much unlistenable, very tiresome and calculated.
If I had to sum it up:
Metallica- FINISHED!
Axl is a pompous, pretentious ass
AC/DC- outstanding!
P.S. AC/DC recording quality- miles ahead of the other two
maril555
Shadorne

I am building a time-oriented "widget" of the band's history as we speak. It will appear on www.capzles.com, on their own site, and be dedicated to Black Ice Tour. I will ask the boys the next time we speak.

I will post out to this posting when it can be viewed. We just got the digital assets.

The tour will last 2 and 1/2 years. The warm ups have been thrilling and crushing. Hard to imagine a harder rocking group of 60 year olds.
I heard Angus say in an interview that "Black Ice just sounded cool."

Also he was asked what was the best work he'd done. He replied "Buying a guitar and a schoolboy's uniform was the best thing I've ever done."
The main reason the AC/DC album sounds so good, and uncompressed, is Brendan O'Brien. He is the best hard rock producer and engineer of the last decade - in the sense of having great ears. No one else as consistently makes rock CD's that sound like a live band in a live room - Black Crowes Southern Harmony; Soundgarden Superunknown; all of the Stone Temple Pilots discs; Rage Against the Machine's studio albums; and so on - these Brendan O'Brien produced discs are as close as one can get to "reference quality" hard rock. The only other guy who comes close to me is Jack Joseph Puig, who did Amorica by the Crowes and the Jellyfish Spilt Milk album, among others.
You forgot The Boss. Here is a photo from the Southern Tracks Atlanta Studio where Brendan O'Brien works - notice the custom George Augspurger main speakers top right.