AC/DC's PWR/UP Album Review

Powering Up Again

AC/DC is a band that will soon embody the Ship of Theseus (or grandfather’s axe, if you prefer). I have my own theories on what the future of the band might hold as time is clearly winding down for them. Of course, I'm not positing that the end is near to try and be cynical, but Brian Johnson is the oldest person in the world doing what he does, unless you qualify Yoko Ono as a heavy metal rock star. Unless you believe Johnson, who has nearly been forced into retirement, at least once by medical issues, is immortal than modern medicine all but guarantees that the countdown is on. With that said it’s easy to swap realism for ageism, and simply write them off - I don't think that’s necessarily fair to do but it isn’t something that can be neglected as we get ready to delve into this album, afterall it was Kenny Rogers who said:

“You've got to know when to hold 'em

Know when to fold 'em

Know when to walk away

And know when to run”

The question as I prepare to press play, is this: did AC/DC forget to fold ‘em when they had the chance? Let's find out

PWR/UP

Without further adieu, let’s begin our sonic walkthrough of this 41-minute release that Angus Young proclaimed would pay tribute to his late brother, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young.

In a statement, Angus Young said “This record is pretty much a dedication to Malcolm, my brother. It’s a tribute for him like Back in Black was a tribute to Bon Scott.” Unfortunately, if “Shot in the Dark” is any indication it may be best that Malcolm isn’t around to see it.

- excerpt from Back in Blah, a comprehensive review of the lead single.

Track 1. Realize

As the last single to be released, I heard this approximately 72 hours before the rest of the album dropped, and it sounded like a breath of fresh air after the lead single “Shot in the Dark”. As soon as I heard this, I saw the first glimmer of hope for this album, and I was actually genuinely excited as a fan for the first time since they first started teasing a new album. This was a strong way to start things off and it sets a realistic expectation for the coming tracks; are there better tracks on the album? yes, but there are far worse too, making “Realize” a good, precedent-setting place to start.

Track 2. Rejection

It’s hard to quantify exactly how wrong this song feels. Is this a song about being rejected by a record label, a publisher, maybe, but is it very hard to listen to this song as a woman (y’know 50% of the population) and not feel very uncomfortable? Yes...very hard.

Too often, the words “I’m not interested” have to be taken up to “I have a boyfriend” and too often that becomes a challenge, an invitation to further questions “are you happy with him?” or “that’s just cause you hadn’t met me yet”...don’t get me started on being a lesbian, which we all know translates to “you just haven’t had the right d*ck yet” (insert vomit emoji)

So it does feel incredibly tone-deaf to release a song that goes:

Best give me what I want

Or I'll come for you

Yes, I'll come for you

If you reject me

I take what I want

Disrespect me

And you get burned

Don’t get me wrong...I never thought us ladies were the core demographic for AC/DC’s catalog, but come on guys...you weren’t even this obnoxious in the '70s when this type of violent misogyny was more mainstream. Not only does this track leave a terrible taste in my mouth but I virtually have to pretend it doesn’t exist to continue listening to the album.

Track 3. Shot in the dark

As much as I morally object to the thinly veiled themes of “Rejection” I artistically object to this weird smash cut of reused riffs and melodic choices. We even get a flashback to “Hells Bells” as he invokes the line “rolling thunder” in almost the same cadence. I truly believe this was one of the worst possible choices for a lead single, and the only reason I can see them making this choice is to try to prove that the band hadn’t changed, but maybe that’s the wrong message to shove down people’s throats. See my full review of this track here.

Track 4. Through the Midst of Time

Black Ice was one of the most important albums in AC/DC’s catalogue because it showed growth in the band and actual direction over complacency, it was also the last album that Malcolm was heavily involved in. By the time Rock or Bust came along they had started piecing together scraps that he had left behind, I give it alot of heck for stepping back from the direction of Black Ice but at the end of the day it could have been alot worse, and it was evolution necessary evolution. Tracks like “Through the Midst of Time'' show a continuation of that evolution, where “Shot in the Dark'' spits on it.

Lyrically, this track transcends the typical drugs, sex, rock n’ roll approach and borders on something I could imagine in Zepplin’s catalog. Musically, it resists falling back on some of the recycling we see on “Shot in the Dark” or even “Realize” the latter of which, while I praised it, does borrow heavily from Back in Black’s “What Do You Do For Money Honey”. This is the type of material I’d like to see more of on this album, unfortunately, it winds up being more of a hidden gem instead of the norm.

“Whenever I hear it, I still get goosebumps, I still think of him. I was thinking of him when I sang it. It’s just these things about the happy days when we first started in the ‘80s, when I first joined the band. I just remember these very happy, carefree days….”

Brian Johnson discussing “Through the midst of time” (The Independent, Nov. 14 2020)

Track 5. Kick You When You're Down

As a classic rock fan and a long time AC/DC fan this is probably my personal favorite, while not quite as lyrically rich as “Through the Midst of Time” this is the type of song I want to be next on my favorite heavy metal playlist; it sounds like something you’d listen to on the way to see Wayne’s World in theaters. It is classic, without being tired. It’s retro, without being out of touch. It's heavy, but not overreaching. We are even treated to a saucy little hammer on riff from Angus that shows his ability to play the guitar, even when the gain isn’t turned up to 11. Even though the previous track might be the most well-rounded, this is the one I’ll keep coming back to when I wanna rock out.

Track 6. Witch's Spell

I feel like this is the first example of filler we see on this album; it’s not bad, it’s not great, and I feel like almost anybody from Buckcherry to Airbourne could have done this song just as well. There is so little actual meat on this track that it’s hard to say much about, I would probably be more excited had John Fogerty released this on 1986’s ill-fated Eye of the Zombie album, and you should never be able to say that about an AC/DC song.

Track 7. Demon Fire

While not technically a single, 50 seconds of “Demon Fire” was released as a trailer on Halloween. Before “Realize” dropped this was the first glimmer of hope I saw after “Shot in the Dark”. “Demon Fire” sees Johnson dig back down into the lower part of his vocal register, à la “Stiff Upper Lip” while borrowing musically from tracks of the same era, and in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it was originally written for Stiff Upper Lip. Most importantly it shows a bit of growth and evolution while remaining unmistakably AC/DC, it’s a strong enough track to not be filler, but it would be the bare minimum for an album without filler, PWR/UP is not that album, making this a reasonable middle of the road jam.

Track 8. Wild Reputation

This track is unmistakably AC/DC, we don’t get anywhere new with it but it doesn’t bore either, much like “Demon Fire” or “Realize” it represents a ‘safe bet’ furthermore, I sincerely believe this would have made a far better lead single than “Shot in the Dark”. While lyrically it offers absolutely nothing of substance, we make exceptions for that when it comes to heavy metal. Lyrically and musically no one has gone out of their way for this song, yet by remaining bitterly true to the band and its identity “Wild Reputation” avoids qualifying as true filler.

Track 9. No Man's Land

A starchy and driving little number, “No Man’s Land” sonically holds its own among the mixed bag of tricks on PWR/UP. However, it is probably the most lyricless song on the album, and while repetition is key to great arena rock, the last 1:49 of this 3:00 track is devoted exclusively to rehashing the call and answer chorus/bridge over and over again. In reality, it only contains 8 true verse lines. This song might be filler if it had anything at all to it, but at the end of the day, it struggles against all odds to fill the 3 minutes it was allotted on this album. Ultimately, if you ever find this song by coincidence it’ll probably be on a video game soundtrack because then, at least, you have something entertaining to occupy your mind for the duration.

Track 10. Systems Down

The second song that constitutes pure filler….or is it? I have a tough time with this song, it seems generic enough but musically there is some reasonable effort put in and while there isn’t alot going on lyrically, there is enough here to make an argument that it’s at least as good as “Realize” or “Demon Fire” and it may actually have a higher replay value for me than the latter. This is the type of song that is truly at odds with itself, it wants so badly to be good and it comes so close that you really wanna just ‘round up’ and call it ‘good’.

Track 11. Money Shot

Delivered with all the grace and palatability of its namesake, the subject of this ditty is the worst thing that you think it might be. Musically this song has the potential to be a classic AC/DC romp, but then ...there are lyrics, lyrics like this:

Lady, try the money shot

Doctor, what's the antidote?

Lady, just try the money shot

(Best taken when hot)

I got a good prescription

For the state of your condition

You gotta take it three times a day

Or as much, or as much as you may

There is loyalty to your brand and your image, and then there is an ignorant refusal to see things for what they are. Songs like “Wild Reputation” track with the band’s image, even “Shot in the Dark” was something that at least made sense, even if the execution was 3rd rate. “Money Shot” is about this elderly, 73-year-old man ….

...reaching the height of sexual gratification...ON YOUR FACE…. 3 TIMES A DAY!

Now...I don’t want to seem negative… but as much as I find it slightly cringy even when rappers drop a line like this...I find it even harder to accept coming from someone who would need prescription assistance to follow through with it.

A good rule of thumb might just be: if the majority of your fans have teenage grandchildren… It might not hurt to scale back on the songs about ejaculate. Bruh, your sperm count is lower than your record sales, cool it already.

Track 12. Code Red

What I assume is a track from their aborted rock opera, this seems like more shameless filler. Mostly chorus and lacking any connection to the band’s image, this song feels more like it was commissioned for a soundtrack album than any kind of triumphant return to relevance, as this album would want us to believe it is.

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Overall Problems and Praise

Nobody is under any misconception that we physically improve with age, sure people assume age brings wisdom, but anyone over 60 will be the first to regal you with stories of their various aches and pains and how their body just isn’t what it used to be. Ever heard the old boomer joke “What I used to do all night, now takes all night to do”? It isn’t wrong to acknowledge that our physical attributes tend to take a beating as we age (consider that the average retirement age of a professional athlete is 35). I’m saying all this to qualify the following statement, Brian Johnson is one of the world's most famous vocalists, and shockingly his voice is still fairly strong, that said, his ability to enunciate isn’t there like it once was. AC/DC was never Shakespeare, but age has resulted in a mush-mouthed, mumbling delivery on a number of tracks. This power over prowess approach is at times reminiscent of a young band more focused on driving their aggressive sound then honoring fans with a respect for the material (think early live Slipknot)...of course for AC/DC that's not the case, it is perhaps overwhelming loyalty to the craft that has pushed them to this, their unwillingness to heed Roger’s advice and simply “Fold ‘em”.

On a more positive note, this was conceptually a much stronger album than I expected, and for all of its faults, I found myself dancing more than once, during the first listen. While it has its drawbacks, at the end of the day the album as a whole remains true to AC/DC: You get it the first time, it’s not too deep, and it hits hard and fast. Perhaps the one benefit to “Shot in the Dark” as a lead single was that it set my expectations extraordinarily low, so any sign of hope was welcomed.

It’s asking alot for AC/DC to undergo a major artistic evolution, they aren’t going to at this stage; but this album, in spots, does continue the growth that seemed to blossom out of Black Ice.

The high points were the almost begrudging ability of the band to still show some evolution. I had longed to see what would have come after Black Ice if Malcolm had still been around (I don’t believe Rock or Bust is it) and I think tracks like “Through the Midst of Time”, gave us a taste of that, and I for one am grateful.

The low points of this album are the moments when they struggle to recapture the groupie-haze of the '80s and the quasi-"Thunderstruck" and “You Shook Me All Night Long” type of tracks. Regardless how sleazy and unsettling it was, the thing about bands like Warrant, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, and yes, even AC/DC at that time - was that they were artful masters of the double-entendre, no matter how gross the subject (“Cherry Pie”, really?) it somehow still sounded like a cocky teen popping his collar as freshman girls swooned. But the way they have laid out songs like “Money Shot”, and “Rejection” is more akin to a jaundiced war vet sexually harassing waitresses at a Denny’s. Luckily knowing this album is a patchwork of Malcolm Young’s leftovers, I am relieved that they veered away from this vibe on most of the tracks.

They could go out on this album with some dignity, it’s a strong effort, but on such a thin wire that it can’t be repeated, if for no other reason than medical limitations and mortality.

The worst-case scenario for their legacy would be an 80-year-old Johnson at a studio in 2026 trying to shout about his ferocious sexual prowess; another album would surely represent something very sad. If I was the kind of blogger to give numerical ratings, this sucker would be lucky to get out of here with a 6/10 and an A for effort.

Check out my top picks for AC/DC in this playlist: #creamof AC/DC

Additional notes:

My review referenced a Brian Johnson quote from an interview with The Independent, you can find the original interview here: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/acdc-interview-angus-brian-johnson-power-up-b1721735.html

My "Shot in the Dark" single review and further thoughts on the band: https://vocal.media/beat/back-in-blah-ac-dc-is-back-with-a-brand-new-single

My reaction to the world premier of the official "Shot in the Dark" music video: https://vocal.media/stories/ac-dc-shot-in-the-dark-global-video-premiere-review