"I'm sick to death of people saying we've made eleven albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we've made twelve albums that sound exactly the same!"
--Angus Young, guitarist and founding member of AC/DC
My cousin David recently said to me, "There should be a word for bands where their songs mostly sound the same." Recalling the above quote, I replied, "There is--AC/DC."
After some careful etymological consideration, David came up with two new words--"genrecrement" (as in, "AC/DC poured genrecrement and never looked back.") and "monogroove" ("With Nickelback, every track is a monogroove with different lyrics."). While he was also amused by Mr. Young's assessment of his own musical career, he theorized that Young probably has a word for people who complain about all his music sounding the same but still sing along because they know all the words. At the time, David had the misfortune of being ferried through the air in a cramped metal tube. The equally unfortunate passenger next to him--whose name I did not get--apparently got involved and came up with the word for such a person, now unofficially known as a "lyricheckler."
But here's the dirty little secret that I've never admitted to David (until now): I'm actually a fan of AC/DC. In fact, I just bought one of their albums a few weeks ago. As one of my favourite internet memes once stated, I don't always listen to AC/DC, but when I do... so do the neighbours.
Like most people, I usually find a monogroove quality--and let's be honest, "monogroove" is considerably easier to say than "genrecrement"--in an artist kind of annoying. On a good day it makes me indifferent toward their music, on a bad day, it makes me detest it. But with AC/DC, I find it kind of charming. In any other artist, I would consider it a sign of laziness when it comes to songwriting. With AC/DC, it's a strength. They know who they are, they know what their fans want, they know what works, why fix what isn't broken?
While I've enjoyed every AC/DC album I've ever heard (and I do admit that I haven't heard them all), I do have a particular fondness for their works featuring original lead vocalist Bon Scott. He tended to exude a certain gleeful sleaziness on those records that, when I'm in the right mood, is frankly delightful. His mastery of the single entendre remains unparallelled.
This week's album is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and may be my favourite. It was originally released only in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe in 1976. It was finally released in America in 1981--more than a year after Scott's death. Please enjoy Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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