This album begins with 12 tomes of a bell, followed by each instrument in the band starting with the guitars, then the the drums before landing gracefully at the first words uttered by the bands newly found lead singer. The song being “Hells Bells” sets the bar for the whole album as a powerful rolling thunder that’s about to hit your ear drums. With it’s easy lyrics and skillful guitar work this track opens up the album in the best way setting a clear tone and making listeners aware the loss of a band member won’t effect the music they’ll continue to make. Also the back up vocals on the chorus of this song are mad, they add another level of depth to the song making it more powerful.

Then we move on to a song that features very prominently in the marvel cinematic universe when it was played to welcome Iron Man to our screens in the film Iron Man 2 “Shoot to Thrill”. It’s a well known AC/DC song and rightly so, as it’s filled with small solos that make you want to bust out an air guitar. Then at 3 minutes and 23 seconds the song slows down to the emergence of a rolling drum beat, as it continues it builds in tempo which seems to restart the song from zero all the way back up to the wailing guitar energy this band is known for.

You can probably now tell why this is my favorite album considering I’ve only explained two songs in 3 paragraphs. So here is a quickfire round for the next few tracks. “What Do You Do for Money Honey” is a toe tapping smack to the jaw that asks the rhetorical question in the title, alluding to the profession of the woman he’s singing to. If you give it a listen she’s either a gold digger or a lady of the night… if you know what I’m saying, but subject matter aside it’s a cracking tune. Then as a two in one, I don’t have to tell readers of a certain age what Brian is singing about in “Giving the Dog a Bone” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You”. Aside from the undertones the first of these tracks matches the energy of the previous songs while the second slows the pace slightly, preparing the listener for the title track of the album that looms afterward.

Back in Black, the name on the front cover and the best song that lies within (according to a Rolling Stones readers’ poll). It’s an instantly recognizable classic from the high hat at the very beginning to the wailing guitar that ushers in the vocals. This song maintains the bands style and energy throughout with a powerful kick drum beat and a myriad of excellent guitar riffs. Scott delivers a high intensity performance with lyrics that stick, of which he’ll come to be known for in the coming albums. This song is topped off by not one but two well delivered solos, the first being before the bridge, and the other taking us to the end of the track which is guaranteed to make anyone break out their air guitar.

Now on to my personal favourite song on the album and possibly in the AC/DC discography “You Shook Me All Night”. This song was originally released ahead of the album as a single to some commercial success. The song sees our front man Brian Johnson detail his evening with an earth shatteringly beautiful woman as described in the chorus. The introduction to this anthem comes in the form of a small 20 second solo, before Phil Rudd makes an entrance with a steady beat to set up the rhythm guitar. This dances alongside Brian’s description of a woman who literally rocked his world. Something I especially like is the use of the band as backing vocals for the title lyrics in each chorus, as it adds a lot more to the sound, making the statement more powerful. Speaking of powerful, the solo after the second chorus and the remaining chorus really bring the song to an energetic finish, keeping those words ringing in my ears until the next track.

It’s time for another quick fire round, this one featuring “Have a Drink on Me” and “Shake a Leg”. The first of these two is a power chord filled anthem about enjoying a night of revelry with more than a few drinks, this track is just fun from start to finish and solidifies the assumption that rockstars party hard. Then the 9th track on the album is rebellious, loud and jagged, it paints a perfect picture of an “Idol Juvenile” looking to go against the grain. With a face melting solo kicking in at the two and a half minute mark and a series of quick smart lyrics paired with those signature vocals, I think it was well executed and definitely paints a picture of the unruly youth.

Finally we’ve reached the 10th and final track on this iconic album “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”. The band let us know that they aren’t going anywhere soon and that their sound holds a place in the future of music. Starting with a quiet guitar riff that keeps repeating, slowly growing in volume until the kick drum accompanies. Before long Johnson’s vocals bring all the instruments together leading us in to the instantly memorable chorus. This song has a slower tempo to some of the other tracks on the album, and with the addition of the bands vocals on the chorus, it adds a lot more weight to the sound making it feel like an epic finale to what I believe to be a fantastic album.

In conclusion, I think this album deserves its place near the top of the best selling albums of all time. Due to the energy of each of the 10 performances within, and the bands relentless passion for Rock and Roll that prompted them to get straight back in the studio after the loss of their original lead singer. Needless to say I think this will remain one of my favourites for years to come, and hopefully in this article I’ve explained why.

Thanks for reading and I assure you there will be more to come.

Now although most of my physical music is quite old I assure the readers of this blog I’m also up to date with new releases as well so there will be a few passing judgements on all eras of music, as well as a multitude of genres due to my extremely varied taste, for instance I have music from AC/DC and Pink Floyd sitting on a shelf next to Louis Prima, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight this is adjacent to the almost complete discography of Kanye West needless to say I have a pretty bizarre order to my aforementioned collection but I’m working on that.

I’ll also state for the record that these posts will be dedicated to an album or collection of albums and my thoughts on them, I’ll be honest though most of them will most likely be positive as I find it hard to write any music off as inherently bad (unless it lacks all creativity and skill, that being said if I wouldn’t buy it I probably won’t talk about it)

Now the boring bit is out the way I’d like to welcome you the reader in on a few thoughts and feelings on some of my favourite albums.

Next post coming very soon,