AC/DC's fourth album is the lull after the triumph of Let There Be Rock and before the mighty peaks of If You Want Blood You've Got It and Highway To Hell . Powerage contains all the familiar AC/DC trademarks: Bon Scott's rather less than Yeatsian lyrical vision ("Rock & Roll Damnation", "Up To My Neck In You"), Angus Young's brilliantly minimal guitar playing, a rhythm section as relentless and efficient as an infantry regiment, and the astute production of former Easybeats Harry Vanda and George Young. However, it lacks a truly transcendent moment, a "Whole lotta Rosie" or a "TNT". Of course, even an average AC/DC album is still an eloquent lesson in the fundamentals of rock & roll, and by that token Powerage is still capable of blowing most opposition out of the water. Bon Scott's exultant declaration of working-class solidarity, "Riff raff", is worth six Bon Jovi albums on its own. --Andrew Mueller
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