Review Summary: This album is deffinetly one of there best work. Great riffs, excelent vocals, and lots of enthusiasm. They were more experimental as well. They tried slower tempos like on "Gone Shootin" and diffrent song writing strategies on "Whats Next to the Moon". O
In 1978, AC/DC released “Powerage”. This album has always seemed mediocre when compared to “Highway to Hell” and “Back in Black”. I always thought so to until one day, I heard Riff Raff, and was instantly persuaded to go out a buy it. I then realized, that this is definitely the most underrated album by AC/DC.
AC/DC was…
Angus Young: lead guitar
Malcolm Young: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Bon Scott: Vocals
Cliff Williams: bass Guitar, backing vocals
Phil Rudd: Drums
Rock n Roll Damnation: This happy song starts out a little soft, and quickly gets to its fast pace. Eventually, the verse starts, and Bon begins to sing. His vocals are top notch, and it builds up to a fantastic chorus. All instruments sound great, especially the backing vocals, which really add to the song. There is another verse and chorus and soon a guitar solo over top vocals, that ends the song. This is an excellent example of what AC/DC is all about. (5/5)
Down Payment Blues: After a long, quiet guitar intro, an explosion of instruments starts the verse. This song sounds less happy, and more like the blues (it says so in the title). The verses are very soft, and Bon’s voice suit’s the song perfectly. The lyrics are very clever as well. “I bought my self a Cadillac, but I cant afford the gasoline” still makes me smile every time I hear it. The chorus is very similar to the verse, but has much more energy in it. After the chorus, there is a long melodic solo. After that, there is another verse and chorus, which starts a 12 bar blues riff. The fades out from there. Excellent song (5/5)
Gimme a Bullet: This song has a great intro that follows a usual AC/DC song pattern. But there is no guitar solo! The song is very catchy and is fun to sing along to, but it’s a little generic for AC/DC, and the lack of a solo is noticed. A pretty good song over all though (4.5/5)
Riff Raff: The groovy guitar intro will let you know how good the song will be. After about 20 seconds, the bass and rhythm guitar join. After the drums start, Angus plays one of my favorite AC/DC riffs. The song keeps going and the verse starts. The rest of the instruments quiet down a little, but the drums keep the energy of the song going. The chorus is amazing. When Bon sings “Riff Raff!” and Cliff does a cool bass riff, it sounds awesome. The song doesn’t end here, for there is the best guitar solo on the album. Its fast, melodic, and is Angus at his best. After the solo, there is another verse and chorus, and the song ends. The best AC/DC song for sure (5/5)
Sin City: A dark sounding guitar intro leads into a good riff then a verse. Like Riff Raff, the verse is quiet but the drums keep the energy and leads into the a pre chorus, and a chorus with the same riff from the beginning. Angus starts his solo during the end of the chorus, and goes amazingly fast. The solo last for about a minute and leads into a part with only bass and drums. Bon sings for a bit then the guitars come back and start another chorus. The song then ends with the same dark riff from the beginning. Another classic from AC/DC (5/5)
What’s Next To the Moon: The song starts off right away, but is much slower than other AC/DC songs. The lyrics sound more like a poem, and it sounds great. The song gets a little bit boring until after the second chorus, and Malcolm plays a great riff and Angus solos over it. Unfortunately, the solo isn’t that great. It’s to short, and lacks in melody. After that there is another verse and a chorus except Malcolm and Cliff sing along. After that, they play that great riff again, the song fades out from there. Not a bad song, but not as good as the others. (4/5)
Gone Shootin: Another song on the slow side for AC/DC. But this time they do a better job. The riff is awesome and it doesn’t bore you as much as the previous song. The song has a pre chorus that leads up to a catchy chorus that has the same riff. Now its time for Angus to redeem him self with a great solo that is the second best on the album. The song keeps going from there, and ounce you think its over, it starts up again. They just jam from there and fade out. A great song. (5/5)
Up to My Neck in You: A cool 12 bar blues riff start up the song. The whole song is full of energy and stays that way for the whole time. Although this song sounds different than Gimme a Bullet, they have similar quality’s. They are both catchy, generic, and follow the same song structure. Except this one has a great solo. So that’s why I’m giving it a (5/5)
Kicked in the Teeth: Bon starts off the song with the long screaming of “Two face woman with your two face lies!”. The band then plays the main riff and then stops to let Bon sing a line. They do that a few times and you start to get annoyed. Finally the song starts and sounds fast and aggressive. It has the same old song structure as most AC/DC songs, but its definitely not boring. All instruments sound great, and chorus is juicy. But they could have been more creative, so its getting a (4.5/5)
This is my first reveiw so its not the greatest. Please tell me how to inprove. I hope you like it!
