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AIRBOURNE “Airbourne”
AIRBOURNE “Airbourne”
By Colonel Angus
Just shy of hitting the two decade mark, AIRBOURNE is back with another album that not only sounds like them but also builds upon the earlier releases. What I mean by that is that the band stays in their lane but they do it so well that not only are you not bothered by that, you welcome new material because it gives you more of the same but with an additional twist to keep things interesting. I love the raw sound and energy of their previous albums and when I read that they spent months (you read that right, months) on their drum sound, I was a little afraid that they were going to strip the magic that they captured on “No Guts. No Glory”. and “Black Dog Barking”. Luckily, the band has maintained their edge and brought it a couple of surprises.
Kicking things off, “Gutsy” has that AC/DC vibe and builds into the type of rocker that they are known for. The chorus is catchy as hell and the verses are glorious sleazy rock ‘n roll. Quickly following is “Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)” which has this great 80s metal sound along with a touch of W.A.S.P., especially in the chorus. I have to say that the production on this album is great and it seems that the extra time to get the sound right really paid off.
The band received help from producer Robert “Mutt” Lange and Bryan Adams with writing on a couple of tracks and they are just what you would expect from this hit making duo. First up is “Here She Comes” which has all the hooks and bombastic choruses that made those two famous. I have to admit, while I like the tune, it did venture off a little to the slick territory of the late 80s which took a detour from the band's original vibe. Still a good song but I tend to like them in their purest form. “Kid in a Candy Store” restores that sleazy rock ‘n roll found on the first two cuts. Joel O’Keeffe puts in a great vocal performance here and makes the lyrics come to life in a best (and sleazy) possible way.
Switching gears a little, the band put forth a strutting rocker called “Sky High” that slows things down a bit but still maintains all those choruses that will have you humming for days. Even though it isn’t one of their patented hard hitting numbers, it is still one of the highlights on this self-titled disk. Starting off slow, “Who Put the Rhythm in You” comes into its own and pulls all the best from AC/DC (that is a compliment) while still sounding distinctively AIRBOURNE. Oddly, this was the other tune that Lange and Adams helped with yet it doesn’t have that slick sound of their previous collaboration.
“Christmas Bonus” is going to give AC/DC’s “Mistress for Christmas” a run for its money as the new holiday classic. Giving the track a salacious twist, the title character “lady boss” is so damned good she “makes Santa come twice”. How’s that for yuletide fun?!?! After that fast rocker, it is time to give us listeners a breather with a slightly slower tune and “Last Man Standing” fits the bill perfectly. Still decisively AIRBOURNE, it keeps the quality without sounding like filler material. That is the sign of a great record; when you can listen to it from start to finish without feeling like there is a drop in the momentum anywhere.
Kicking things up a notch, the hilariously titled “Rock ‘N Roll Ya” is the type of track that AIRBOURNE was meant to write. This is pure, unadulterated fun all wrapped up in a headbanging tune that will have you hitting repeat on your CD player. Another strutting rocker is what this disk needed and the band deliver with “Bogotá”. This is another highlight and it just shows that O’Keeffe (both of them) and company never let the quality slip even towards the end of the record. “Hell’s Got No Vacancy” is another rock ‘n roller that is good enough to open the album but here it is almost at the end and still manages to rattle the brain. Finishing off (sadly) this release is “Send Me to Rock N Roll Heaven” which namechecks some of the greats including Lemmy, John Bonham, and Bon Scott (naturally). Somehow this tune seems that it belongs at the end but one of the things that it makes you do is start the whole damn thing over again so really “is it at the end?”
AIRBOURNE are back after a long time and this self-titled was well worth the wait. While I hope we don’t have to wait quite as long for the next Airbourne album, I’ll be spinning this one non-stop for a good long while.
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