by Nicholas Greenwood

Created on: October 05, 2010

Prior to the release of Black Ice, many had begun to believe that AC/DC’s days of producing original material were gone. Eight years without a new studio album, however, clearly has not lessened their appetite to make music, and they can still do much more than just hold their own.

As an established band with nothing to prove – before the loss of Bon Scott they had already produced an impressive back-catalogue, but to then get over the loss of such an important figure and continue to make albums to the same high standard is no mean feat.

While this album is no competitor to knock Back in Black or Highway to Hell out of the fans’ favour, it is a remarkably well put together album. Brian Johnson’s vocals sound as fresh as ever and the riff powerhouse comprised of Angus and Malcolm Young shows no sign of slowing down.

Rock ‘N’ Roll Train, the opening track, is the track most in-line with AC/DC’s tradition of producing memorably-riffed anthems. The crunchy tone of the rhythm parts and the blues-influenced pentatonic solo and fills are as good as anything you could find in the band’s back catalogue.

Other tracks are similar to Runaway Train in style: She Likes Rock ‘N’ Roll, Black Ice and Big Jack are exactly the kind of songs that have gained AC/DC such widespread fame.

The album is not just a lazy attempt to stick to tried and tested, ‘safe’ songs though. Decibel is a track that could have been cut right out of a ZZ Top album with its boogie feel to the backing track and guitars, along with a vocal performance well-suited to the song.

Stormy May Day also deviates from what one has come to expect of AC/DC. Although the band is clearly very much influenced by the blues, Stormy May Day will still always take the listener by surprise. The raunchy slide guitar blues riff provides a pleasant interval three quarters of the way through the album, giving the listener something different to listen to.

Rock ‘N’ Roll dream, whilst still ‘heavy’ for some bands, is about the closest to a ballad that you will ever hear AC/DC play, but they pull off the stylistic change very well.

Anything Goes stands in stark contrast to the bluesy Stormy May Day and the blues-rock feel of the rest of the album, and certainly stands as a contender to be their most middle of the road, commercial song to date.

This band is certainly not past it. The Australian rockers have released this album which, whilst not their best, is certainly far from an embarrassment. There is enough stylistic variation on Black Ice to make the album flow and remain interesting over the course of its 15 tracks. 35 years on from the band’s inception, it is still going strong - hopefully it will be less than an 8 year wait for the next album.

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