Rock Or Bust (2014)
1. Rock or Bust
2. Play Ball
3. Rock the Blues Away
4. Miss Adventure
5. Dogs of War
6. Got Some Rock and Roll Thunder
7. Hard Times
8. Baptism By Fire
9. Rock the House
10.Sweet Candy
11.Emission Control
There comes a time in any band’s lifespan where the line between resilience and repetition becomes difficult to distinguish. With Rock or Bust, their sixteenth studio album and only their second release of original material in 14 years, AC/DC found themselves straddling that very line, leather boots firmly planted in the gravel of their own legend. It’s an album that sounds—how shall we put this?—like an AC/DC album. But perhaps, at this stage, that’s both its curse and its lifeline.
Never a band to truck in reinvention, AC/DC built a granite empire on three chords, a growl, and a swaggering strut. Critics long accused them of releasing the same album over and over again. Now, more than 40 years in, it's a critique that feels less damning than it once did—after all, what’s the alternative? The last attempt to deviate (Black Ice) flirted with mainstream gloss and missed its mark by a mile. Rock or Bust, by contrast, is a retreat to the bunker, a 35-minute blast of familiar riffs, bloodied-knuckle choruses, and song titles that stubbornly cling to the word “rock” like it’s a talisman against aging.
Indeed, nearly half the album’s cuts use that magic word, as though conjuring the spirit of past glories with sheer repetition. The title track opens the set with brute force—simple, stomping, satisfyingly dumb. It's AC/DC 101. And while there are moments that flicker with the old fire, the effect is like hearing echoes in a great stone hall; what once felt urgent now feels rehearsed, even ritualistic. The volume still thrills, but the danger feels distant.
Part of the album’s fatigue may stem from timing. Released amid a swirl of personal tragedies and public scandals, the band itself was unraveling. Founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, the band's engine and architect, was forced into retirement by advancing dementia—a blow no rhythm section can entirely withstand. His nephew Stevie does an admirable job filling in, but the tight-jawed precision of Malcolm’s rhythm work is missed like a heartbeat.
As if that weren’t enough, drummer Phil Rudd became tabloid fodder for reasons as bizarre as they were disturbing, involving arrests and alleged threats of violence. Then, as the tour rolled on, Brian Johnson—whose screech could peel the paint off an oil drum—was benched by his doctors due to catastrophic hearing loss. Enter Axl Rose. Yes, that Axl. The last-minute substitution felt more like a reality show twist than the next chapter in the band's storied career.
So where does Rock or Bust leave us? It’s not a bad album, nor is it a memorable one. It’s a clenched-fist salute from a band refusing to go gently, even if the punch now lands with less force than before. One can imagine future retrospectives, live albums, even another studio release somewhere down the line—perhaps six or eight years hence. But make no mistake: the storm is waning.
What’s remarkable isn’t that AC/DC sound the same—it’s that they still sound at all. Rock or Bust may not rock like the old days, but it carries with it the echoes of a thunder that once shook the earth.
Go to the Next Review
Back To Main Page