AC/DC - “Power Up” Review
Code red to fans that enjoy classic rock, — AC/DC has returned from their six year hiatus to release their new album “POWER UP” on Friday, adding to their rock and roll resume.
AC/DC is a decorated rock band that has produced a number of classic rock songs such as “Back in Black” or “Thunderstruck,” and they dropped “POWER UP,” a rock album that helped listeners to feel that nostalgic sound of classic rock once again.
“POWER UP” opens up with “Realize,” setting the pace for the rest of the album musically with electric guitar and drum chords that arguably resemble one of the band's top songs of all time “Highway to Hell.”
Instrumentally, the album flows together with a reminiscing feel incorporating sounds that are a blast from the past that are not quite the same. “Code Red” starts off almost identically to an old classic song of theirs, “Back in Black,” and continues to rock with that almost identical beat pattern that made AC/DC such a popular rock band.
The album set long time listeners of AC/DC 40 years back into the golden age of rock with the energy they had in “POWER UP,” and the beat of each song keeps listeners rocking and rolling until the sun comes up.
After the death of Malcolm Young, co-founder and rhythm guitarist of AC/DC in 2017, audiences were intrigued on how the sound of this new album would feel or if they were going to get a new type of rock, but AC/DC didn’t shy away from the old gritty nature of rock that fans adored.
The lyrics in “Through the Mists of Time” sends a shiver through listeners' spines with lyrics like “see dark shadows on the walls/See the pictures/Some hang, some fall,” which gave audiences the belief that this is a homage to the late Young.
“POWER UP” was an album that allowed fans to enjoy the sounds of the ‘80s that they grew up listening to.
Not only was the album astounding because it gave the fans of AC/DC a blast from the past, but it also provided the original sounds for newer generations of rockers to listen to and thus, get a taste of the sounds of the older generation.
AC/DC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and could have stopped there but continued to release four albums since then, including “POWER UP,” showing that they have still got what it takes to keep rocking.
Audiences waited since 2014 for this album and fans felt that this was quite worth the wait, so hopefully AC/DC will keep this pace with the similar electric guitar and drum chords that continue to work with future albums, which they hope will be sooner than another six year wait.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewers favorite songs: “Realize,” “Demon Fire,” “Code Red”
Reviewers least favorite songs: “Kick You When You’re Down”
Nicholas Mancuso is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact, email nbm9@psu.edu.
