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Review |
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Ever since their award-winning debut album, ’Runnin’
Wild’, Airbourne have been at the forefront
of a much reinvigorated rock n’ roll scene.
Their incredible live performances, powered as much
by the band’s colossal volume levels as for
frontman Joel O’Keefe’s daredevil antics,
have been a large part of their appeal. Suddenly,
we find metal/rock festival organisers, like Download
did last year, considering the prospect of devoting
a whole day to putting on old-school rock bands,
and the rise and rise of Airbourne has been a large
factor in that.
Often referred to as “the new (or baby)
AC/DC“, the Aussie rockers haven’t
really done anything spectacular to warrant such
adoration. The music they play doesn’t reinvent
the genre; much the opposite, it sticks very much
to the classic template laid down many moons ago
and nurtured by bands like AC/DC, Van Halen, Thin
Lizzy and Def Leppard. They don’t sing about
“politics or social injustices”, as
Joel is keen to point out, choosing rather to
sing about “having a good time, no matter
what.” So, it’s no surprise to find
that this new album simply follows on where their
debut left off. If it ain’t broke, and all
that…
Jagged riff-rich verses and hammering singalong
choruses characterise the album with tracks like
‘No Way But The Hard Way’ and ‘Raise
The Flag’ giving us a faceful of that hard
livin’, hard drinkin’, hard rockin’
spirit - the latter will inevitably become a live
favourite with it’s infectious chorus. ‘Blonde,
Bad And Beautiful’ and ‘Armed And
Dangerous’ - “I had one too many pills
now I’m high on sextasy” - send the
cheese-o-meter off the charts but then that‘s
part of the appeal, isn‘t it?
The album has been recorded live and straight
to analogue so it retains about as much of the
feel of a live show as you’re going to get.
It’s purely no frills, with the band going
to great lengths not to get too comfortable whilst
they laid it down - word is they slept in the
studio so they could start recording as soon as
they got up. “Ain’t no way but the
hard way”, recalls Ryan O’Keefe.
It’s certainly got bite. ’Bottom
Of The Well’, for instance, utilises space
to turn down the pace and give Joel the opportunity
to really show off his throaty, red-raw vocal
to the full. Then, ‘Steel Town’, inspired
apparently by the rabid working class crowds that
they encountered on tour, displays not only the
band’s passion for their fans, but also
their love of a decent finger-mangling solo. Yep,
it’s a strong, if overtly safe, album that
their fans will undoubtedly lap up.
4/5
Review by John Skibeat |
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| Band
Members |
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Joel O'Keeffe
Ryan O'Keeffe
David Roads
Justin Street |
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| Track
Listing |
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1.Born To Kill
2. No Way But The Hard Way
3. Blonde, Bad and Beautiful
4. Raise The Flag
5. Bottom Of The Well
6. White Line Fever
7. It Ain't Over Till It's Over
8. Steel Town
9. Chewin' The Fat
10. Get Busy Livin'
11. Armed And Dangerous
12. Overdrive
13. Back On The Bottle |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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