AC/DC Premiere 'Play Ball'

AC/DC formally premiered "Play Ball" via YouTube. The song is the first single from the band's upcoming album Rock Or Bust. The new album will be released December 2 but if you preorder the album on iTunes, you can download "Play Ball" now for free. 

Comments

[Him]

Does this single strike anyone else as being a "middle of the road" release to introduce the album (even with the "meh" sports tie-in)?

To be clear, I will take AC/DC on a bad day over a lot of bands. They are like cold pizza or bad sex . . . it is still pizza and it is still sex. It just sounds like that slightly meandering style they embraced on _Stiff Upper Lip_, with overly repetitive (for them) lyrics on songs like "Safe in New York City." I mean, really, go look at those lyrics. They make "Givin' the Dog a Bone" sound like Coleridge.

I am going to set myself up for a thrashing here. But who cares? Though I enjoyed a lot of the songs on _Blow Up_, _Razor's_, and _Ballbreaker_ (with the first of those being my favorite of this grouping), I still think they miscued in trending away from the self-produced _Flick_ and _Fly_. To me, those were the last really high-energy albums that didn't seem to either start repeating (again, for them) or slowing (for them, natch, and with the sacred "Ride On" duly noted) things down, that had more than a trace of that randy spirit that carried over from the Bon years (I mean, as much as I still sing along to "Mistress for Christmas" it is sort of cringe-inducing).

I know the mid-80s are seen as a low point for the band commercially. But AC/DC aren't exactly trend chasing chameleons (see Dokken, WASP, Crue, Megadeth, Leppard, and so on), though that bootleg rap version of "Who Made Who" they did with Mos Def was pretty impressive.

Even _Black Ice's_ return-to-form "Runaway Train" sounded like they were pulling a VH and culling scraps and snippets from older songs to compile a song that sounded like AC/DC. Catchy, yes! But they ARE AC/DC, not Airborne or some other band that lovingly approximates them.

My first hope? That the last song on _Rock or Bust_ lives up to the goofy glory of it's title: "Emission Control." My second hope? That they sound as good live as they did on the last tour. Third and final hope? That Rudd is still back there in his 70s shades, cig dangling, doing nothing--and I mean nothing--but keeping time (fills are so outre). I hope they do Malcolm proud.

"We had the night, we had the time
She had the sugar and I had the wine
Took my hand shook me to the core
I told her not to touch but she was coming back for more
You know what for . . "

[Bob]

Him, my friend, you won't get a thrashing from me. Play Ball is a decent song, but I suspect, or at least hope, there will be far better songs on the album. It's interesting how people's opinions differ. I didn't much care for fly or Blow Up -- mainly because of the echoey production. In that sense, I actually saw Razor's as a return to form because they ditched that production technique. Let's face it, without the absolute poetic genius of Bon Scott, their lyrics will never be up to the standards they once were. so now, they do more of their talking with their riffs. With Malcolm now out of the picture, only time will tell if they will lose that part as well.

[fletch]

anyone want to step up? shadow? Allyson? nikki? FTS? you tore my intentions apart brick by brick. metalboy? him?

[Dj]

The baseball tie in is cool and all because I'm a big sports fan. But in a all honestly the song ain't doin much for me. Great rock n roll band don't get me wrong. But I agree with Him they're like cold pizza or bad sex. I'll take the High Voltage album over this any day.

[Metalboy!]

The song is pretty boring and they actually sound kinda bored on it but even that won't stop the juggernaut that is AC/DC...

"Play Ball", with it's non-AC/DC title still manages a great riff even if it is conspicuously short with a lyric that reeks of being the result of a commission by MLB.

Like others who have commented here, I just hope the rest of the album is much better and as HIM has also expressed, they k*ck a*s on tour.

God Bless & God Speed, Malcolm!

[Him]

You are so right Bob: opinions do differ. But I can see your point about _Razor's_ production. To be quite honest, never thought about it in that way before. Funny how different aspects of a song or a band matter more or less depending on the listener/fan. Great bit of context, Bob.

I hope their tour comes my way. Like I suggested, a bad day for AC/DC is still a pretty good day overall.