Marriage of Convenience

Good evening friends, I hope things find you harmonious tonight. This secular musical missal will be on the topic of the new AC/DC album, "Black Ice". This is their newest album, just released last Monday. It was a Walmart only release though I did see a few copies being sold in Record and Tape Traders.

The album starts out with their new single, "Rock 'n' Roll Train". I like this song quite a bit. Standard AC/DC fair. All the songs on here are standard AC/DC. Never leave the formula because it works too well. But there is a glaring issue with this album.

The album is 15 tracks long. AC/DC albums are normally between 5-10 tracks. They are normally concise and they pack a harder punch. I can't but help blame Walmart for this. I can't imagine Walmart saying we want the exclusive rights to your album, but you can make it however you want. I believe Walmart told AC/DC to stretch the album to be over an hour, otherwise they won't sell it for the already low price of $11.88. Some of the guitar licks aren't strong enough to carry an album. I imagine the original album looked like this:
1. Rock 'n' Roll Train
2. Big Jack
3. Anything Goes
4. War Machine
5. Smash 'n Grab
6. Stormy May Day
7. Black Ice

Then Walmart saw that was only 45 minutes and said "Oh no no no, we're about giving our customers value!" and thus AC/DC, to keep the massive distribution machine that is Walmart on board, went back in the studio and wrote and recorded some songs that are almost cliche versions of the band's style. This really broke my heart. I knew there would be something fishy with this album, but with how good the last Journey album was, which was a Walmart exclusive, I had hopes for the AC/DC album to potentially be a reincarnation of "Back in Black" or "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". but instead its a really strong AC/DC album with pop filler mixed in.

When compared to other AC/DC albums I don't think this one is as strong, but simply because its watered down. Based on the tracks above only, I'd rate it this way:
Uniqueness: 9 - no one can sound like AC/DC
Composition: 6.5 - They're missing an epic anthem, such as For Those about to Rock or Let there be Rock
Vocals: 9 - Brian Johnson drops out of his howl a few times to sing and have a more smokey, jazz voice. Its refreshing.
Instrumental: 7 - You have to wait awhile before you get a guitar solo in this album
Value: 10 - I can't argue with $11.88

But with the album in its current released, bloated state, I'd rate it like this:
Uniqueness: 6 - the style gets a bit dry.
Composition: 5.5 - some sound like they were written to fill time, not our mind
Vocals: - 9
Instrumental: 5 - You have to wait even longer for a guitar solo
Value: 6 - I'd take fewer tracks for a better feeling of completion at this price.

There you have it, the long awaited review of the new album, "Black Ice". In one week I will be seeing The Who. I know you're jealous. I'll be sure to write all about it.

Be good my friends. In the spirit of upcoming events, I quote Roger Daultry with, "Why don't you all f-fade away (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (Talkin' 'bout my generation)"

Be good to yourself.

Explorations

Hello friend(s). I write to you with fond greetings and a grasp at being entertained.

In my quest to find myself entertained, I took a journey to the local Super Walmart which just opened its doors to my Baltimore suburb. It is a bittersweet thing. As much as I despise walmart for censoring song lyrics on albums, thus making me go to a local record store to get my new copy of the Avenged Sevenfold CD. But they did happen to have, set up in demo mode, "Rock Band".

"Rock Band" is a new game coming out from the original designers of Guitar Hero, that not only allows you to play guitar, but drums, bass, and even be a vocalist! I played this demo for an hour, mot of it with a complete stranger on guitar. We became an amazing band. It will be coming out for PS2 on December 11, so I have started saving my pennies already. I may even...trade in....Guitar Hero III to help pay for it.

As I mentioned above about having to go to a local record store to pick up a CD. Thanks to the Walmart policy of censoring, it helped me rediscover the coolness of the "Record and Tape Traders" store in Catonsville. A whole section dedicated to metal. I'm in heaven. While picking up Avenged Sevenfold's new CD, which is incredible, as they continue what they did last album with amazing arrangements, and great vocals, with wonderful lyrics. Its a must buy. Back on topic though, I was able to also pick up another Dream Theater album, and an actual album by Dragonforce. This store not only had the albums I wanted and uncensored, but the CDs were a dollar cheaper. I spent 45 minutes in this little store just browsing. I was never bothered nor did I get odd looks for browsing metal, or buying the groups I was buying. It was a great shopping experience. Not to mention that the CDs I bought, all three of them, stellar.

Well my friends, I hope you find your drum heads tuned and your fills even and intriguing.