AC/DC: For Those About to Rock, We Salute You

AC/DC: For Those About to Rock, We Salute You

1981

Atlantic Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)  2.  Put the Finger on You  3. Let's Get it Up  4. Inject the Venom  5. Snowballed  6. Evil Walks  7. C.O.D  8. Breaking the Rules  9.  Night of he Long Knives  10. Spellbound

I remember seeing this record around the house a lot when i was a kid. I was always drawn to the spare striking cover...

My God! That black alternate cover from Spain is possibly even cooler!

Anyway, how do you follow up one of the biggest selling records of all time?

Apparently, by not worrying about it too much and subsequently selling a fraction of what "Back in Black" sold...

But I don't care about sales...I care about rock....

And this record rocks! It has a bit of an odd vibe in that it alternates between slower, scarier songs and  extra poppy rockers. You can start to hear some of the production touches Mutt Lange would use later in his career.  "Let's Get it Up," is a dead ringer for his popular 80's Def Leppard work....

The title track kicks things off not with a bang but with more of a lurch... It somehow achieves  its desired anthemic quality while lumbering menacingly. It really encapsulates the singular tone of the record. And who can forgot those cannons going off! It's celebratory and it's evil...I like it!

The same goes for "Evil Walks." "Care of the Devil" and "Snowballed." Where did they dig up all these great ominous riffs?

On the other hand there's also also a handful of energetic rockers, like "Put the Finger on You," and "Inject the Venom," which keep things moving and stop the album from getting too bogged down.

 (I might get in my DeLorean this weekend and go back in time to 1981 to see this show! AC/DC? Blue Oyster Cult?!?!? SLADE?!?!!  I might have to take a piss  during Whitesnake though...)

Is there anything on here that approaches the heights of the best material on "Back in Black?" Not really. But it does show them tweaking the formula slightly. I actually play this one a lot more at my Friday night Record Parties due to the fact that the tracks aren't quite as overplayed as the "Back in Black" material is...

I say we party like it's 1981, cue up Side one, track 2... "Put the Finger on You!"