AC/DC - The Brian Johnson years

As part of the process of listening to albums I have been listening to the albums following Brian Johnson joining AC/DC. What did I learn by doing this you ask? I learned that I preferred Bon Scott. There is nothing wrong with Brian Johnson's vocals but overall I preferred Bon's voice. Lyrically Bon always had a mischievous grin and a slightly darker edge and I like that in my music.  Brian Johnson is more from the 'Carry On' school of lyric writing.

The tragedy is that Back in Black which I have previously reviewed is actually very much in the Bon Scott vein and so it shows that he can produce that sort of music. The first album after Back in Black was For Those About To Rock. The title track is rightly a classic. My favourite track on the album is Inject The Venom. The problem the album has is that it has to try and live up to its predecessor. Unfortunately it isn't as good by some distance. There are still hints of the Bon Scott era. Evil Walks could easily have been from that period.

Next we have the album Flick of the Switch. I don't know what it was but the spark was definitely not here on this one. I struggled to find a track and if pushed would go for Badlands but the album just didn't work for me.

Fly on the Wall comes next and is slightly better. Shake Your Foundations and Sink The Pink are now classics but even so the album is not a classic. I recall at the time that during this period the band didn't seem to quite be hitting the right note.

The next original studio album is 1988's Blow Up Your Video. The opening tracks set a good standard. Heatseeker and That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll are great tracks. The problem is that the rest of the album isn't great.

The Razor's Edge feels like a better album. Yes all the Johnson era stuff is there. Thunderstruck is a great opener. The title track is full of menace. It is not perfect by any means. I first heard the album at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham whilst waiting to hear Queensryche and Lynch Mob in concert. It managed to keep the fans happy.

Next we have Ballbreaker and Stiff Upper Lip neither of which are great albums. The most recent album is Black Ice and it is a better album.

My recommendation go and put on Back In Black.