Nov
6
2006
Rock and Roll Damnation
The title of this post is perhaps my favorite AC/DC song. From the vastly underrated 1978 album Powerage, the song contains some of Bon Scott's finest recorded swagger and a good shot of Angus Young's fine axe work. Powerage just might be the best 40 minutes in AC/DC's changeless and ageless catalog.
I've spent a good part of my life listening to rock and roll in all its vagaries. I'm not claiming to be an expert on anything, just sayin' that I've spent my fair share of time soaking up the Zep and the 'Purple (who actually have a fucking MySpace page!), The Pistols and The Clash, The Stones and The Who. And I've dedicated the past seven years to, for the most part, Bob Dylan and The Tragically Hip. Maybe the occasional detour into jazz - a little bit of Coltrane or Monk never hurt anyone - just to shake things up a little bit. But I remain a slave to rock and roll. And what I really mean here is that nobody - save perhaps Motorhead in their finer moments - kicked it out like Bon Scott-era AC/DC. And if you refute that statement, remind me to give you a nice right cross to the jaw the next time we meet. Take all that aggressive punk posturing bullshit and set it next to "Let There Be Rock". I tell ya, when it comes to speaker-melting awesomeness, nothing is as monumental or ball-crushing as Whole Lotta Rosie. Nothing rocks your face like What's Next to the Moon. And who can argue with the profound beauty of Problem Child?
All of this changes at the drop of a hat, mind you. Talk to me next week, and I'm all up on the Misfits (who were, truly, one of the most brilliantly satirical bands of all time). A month from now and I'll be spouting off about The Ramones and how Judy is a Punk likely caused the downfall of thousands of teenaged girls and Surfin' Bird should have changed the world. And on certain days, I will wax philosophical about the sublime chaos and sheer fist-fuck power of Motorhead's No Sleep 'Till Hammersmith, second only to The Who's Live at Leeds in terms of capturing a band at their rawest and best.
Having said all that, I must confess that I haven't picked up too much rock and roll as of late. Picked up the new Hip album on the day of release and it's fantastic. Other than that I've just been listening to the old shit, which is now the new shit from what I hear. The biggest lesson that rock and roll can teach: Music is elliptical.
OK, gotta go. Just cued up Lemmy's filthy sack of shit and it's time to melt my face to the croaked chords of Overkill.
