AC/DC - Back in Black

I am so tired of people ragging on Phil Rudd.

Back in my Prog Rock days I had a Mike Portnoy instructional VHS, and on it he demonstrated something by playing a simple straight ahead rock beat. He sarcastically added at the end of it "this beat is so simple, it could be an AC/DC song."

Shut up Portnoy.

Just because Phil Rudd doesn't play odd times, or poly rhythms, or other complicated stuff doen't mean that he can't. He plays what suits the songs he is given. I always secretly hoped that Phil Rudd would come out with some abstract free jazz record full of all the stuff "real" drummers want to hear, just to shut them up.

Phil Rudd is a genius, and here is why. He found a band where all he had to do was play drums in a way that made dudes with mullets pump their fists in the air. Turns out the best way to do it is mid tempo hard rock and roll. While it is easy to play, it guarantees that Phil could get piss loaded drunk (something he did probably way too much in the eighties) and still play perfectly. If that's not brilliant I don't know what is.

Millions of people that don't even know how to play drums will air drum to Phil Rudd. Who doesn't air drum the snare/cymbal hit on the 2 of You (BAM!) Shook Me All Night Long when you hear it on the radio. It's timeless and it will be heard by more people for more years than most rock music.

Just think of how many awesome drummers that are going now. I guarantee you that at least 70 percent of them early on drummed along to AC/DC records. It's a crucial stepping stone that they have laid. It's like an introduction to rock music class rolled into a discography. Sure it's not deep, introspective rock music, but it's not supposed to be. AC/DC make music to drink beer and fuck girls to, and I'm pretty sure they do it better than everyone else (yes, even KISS).

I'm not even going to talk about the drums on this record because if you havn't already heard every song on Back In Black then you're a moron and get the hell off my blog.

There, I'm done.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Shoot to Thrill, Hells Bells, Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution