Album Review: "Rock Or Bust" - AC/DC

Artist: AC/DC
Release Date: November 2014
Label: Albert/Columbia
Producer: Brendan O’Brien

Kitch's Rating: 10/10

The title of AC/DC’s first studio release in more than four years might as well be the veteran band’s motto, for it seems like no matter what the drama – be it the loss of founding guitarist Malcolm Young, long considered the beating heart of the iconic Australian band, or charges brought against drummer Phil Rudd for allegedly trying to hire a hit-man to kill someone in New Zealand – Acca Dacca keep on keeping on.

There’s no sign of any slow-down for the band, which welcomes Malcolm’s nephew Stevie into the fold, and benefits from his rhythm guitar work that, it is pleasing to note, is eerily similar to what Malcolm Young has produced for so many years. That rock-hard backbone to so many epic rock anthems remains, and AC/DC fans should be eternally thankful.

Stylistically, not much has changed. I often compare an AC/DC album to a James Bond film in that you pretty much know what you’re gonna get walking into a 007 flick, and the same can definitely be said of an AC/DC release. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Far from it, in fact. 

The music landscape might’ve changed around them, but that’s the outside world. In the world of AC/DC, the riffs are still a\s heavy as ever, the lyrics stacked with double-entendres and delivered at breakneck pace by Brian Johnson, with Angus Young solos dotted throughout. That’s been their MO for going on four decades and it’s been damn successful for them, so why change?

The hard-rocking Aussies haven’t built up legions of fans by being anything other than their usual old hard-charging selves. And, you know what? It works. Producer Brendan O’Brien is obviously quite aware of this, and departs little from that tried-and-true mould. He’s used to working with bands who have a signature sound – Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam, for example – and manages to get the most of out the heavy brand AC/DC have made their own.

Although significantly shorter than anything AC/DC have released since the mid-1990s, with a run time of just 34:55, Rock or Bust is all killer, no filler. It grabs you by the ears from the very beginning – the title track is one of my early favourites, and will be fantastic to hear live in a rockin’ stadium – and doesn’t let you go until it’s smacked you in the mouth again and again. That’s how good AC/DC music should leave you: shook to within an inch of your life. If it doesn’t rock you, it’ll damn sure roll you. It’s short, it’s sweet and probably a smidge better than Black Ice.

Their previous release, Black Ice, was hailed as being a return to form for Brian Johnson and his crew, and Rock or Bust is definitely a continuation. There are no bad songs on this one, but a few standouts, like the album’s lead single “Play Ball” – not about any sort of ball game, though you probably knew that already – and “Dogs of War”, the Rock or Bust track that evokes memories of the band’s Grammy-winning “War Machine” from Black Ice. Angus sings the backing vocals and it’s a heavy, angry song.

“Baptism by Fire” could be the title of a song about someone attending their first ever AC/DC concert and “Rock The House” is exactly what the band does best. They also top the charts with regularity here in Australia, and elsewhere, and you know they’ll play to sold out stadiums around the world when they get their personnel issues sorted out AKA encourage Phil Rudd to stop trying to act out “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” for real!

Look, don’t be discouraged by the length of this new release, because it packs a solid punch, and, dammit, it’s un-Australian not to have it in your collection. If this is the standard we’re going to get from the boys going forward, then I hope the sad day when they hang up their guitars isn't for many years to come!