For Those About To Rock

There was an interesting story this week on PRI's The World about how AC/DC's popularity in England rises and falls with the economy. Though AC/DC is never wholly unpopular in the U.K. (or anywhere, for that matter), it tends to rise to the top of the charts during times of economic duress. As evidence of this phenomenon, the band's new album, Black Ice, went to No. 1 across the pond.

It's a fascinating piece, and you can listen to it here.

As music critic Alex Petridis points out, there's something reassuringly predictable about AC/DC, and about hard rock or heavy metal in general. Maybe if we can't get consistency and straight talk from our political leaders, our banks or our bosses, we should at least be getting it from our music. Let's be honest: AC/DC isn't going to throw us a curve ball, change time signatures in the middle of a song, muddy up its chosen genre in the name of eclecticity or collaborate with a jazz singer for the sake of reaching a broader audience. In fact, despite all the rabble-rousing, posturing and fist-raising it tries to drum up, and despite its double-entendre-laden lyrics and thick riffage, AC/DC might be the least musically volatile band ever. AC/DC is safe; it will not break your heart. And who needs more heartbreak and disappointment in these difficult times? No one.

Petridis also mentions something I've always thought about AC/DC: that its success lies in writing the same song over and over again -- the very trait many of us deride in other artists but willingly accept from AC/DC, perhaps because that one song is so good. Why do we tolerate homogeneity in a hard-rock band like AC/DC but not from "artists" such as Beck or Kanye West or Sufjan Stevens, for whom we consider stagnation anathema to their craft? Stagnation suddenly seems appealing when most of the momentum (in economic terms) has been downward. With AC/DC, listeners can bask in the familiarity -- in the sameness -- and for a moment, it seems as if nothing has changed.

I suppose that AC/DC is fortunate to be one of the few bands we rely on for realness, or at least to represent realness. It's like domestic beer or Levi's: Every once in a while, people like to try on manifestations of toughness, grittiness and authenticity. Hard-rock music and its fans have always been derided as much as they are romanticized.

In tough times, even those who at some point felt above the fray -- or had only an ironic love of rock music -- turn to that which embodies steadiness and perseverance. In this case, I guess it's AC/DC and the like who are giving the people something solid as a rock.

2:12 PM ET | 10-30-2008 | permalink

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