Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
12 new tracks. 12 new chances to crack beer cans open on your head, ride security guards through the crowd, or hang off the stage rigging. If you’ve seen Airbourne before, you’ll totally get what I’m banging on about. If you’ve not seen Airbourne before, then get ‘Gutsy’ and buy their new album.
Airbourne have been gracing us rockers with their presence for, brace yaself, over 25 years. Formed in 2001 in Victoria in Australia, they first caught my attention, and most of the rest of the world, with the ‘Running Wild’ video, featuring the best rig driver of all, the late, great, Lemmy Kilmister. ‘If they’re good enough for him, then they’re probably too good for me’ I thought.
Not that I track these things, but I’ve seen Airbourne perform in Portsmouth Guildhall, 2 or 3 times in London venues, Brighton Concorde 2 (the smallest, best venue in the UK for sure!), countless festivals, most recently of course at Eddfest, where they rocked over 50,000 metal heads to their core.
I’m blessed to be able to hear their new album, right now, as we speak, and I’m already running my way through track 3, ‘Here She comes’, following on from record opener ‘Gutsy’ and ‘Alive after Death’ as track 2. Is it a different sound? Is it something new that makes you think ‘these guys are taking it in a different direction?’. No, of course not. They wouldn’t be Airbourne if they did.
If anything, this is more Airbourne, than any previous Airbourne. Its still stacked Marshalls, and Gibson Explorers. No doubt. Its steady, consistent, uninterrupted thumping tubs, thunderous bass, and the brothers on the guitars owning the stage, even on the record. It has a classic hard rock sound. And by that, I mean, its guitars plugged into amps and turned up to 11. That’s about it. Occasionally there’s probably a touch of chorus or delay, but, this is pre-1980’s. These guys aint no Def Leppard. And nor do we want them to be. That’s Def Leppard’s job. Every knows that Airbourne are familiar in sound, reminiscent of a 4 lettered band that also formed somewhere down under all those years ago.
‘Kid in a Candy Store’ and ‘Sky High’ don’t change that tradition. Hard, crisp, loud riffs. And singalong choruses. Designed to ensure the listener, the crowd, the festival goer, are raising their horns and shouting through every chorus. It doesn’t take long to learn the lyrics ‘Sky High’ and shout them over and over until the song ends.
Track 6, ‘Who Put the Rhythm in You?’ starts similarly to other earlier tracks on this album. Some group vocals start the track slowly, perfectly leading up to that hard rock crunch, and then again, we’re steady away on that 4 beat, and whole band singalong chorus. Some might say its formulaic. I guess I’d probably agree. But Force = Mass x Acceleration and Energy = Mass x Speed of Light, Squared, have stood the test of time. They were created to tell you mathematically correct outputs of physical occurrences. And Airbourne are here to constantly remind us, that drums, bass, raw guitar, and a gravel vocal lead, mixed with beer swilling, torn jeans and a Gibson explorer, won’t get old. It won’t stop working. The laws of physic won’t allow it. Airbourne are a formula. A formula in how to rock. Don’t knock it kids, accept it. Do your homework.
‘Christmas Bonus’ is a belter of a track, especially as towards the end you can get a bit of ‘Die Hard’ reference for the keen eared amongst you. Who doesn’t like a good Christmas Cracker of a track when it’s combined with one of the greatest Christmas films ever made. I’m loving this album, can you tell? I’m loving what it is. It’s a hard rock album, purely made to be enjoyed and not evaluated. It isn’t homework. It’s what you do for pleasure.
‘Last Man Standing’ and ‘Rock N Roll Ya’ just continue the theme of the album. We’ve already passed our GCSE’s, and now we’re just racking up points to get the A, or what ever the score is now. An 8? 9? 8 is a ‘strong’ A? Who knows? What makes a strong A?
Racing through track 10, ‘Bogata’ just bangs that continual hard rock pace and doesn’t let up. Making way for ‘Hells Got No Vacancy’, there’s a touch of ‘Big Gun’ by AC/DC about it (shocker!). But seriously, give it a listen, you’ll get it. If its true, and Hell has no vacancy, then I wonder where we’ll all end up? I had my factor 50 ready to go. I’ll tell you what then, ‘Send Me To Rock N Roll Heaven’, an apt title for the records 12th and final track. It was almost as if the band had planned it. A kind of sad little ditty, as it emotionally pays tribute to the likes of Bonan, Van Halen, Malcom Young, Ozzy Osbourne to name a few. But, what it does elevate you to believe in, is that us hard rockers, we’ve got our place in the next life. And what’s different? Nothing! We’re still going to rock along with all our fellow metallers, and worship at the stage of the greatest heroes in our genre!
Airbourne are a band that rock music needs. We know that. The band know that. And because of that, they’re still making music that just rocks. It’s as stable as science itself. Whether you are a believer, or you think science is the next religion, Airbourne don’t care. They just wanna give you neck ache from head banging.
Airbourne Online
