Powerage＜完全生産限定盤/Gold Vinyl＞

AC/DC 活動50周年記念アナログ盤(ゴールド・ヴァイナル)
1978年発売 5枚目のオリジナル・アルバム『Powerage』

1978年発売。タイトルといいアートワークといい、まさしくAC/DCの象徴"アンガス・ヤング"をよく表している。この作品からAC/DC不動のベーシストとなったクリフ・ウィリアムスが新たに加入。オリジナルとしては5枚目の作品。'77年には遂に念願の全米進出を果し、翌'78年の本作リリースよりAC/DCの快進撃が始まった。「地獄のロックンロール」「リフ・ラフ」「悪徳の街」などアンガス&マルコムのリフ・マスターっぷりを堪能することができる。
バンドの活動50周年を記念したアナログ盤(ゴールド・ヴァイナル)で発売。

Powerage was a first in the sense that it debuted bassist Cliff Williams, but it really is more of a final curtain to the band's early years. It would be the last produced by Vanda & Young, the legendary Australian production team who also helmed hits by the Easybeats, and it was the last before AC/DC became superstars. As such, it's perhaps the most overlooked of their '70s records, also because, frankly, it is the most uneven of them. Not that it's a bad record -- far from it, actually. There are a few genuine classics here, most notably "Down Payment Blues" and "Up to My Neck in You," and there's a real appeal in how Bon Scott's gutter poems of excess are reaching a mythic level; there's a real sense that he truly does believe that rock & roll leads straight to hell on "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation." But overall, the record is just a bit too wobbly, one where the parts don't add up to a record as hard and addictive as before -- but there's still plenty worth hearing here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine