I believe this is the 4th AC/DC album I present in this blog, which is somewhat disproportionate seeing that as of this moment I've presented less than 10% of my collection. Normally this is the kind of music I prefer to listen to on vinyl, but that's mostly for aesthetic reasons; these recent remasters sound really good on my (average quality) stereo. The packaging contains a nice booklet, and the embossed canon on the cover is another fine touch, but why would the company glue a huge sticker on the front of a digipack CD case? It took up roughly 20% of its surface, and when I tried to remove it to get the cover photographed - well, you can see for yourself:
At the time of its release, For Those About to Rock was a huge success, both critically (Rolling Stone magazine declared it their best album, so far) and commercially (their first LP to reach No.1 in the US). Nevertheless, I believe this is less because of this album's qualities, and more because of those that preceded it: Highway To Hell (1979) and Back In Black (1980) won them legions of new fans eagerly awaiting for the follow-up. Indeed, its initial record sales slowed down; it's now the 8th best-selling album by the band, with the two lead positions taken by the aforementioned masterpieces. At first glance For Those About to Rock seemed to fulfill expectations, as it is cut from the same cloth with its mighty predecessors: Using the same producer (Mutt Lange) guarantees sonic continuity, the Young brothers' riffs and solos are distinctive as ever, Phil Rudd's savage drum beating too. Brian Johnson is certainly no Bon Scott, but his shrill vocal didn't bother anyone when he was handling superior material as he did with Black In Black. Unfortunately though, from here on out the songwriting gets weaker. Tunes with catchy hooks and uplifting riffs like "Put the Finger on You" and "Let's Get It Up" are betrayed by embarrassingly bad lyrics/titles. "Evil Walks and "C.O.D." are good fun, but aren't they a tad too similar? And isn't the intro of the former recycled from "Hell's Bells?" "Inject The Venom" is another of the highlights, but falls into the easy trap of hitting on a good title/chorus and repeating it endlessly - one of AC/DC's calling cards. Few details offer an occasional detour (e.g."Night of the Long Knives" Aerosmith-like riff), but in general this is mostly generic AC/DC. A lot of it could have been the work of any of their imitators; "Snowballed" and "Breaking the Rules" especially sound like someone trying to copy a dish by guessing the recipe based on its appearance. It's no wonder that the title song is the only one here that's earned a permanent place in the band's live repertoire: with its Who-like intro, anthemic chorus, and cannon-firing sound effects, it's one of their more memorable compositions. All in all, For Those About To Rock is a slightly above average Brian Johnson-era AC/DC album: typically those may have one stone cold classic if you're lucky (in this case the title track), and two or three good tunes that are nevertheless too reminiscent of older hits. The rest is usually filler. Good fun, certainly - but not nearly as enjoyable as one of their concerts. That's where this lineup really shines, I hope they can keep it up a while longer!
***** for For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
**** for Put the Finger on You, Inject the Venom, Evil Walks, C.O.D.
*** for Let's Get It Up, Night of the Long Knives, Spellbound
** for Snowballed, Breaking the Rules
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