AC/DC | Black Ice (Digipack Packaging) | CD

Personnel: Angus Young (guitar); Cliff Williams (bass guitar); Phil Rudd (drums).
Audio Mixer: Mike Fraser.
Has any band ever stayed as true to a winning formula as AC/DC? Over three-plus decades, the Aussie quintet never embraced contemporary fads (like '80s ZZ Top with dance music or mid '90s Metallica with alternative rock) or deviated from their air-guitar-friendly ways. Eight years after their previous effort (the underrated STIFF UPPER LIP), the band comes through again with BLACK ICE. With Phil Rudd's muscled, midtempo beats and the Young brothers' inimitable fret interplay, the album is loaded with fist raisers. No less than three songs specifically mention "Rock & Roll" in their titles.
Familiarities aside, there are some wild cards on BLACK ICE. Brian Johnson sings almost wistfully on the stand-out "Anything Goes" over Angus's staccato picking (reminiscent of the "Highway to Hell" intro). Johnson also delivers some surprisingly blues-inflected performances on tracks like "Stormy May Day" and the workingman's stomp, "Money Made." "War Machine" finds them storming into protest territory for the first time in their Hall of Fame career. Like all their recent outings, BLACK ICE was recorded at the Warehouse in Vancouver by alt-rock super-producer Brendan O'Brien whose no-frills, turn-it-up-and-get-out-of-the-way production approach suits the material perfectly.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop
• Released: 10/26/2009