AC/DC

Live At River Plate

Sony

Another twenty-year gap, another live album, this is the tour-souvenir for anyone who went to the Black Ice World Tour. I caught the show, doesn’t make me want to listen to the album. You can’t say it’s terrible – but it’s certainly by rote. The previous live album arrived at the right time, it summed up the Brian Johnson and Bon Scott eras well (I should clarify that Bon was there in spirit only, it’s still Johnson as lead singer covering the Bon songs). And there wasn’t any AC/DC best of about, technically there still isn’t (but they’ll do a movie soundtrack/tie-in for numbers) – but why anyone really needs Live At River Plate if they have the previous AC/DC Live would seem a mystery. You don’t really need live versions of Rock’n’Roll Train and War Machine – they were the filler-tunes on this tour. The only acceptable aim for this record is to reach AC/DC fans who are 20. Even then, they probably got into the band by hearing their older brother’s copy of the previous live album. Or their parents’ copy. Especially if they’re from Hastings.

Perhaps someone who has purchased at least a dozen of the 37 Paul McCartney live albums released across the last two decades could answer why you might need Live At River Plate. Does such a person exist? They must do right – but then they’re not out reading reviews; they’re just collecting merchandise.

The cover of this album is a little sad too, right? I mean, Angus has been a schoolboy for longer now than some schools exist (can I get a ho-hum hell-yeah from any Christchurch readers?) but fuck – finally – he looks ridiculous. This soulless guitar-strangler just looks silly. Never mind the age thing, it just sinks in that he and AC/DC have nothing left to offer beyond becoming Heavy Metal’s Rolling Stones. Something that happened about a decade ago, when they opened for the Rolling Stones.

You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album. You do not need this album.

Now go buy this album anyway because you were at the show, right? Rock On! Pfff…