AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

One of my top three favourite AC/DC albums is Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I should specify that this is the international release I'm talking about and not the Australian release. The international release being the better of the two, except for it missing Jailbreak.

The album opens with the title track, which I loved playing live in my days of being in a band. It's fast, furious, pumped full of raw energy and set to a driving rhythm. Nothing like a song about getting things done, anyway possible.

Love At First Feel is your typical raunchy, teenage lust filled case of debauchery. Everyone remembers how good it feels the first time.

My favourite memory of Big Balls is singing along to a copy I had recorded from the radio, and totally weirding my mom out. I guess mom's don't like hearing their son's singing about their big balls. "But it's about ballroom dancing mom." This is one of the most fun songs I know.

Rocker, was originally from the Australian T.N.T. album, and was not on that country's release of this album. This blues based shuffle has always felt like one of the weaker songs on this album to me. However, a weak song on this album just means that I don't put it on my Mp3 player.

As a kid I often skipped Problem Child, as an adult I view it differently. It's still not a song I care for, because I was never a problem child, and was often the victim of problem children, but musically it's totally sound.

It should be said that AC/DC pretty much had three types of song on there first three albums. The songs were either about rocking, getting chicks, or being a bad boy. There's Gonna Be Some Rockin' fits in the first and second catagory. This one fits in there with Rocker in my views.

Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire) was a song I enjoyed more as a wide eyed optimistic teenager than as an adult. Musically it's sound and flows well with the rest of the album. Lyrically it reminds me of what could've been and never came about, and it's still no fun waiting.

If I had been the person in charge of putting this album together I would have switched the last two songs. Squealer is the last song on the album, but I think Ride On would have been a much better way to finish the album.

I'll give you three guesses about what the song Squealer is about. Chances are you'll get it on the first one. This is a great song and of course I like singing it. Who wouldn't? But, it's a bit typical to end the album.

The song that should have ended the album was Ride On. This is the slowest song I think AC/DC ever released. This is the closest they have to a ballad, and it's really just a good slow Blues song. In fact this song is such a counter point to the rest of the album, that it would have been the perfect ending to the album. It's also one of my favourite all time songs. If I were stuck listening to the same mixed tape for the rest of my life, this would have to be on that mixed tape.

There's a joke that AC/DC has released the same album 14 times. The thing to remember is that this was pretty much the album that set the standard for all albums to come. It should also be noted that this album and High Voltage pretty much go together as a double set, because of them both being released in a one year span and internationally having songs mixed between the two.

With that in mind, this album got the better of the two internationally.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

10/10 - personal bias