Rock or Bust
| Rock or Bust | |||||
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| Studio album from AC / DC | |||||
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Publication |
November 28, 2014 |
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admission |
2014 |
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| Label (s) | Sony Music | ||||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, download |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
34:55 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
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Rock or Bust (English for "rocking or going broken") is the fifteenth internationally released studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC / DC . It was released on November 28, 2014 under the Sony Music label .
background
Rock or Bust is the first album without co-founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young , who left the band in September 2014 for health reasons. The album is based on material that has accumulated since the 2008 album Black Ice . Even before the Black Ice tour, Malcolm Young had told the band that he was suffering from increasing dementia , but he would continue as long as he could. He was still involved in the songwriting for Rock or Bust , but then left the band before the recordings. Malcolm Young was replaced by his little younger nephew Stevie Young . Stevie Young also took on Malcolm's part in the rest of the songwriting, brainstorming and arranging riffs.
Initially it was planned to name the album as a reference to Malcolm Young's departure from Man Down . Brian Johnson's idea was rejected because they didn't want to arouse negative associations.
The album was recorded with producer Brendan O'Brien and sound engineer Mike Fraser at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver , Canada . The entire band was in the studio for four weeks. Post-production took a few more weeks. The recordings turned out to be very emotional, because Angus Young in particular found it difficult to work without his well-organized brother, who until then had always collected and structured all song ideas, while Angus Young had a tendency towards chaos.
Malcolm Young's exit wasn't the only difficulty. The drummer Phil Rudd was surprisingly absent from the photo sessions for the album and the shooting of Play Ball , the album's first video release . The recordings took place in London, but Rudd was trapped in New Zealand because the prosecutor there had brought charges against him. In addition to some drug offenses, he was also charged with inciting murder. However, the latter charge was withdrawn shortly afterwards due to lack of evidence. Even during the recordings for the album, the drummer is said to have not worked reliably and to have been difficult to move into the studio. During the video shoot, he was replaced by Bob Richards, the former drummer of (among others) Asia , Man and Shy .
After the end of the recordings, Rudd was officially in the band for some time, but was released from the band after the charges were renewed. Chris Slade replaced Rudd at AC / DC's appearance at the 2015 Grammy Awards on February 8, 2015 and was introduced shortly afterwards as the band's new permanent drummer, who would also play the upcoming Rock or Bust World Tour . Slade had been Rudd's successor from 1989 to 1994.
Rock or Bust was released on November 28, 2014 in Australia and Germany, and worldwide on December 2. There is both a CD and an LP version; the album is also available as a download. Although AC / DC had their albums removed from the iTunes music platform in 2012 , Rock or Bust is available there. In fact, AC / DC streamed the album on iTunesRadio.com three days before its official release .
Track list
All titles are penned by the Angus and Malcolm Young brothers .
| No. | title | length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rock or Bust | 3:03 |
| 2. | Play ball | 2:47 |
| 3. | Rock the Blues Away | 3:24 |
| 4th | Miss Adventure | 2:57 |
| 5. | Dogs of War | 3:35 |
| 6th | Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder | 3:22 |
| 7th | Hard Times | 2:44 |
| 8th. | Baptism By Fire | 3:30 |
| 9. | Rock the House | 2:42 |
| 10. | Sweet candy | 3:09 |
| 11. | Emission Control | 3:41 |
Music genre
At just 35 minutes, it is the shortest AC / DC album to date, two minutes shorter than Flick of the Switch . Musically, the band makes only a few experiments on the album. Unusually these are Led Zeppelin -mäßige Rock the House and the pub rock -number Rock the blues away . Otherwise the album consists of the typical hard rock with blues elements. The riffs are kept simple. Stevie Young adapted Malcolm Young's style in the same way and there were no changes in the songwriting either. The lyrics often use sexual innuendos typical of AC / DC. Text content is rock music , women, cars, parties and alcohol.
reception
The tenor of the criticism of Rock or Bust describes the album as a strong work in the band's history, which lacks innovation and originality, but instead relies on proven virtues and varies well-known elements. The only thing missing is a hit song the likes of which they have n't managed since Thunderstruck or Rock 'n' Roll Train .
Frank Schäfer criticized the somewhat clumsy interaction between Angus and Stevie Young in Rolling Stone . Some songs are fillers, but there are still enough typical elements, and the album also contains enough strong songs. Max Fellmann from the Süddeutsche Zeitung also criticized "moments in which the individual parts do not fit together quite so coherently." The production was also a bit too smooth. Otherwise the album is solid.
Frank Dobler from Laut.de came to the following conclusion:
“Of course the record sounds like everyone expected. And Angus could probably add another one or two straight away - without Malcolm. The only thing that AC / DC is missing in 2014 is perhaps a hit in the sense of ' Highway To Hell ', ' Hell's Bells ' or 'Thunderstruck', but they have released enough good tracks since 'Big Gun' (1993) anyway. "
Arno Frank from Spiegel Online summarizes his criticism as follows:
“There's a lot of hard rock, a little bit stiff boogie , hints of funk and again no hit and no memorable melody in the style of ' TNT ' or 'Highway to Hell'. But that's not what this group is about for a long time. It's about the pure sound of well-calculated insubordination, which, as a former proletarian cipher for undemanding hedonism, has long since made its home in the middle of society. Those who give the jackpot will hardly listen to etudes by Claude Debussy to relax - they will want to let off steam. [...] Well-established music to wrap yourself around a tree on the drive home from the 'local bar' in the rickety Ford Fiesta . "
Michael Pilz from Die Welt wrote a slap for the album. He describes the band without Malcolm Young as a “ farce ” and “sad remnants of the rock band AC / DC”, they are “just the same and no longer the same without their founder”, the album is a “farewell album”. You would have forgotten Stevie Young's guitar riffs "like the whole album".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album in his review on Allmusic as one of the strongest AC / DC albums of recent times. He particularly highlighted the song Sweet Candy , which reminds of the early days of AC / DC. The pieces would also fit together better than on the predecessor Black Ice .
Charts
album
The album reached high chart positions around the world. In Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Australia, among others, it was at the top of the charts. About 72% of sales were generated through conventional sales (CD and LP).
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
 AU
|
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| 2014 | Rock or Bust |
DE1  (57 weeks)DE |
AT1  × 2
(38 weeks)AT |
CH1 × 2
(50 weeks)CH |
UK3  (17 weeks)UK |
US3 (16 weeks)US |
AU1 (30 weeks)AU |
First published: November 28, 2014
Sales: + 2,700,000 |
Single releases
Play Ball and the accompanying video were released on October 7, 2014 as the forerunner of the album. Earlier, the song was a teaser for a commercial to the playoffs of the Major League Baseball on the television station TBS been heard. Two weeks before the album was released, the title track was also released as a single. The video was shot in front of real AC / DC fans and imitates a live performance.
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
AU
|
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| 2014 | Play Ball Rock or Bust |
DE39 (8 weeks) DE |
AT44 (2 weeks) AT |
CH19 (4 weeks) CH |
- | - | - |
First published: October 7, 2014
|
| Rock or Bust Rock or Bust |
DE47 (2 weeks) DE |
AT52 (3 weeks) AT |
CH55 (2 weeks) CH |
- | - | - |
First published: November 17, 2014
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Michael Rensen, Phillipe Lageat: AC / DC - Until the bitter end . In: Rock Hard . No. 332 , January 2015, p. 22-24 .
- ↑ Christoph Dallach: Always keep going! In: Die Zeit , No. 49/2014; Interview with Angus Young
- ↑ a b Nick DeRiso: Brian Johnson Says It Was Difficult Making New AC / DC Album Without Malcolm Young. In: Ultimateclassicrock.com. October 2, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Phil Rudd: Prosecutor withdraws lawsuit against AC / DC drummers. Spiegel Online , November 7, 2014, accessed February 15, 2015 .
- ↑ AC / DC's Angus Young On Phil Rudd: 'He's Not The PHIL We've Known From The Past'. Blabbermouth , November 13, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ David Owens: AC / DC drummer Phil Rudd replaced at video shoot by Welshman Bob Richards after murder plot charge. Wales Online, November 6, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Aurelia Kanetzky: Bye, Phil! AC / DC show new, official band photo. In: Rolling Stone . February 12, 2015, accessed February 15, 2015 .
- ↑ AC / DC confirm Chris Slade will replace Phil Rudd on their 2015 tour. The Guardian , February 13, 2015, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Fabian Broicher: AC / DC continues on the road to success with "Rock Or Bust". Rolling Stone , December 15, 2014, accessed February 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Julia Kluthe: AC / DC: 'Rock Or Bust' now in the stream. In: Rolling Stone . November 25, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Birgit Fuß : AC / DC - The last storm . In: Rolling Stone . No. 242 , December 2014, p. 44-46 .
- ↑ Frank Schäfer: AC / DC - Rock Or Bust : Rock, Rock and Rock . In: Rolling Stone . No. 242 , December 2014, p. 97 .
- ↑ Max Fellmann: Rock, just rock. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . November 29, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ laut.de criticism: There is only one criterion: is it rumbling or not? Laut.de , accessed on February 16, 2015 .
- ^ Arno Frank: New scrap iron for the people. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Michael Pilz: The AC / DC album that nobody will remember. In: Welt Online . November 28, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .
- ^ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 16, 2015.
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US AU
- ↑ Fabian Broicher: Video: AC / DC present new single “Rock Or Bust”. In: Rolling Stone . November 24, 2014, accessed February 16, 2015 .