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Suppose the Whole Band Wrote the Songs
Instead of now-a-days just Angus and Malcolm writing everything, suppose everyone in the band were involved in writing the songs, instead of seeing all songs written by A. Young and M. Young we would see A. Young, M. Young, B. Johnson, C. Williams and P. Rudd or just AC/DC. What would music composed by the entire band instead of just Angus and Malcolm be like? I'm thinking it would be a hell of a lot better than anything from TRE to BI (I'm knocking these albums just comparing).
Well in a Mark Evans interview, he said bass lines were left up to him, but he got no credit, so I assume Phil and Cliff write their parts as well. So it's more a matter of Brian writing the lyrics again. I would love to see that because every album Brian wrote on had great lyrics, almost comparable to Bon's. Ballbreaker should have proven to the Youngs that they need Brian's help. Needless to say, SUL was just godawful lyrically. Some people say FTATR had cliched lyrics, and BUYV had bad lyrics, but I disagree wholeheartedly. Take this lyric from Go Zone for example: "You gotta travel south, South of my hungry mouth, And there you'll find a friend Until the bitter end" I love that one. Brian has said in interviews that he has no ideas but I call BS on that. No matter how bad his ideas may be, they must be better than SUL or BI. For god's sake, how can you not cringe when you hear: "Got a honky tonk big ball hit to thrill I got a sugar boot money baby that'll kill A honky tonk 15 golden mile Gotta bald headed woman loaded in the town" or: "One hot southern belle Son of a devil School boy's spelling bee A school girl with a fantasy One hard (wtf does he even say here?) Old school rebel A time for the revelry Diamond of the agency " Sure, they may fit the songs sonically, but I refuse to ignore the borderline retarded lyrics they've been putting out. Rant over.
HRM : Do Angus and Malcolm write the main of the tracks ? Cliff Williams : Yeah, they come on the studios with lots of cassettes with many riffs we listen to one by one. Most part of the time, they know exactly what they want to have finaly and we do everything to go that way. About my bass parts, they usualy have got an idea of what they want me to do. Or they already have written a bass line that I try to play my best. Or I write myself this line basing upon what is done, drums, guitars... I give'em what they want (...). I don't have any problem doing this, because I enjoy playing simply. I never feel angry or prisoner http://acdcwillie.tripod.com/interview3.htm
Jeez Cliff, sound more like a slave, will ya? When was that interview from?
I like this quote (which I reworded to make it legible): HRM : By the way, what's your favorite song to play live on the Ballbreaker tour? Cliff Williams: 'Down payment blues', because it's incredibly simple. In fact, I only play four notes in the whole song, but it's crazy fun." This shows that they DO like to play unique stuff, rather than the hits. If only Mal wasn't so stubborn...
The lyric writing took a serious nosedive when Bon died.
I'm angry because i cannot be the usual smart ass :P I never hear the lyrics i just go for the music. Else what Thunder aaa Thunder aaa means?
The lyrics on TRE through BI are hit or miss to me. Brian has a lot of good lyrics as far as I'm concerned. Some of my favorite songs (lyrically) that Brian wrote are: Evil Walks Night of the Long Knives Guns For Hire This House is on Fire For Those About To Rock Playing with Girls Sink the Pink Back in Business Some Sin For Nuthin Borrowed Time Just to name a few.
I don't really pay much attention to the lyrics, sometime I'll go and read them on-line and sing along but don't normally it doesn't bother me
Well they bother me when they're as stupid as, "her hot potatoes will elevate you" Great song but the lyrics...
@suicidehummer What, you got something against hot potatoes?
Hot potatoes killed my father... and raped my mother!