AC/DC 'Powerage'

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:00 am

FIle this under 'Great Overlooked Albums'....

I realize AC/DC isn't typical discussion fare around here, but I've always wondered why this album is so overlooked in their catalog? Your run-of-the-mill AC/DC fan often doesn't even realize it exists (maybe that's just a problem in the US?). Somehow it managed not to produce any enduring anthems for the band, yet the album is damn good from start to finish IMO. Yet for every 100 times you hear someone mention 'High Voltage', 'Dirty Deeds', 'Let There Be Rock', or 'Highway to Hell', you'd be lucky to hear one passing reference to 'Powerage'. What gives? It's classic Bon era material throughout, including great rockers in 'RnR Damnation' and 'Riff Raff', killer bluesy material like 'Downpayment Blues' and 'Gone Shootin', and fantastic lyrics throughout, highlighted on my personal favorite cut, 'What's Next to the Moon'. While it lacks the hits that 'Let There Be ROck' and 'HtH' contain, I find 'Powerage' a stronger album than those two when you line them up song-for-song. And maybe that's it's problem; the songs are all consistently solid, but that just doesn't make up for the lack of a song that got permanently ensconced in their set list.

Thoughts on this album and why its popularity has always lagged far behind the rest of the Bon Scott albums? Is it more popular outside the US?

bigfootkit · Post by **bigfootkit** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:25 am

I absolutely agree with everything you said about "Powerage", it's one of my favourites in the Acca Dacca back catalogue.
I think it gets overlooked because it came between the two Scott era studio albums that were big landmarks for the band, "Let There Be Rock" and "Highway To Hell". The former because it was the album that put them in the big league in Europe, and the latter because it gave them their first big success in America.
In contrast "Powerage" was the album that consolidated their position between the two landmark releases, and i reckon that;s why it fell between the cracks a little.
It's become the conniseurs choice down the years, perhaps because very little of it has become too over familiar, you just don't hear "Powerage" tracks on the radio for instance.
Apparently it's Keith Richards favourite, and the reason why AC/DC played a few dates with The Stones a couple of years back.
I realise that AC/DC's mention will probably raise a few eyebrows here, but at the time they were considered a Heavy Metal band, and Motorhead aside, were probably one of the heaviest live bands of the '70's.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 7:42 am

"Sin City" is probably the best song to listen to while driving. Ever.

Black Axe · Post by **Black Axe** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:12 am

This thread certainly doesn't belong here, no matter what some idiots thought/think. Just because it's loud, doesn't make it metal. Rock 'n' Roll needs a powerful 'n' loud delivery too.

I didn't know it was overlooked though, as it is by far my favourite AC/DC album. :p I think it might indeed be more populair outside the US because I bought the album because I heard such good things about it. The name of the album doesn't equal a big hit with a cheeky name to trigger the memory of the masses, but among fans I think it's regarded as one of their best.

J.K. · Post by **J.K.** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:57 am

Powerage is trapped between two milestones: Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell. So, it doesn't help. Anyway, I see many good comments about it, I don't think it's left behind. Sometimes I think that it deserves less attention because I prefer LTBR and HTH hehe.

Nevertheless... I got this strange feeling that AC/DC put out their best album just after the death of Bon Scott (Back In Black). Like Highway was the final step before the true masterpiece but Bon Scott didn't managed to achieve this, as he tragically died. So that's pretty strange that the band released something their singer has always waited for and helped to did, without him in the end. Poor Bon Scott.

I guess there's many only-Bon Scott-is-real dudes here, but seriously Brian Johnson is great too.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:26 pm

I've got nothing against Johnson, but i think the band's songwriting didn't hold up very well through the 80s, so I don't like that material as much simply b/c of lack of quality, not b/c "it's not Bon".

I got 'Powerage' in the early 90s and it took a lot of hunting around to find a copy here in the US. Every other Ac/DC album is readily available at record stores, but not 'Powerage'. The only reason I even knew it existed was b/c John Allinson, the old vinyl dealer, was always raving about an AC/DC track called 'Gone Shootin' that wasn't on any of their albums I knew about; for awhile i was assuming it was a B-side!

Rock vs Metal.... some bands simply have a foot in each world, and that's fine by me

J.K. · Post by **J.K.** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:48 pm

nightsblood wrote:I've got nothing against Johnson, but i think the band's songwriting didn't hold up very well through the 80s, so I don't like that material as much simply b/c of lack of quality, not b/c "it's not Bon".

That's true! Except for Back In Black ? What do you think of this album ? Because for me, it is perfect regarding the songwriting.

Keir · Post by **Keir** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:04 pm

Personally I think Back In Black is the most overrated album in the history of rock.

I've never understood why Powerage is so unpopular though. It's not my favorite AC/DC album, but it is certainly of the same caliber as the rest of the Bon Scott albums.

J.K. · Post by **J.K.** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:08 pm

Keir wrote:Personally I think Back In Black is the most overrated album in the history of rock.

lol... This means nothing if you're talking of rock history! Then what do you think of albums from White Stripes, Tokio Hotel or even U2 hahaha.

There's way too much shit in rock history that have sold millions albums and are praised by all the trendies. ^^

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:46 pm

BiB is a great album IMO, but it's the last good one they did. There are good songs from later on, but I've never heard a full album after biB that I like.

bigfootkit · Post by **bigfootkit** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 12:23 am

nightsblood wrote:BiB is a great album IMO, but it's the last good one they did. There are good songs from later on, but I've never heard a full album after biB that I like.

I whole heartedly agree.
The thing with "Back In Black" is that a lot of the material was demoed before Bon's passing, (with him on drums), and if the strong suggestions in Clinton Walker's "Highway To Hell" Bon biography are to be believed, the lyrics too were mainly taken from Bon's lyric notebooks.
This makes a lot of sense as the songs and lyrics were never as consistently good on any of the albums following "Back In Black", the arrangements became far more pedestrian and the clever/stupid double entendre lyrics degenerated into plain dumb single entendre nonsense like "Stiff Upper Lip" et al.
Nothing against Brian Johnson, he's got a distinctive voice and seems like a nice enough guy, but the band seemed to lose their direction and drive after "Back In Black".
Fair play to them though, they worked long and hard for their success, i believe "Back In Black" is the 2nd best selling album ever so i don't suppose they care what i think.

Plantweed · Post by **Plantweed** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:37 am

I LOVE this album. It's probably my favorite AC/DC album; LTBR was a massive, manic, firing-at-all-cylinders monster of a record, and this one felt like the band was catching its wind a bit, like a rough hangover. HTH has a bit too much of Mutt Lange for me, it's sounds more polished and commercial. I also like Powerage's bluesy feel; parts of it almost sound like southern rock. And it contains my all-time favorite song of theirs, "Down Payment Blues."

great_knuthulhu · Post by **great_knuthulhu** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:28 pm

I often think of Powerage as the very best Ac/Dc album. It has a very strong "feel" which 80s "sleaze" bands probably wished they could have emulated. It's one of my fave albums of all time.

Back in Black is a great album, but it lacks Bon Scott's performance and interpretation which was a major part of what the band was all about.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:38 pm

Nice to see 'Powerage' getting some love

Agree w/ Plantweed's assessments: HtH never sounded heavy enough to me (good songs, but it's too thin/clean). And Powerage does have a sorta laid-back, bluesy/southern rock vibe that works really well