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Infos : The Powerage Album :
Released 1978 on Albert Productions.
Recorded at Albert Studios, Sydney.
Running Order
Side One
1. Rock 慛 Roll Damnation
2. Down Payment Blues
3. Gimmie A Bullet
4. Riff Raff
Side Two
5. Sin City
6. Next To The Moon
7. Gone Shootin
8. Up To My Neck In You
9. Kicked In The Teeth
All songs written by Malcolm Young, Bon Scott and
Angus Young.
AC/DC抯 fifth album Powerage is a 憈our de force of
1970抯 fun and raucous guitar noise making. Released
in 1978, Powerage finds the group at their strongest
and most cocky. Bon Scott抯 lyrics and vocals are
confident and witty, his delivery is one of a singer who
has found his place in the world. The Young brothers
guitar work is dynamic Malcolm never tiring of
pumping out those rhythms, Angus expanding on his
trademark licks. Both guitarists are still hanging on to
their blues roots at this stage one reason why this
album is a joy to listen to. New bassist Cliff Williams is
now settled in after his 揕et There Be Rock
introduction, while Phil Rudd is as tight as always.
Productionwise this is classic 70抯 AC/DC. Raw guitars
flail away without the multi-tracking extravaganzas of
future albums, while the bass is always there peeking
through. It always sounded a bit more honest to me.
The backup vocals as on all the early albums sound
like a bunch of evil pixies hiding behind the amplifiers.
Producers Harry Vanda and George Young are
masters of pulling exciting performances out of bands
in the studio. Virtually anyone who was anyone in the
rock world in Australia in the 1970抯 felt the touch of
Vanda and Young who were members of legendary
Australian band The Easybeats. Engineer Mark Opitz
later went on to produce major acts like, Inxs, Divinyls,
Hoodoo Gurus and Cold Chisel.
Opening Powerage is the magnificent Rock 慛 Roll
Damnation a song that says so much about AC/DC.
Based on a fairly standard blues riff played straight, the
song rocks along with great momentum. The sassy
vocals show plenty of cheek 揑抳e been waiting all
night for a bite of what you got (1:45), and by the time
Angus Young shows up at 2:50 with some red hot tube
amp grooving you抣l be moving in your seat!
Down Payment Blues has one of those great 揳in抰 got
no money type lyrics that only a vocalist with the
honesty of someone like Bon Scott can pull off
properly. A moody song that never really releases you
from it抯 grip of tension, Down Payment Blues is in no
hurry to get on with the story but somehow you don抰
mind the wait. When Bon Scott sings 揷an抰 even feed
my cat a knowing and rueful smile will creep across
your face, and when he delivers the line 揹own
payment blues at 4:57 you will understand why singers
like Scott are so hard to come by. No matter how well
Brian Johnson can belt out a tune, he will never match
the character of Scott in that one line. Release is
granted at the end of the song with a great traditional
blues chaser.
Next up is Gimmie A Bullet. Featuring a playful bass in
the chorus and an insistent beat, this song borders on
boogie and is a lot of fun. Again featuring Bon Scott抯
unique lyric style (揼immie a bullet to bite on, something
to chew? and illustrating his effortless nonchalance,
Gimmie A Bullet is about as close to a dance song that
AC/DC has written.
Continuing the momentum the first side of Powerage
concludes with Riff Raff, a blistering and blues
drenched number with an irresistible riff. This song
literally explodes out of your speakers. It doesn抰 matter
that the lyrics are fairly standard 揹on抰 mess with me
fare, the delivery and red hot guitars more than make
up for it. Angus Young抯 first solo here is wild and
masterfully mad. By the time he rips in at 3:36 your
speakers will be literally melting (and if not, you haven抰
got it turned up loud enough) so hook up a new set
and get set for side two!
After such a frantic side one, there must be some
come down. Sin City doesn抰 try to compete in the
outright power steaks, but instead offers a more
relaxed pace. This is the type of song that AC/DC
were attempting to emulate on Ball Breaker with less
success. You can just about hear the live room in
Angus Young抯 solo it抯 that kind of sonic difference
that is missing from so many rock recordings these
days.
Next To The Moon starts out all moody and
threatening but never really gets anywhere. Not a dud
as such, but probably the least successful song on the
album.
Gone Shootin features some nifty work in the main riff
with both guitars working well together at different
ends of the chord - Malcolm going low and Angus
going high. Mid paced and fun, Gone Shootin leads
into the double assault of the album抯 conclusion.
Up To My Neck In You sets us up nicely with a great
70抯 style rock riff and wailing lead vocal. This is
another in a long line of songs that can only be pulled
off by a singer with the character of Bon Scott.
Ending Powerage is Kicked In The Teeth a blues
song in spirit, the opening cry of pain and betrayal is
just great. The band launch into the main riff (which
has a rather worrying similarity to Let There Be Rock)
and we抮e off on a ride of hurt and hate!
So why is this album essential? It抯 a lesson in how to
set up a track order of songs to the greatest effect.
From the get go the album hits the ground running and
never really loses pace. The songs are also of a
consistent high quality with lots of tasty guitar work to
be going on with. Production wise it抯 a masterpiece of
getting a band into the studio and letting them rip
although admittedly it could probably do with a slight
remaster to round up the bottom end a little for today抯
listeners.
