As I mentioned in my Razors Edge review a little over a week ago, the only reason to get excited for a new AC/DC album at this point is for the tour that will follow it. The last pair of albums, 1995's Ballbreaker and 2000's Stiff Upper Lip were mixed bags at best (though the latter was much better than the former).

This time around the band got together with producer Brendan O'Brien, best known for his work with 1990s stalwarts like Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, and Rage Against the Machine. I didn't think O'Brien could possibly get a good album out of the band. Singer Brian Johnson's voice flamed out a couple of different times on the last tour, and right now, he's pushing 61 years of age. Guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young hadn't come up with more than 2 or 3 memorable ideas over the last couple of albums. And let's face it, as great as the rhythm section of bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd is in terms of importance to AC/DC, they weren't going to save the group.

Well, this week, the band finally got around to releasing Black Ice, more than 8 years after Stiff Upper Lip. And shockingly, perhaps, it's an enjoyable listen, even if it is about 5 songs too long.

First single Rock 'N Roll Train is the type of song that has been sorely missing from AC/DC's catalog of late. It takes all the elements of what made you love AC/DC in the first place and brings it together into an instant AC/DC classic. Johnson's gruff vocals duel with the slashing chords laid down by the Brothers Young, while Rudd and Williams lay down a swinging backbeat that is integral to the success of the song. If nothing else, Rudd has a certain groove to his playing, a groove that other drummers for this band over the years have sorely lacked.

O'Brien's influence is all over Anything Goes, which has a chance to be the band's biggest crossover hit since You Shook Me All Night Long. The song jumps out of your stereo with a descending guitar riff from Angus, and further guitar overdubs give the hint of a horn sound, but it's all guitar. It's a cool effect, and I'll be shocked if this isn't the second single.

If Anything Goes is sort of light and airy (in terms of AC/DC at least), the song that follows it is classic doomsday AC/DC. War Machine has a sick bassline underlining the song, which Williams deserves full credit for. The guitars give a hint of air sirens, although despite the title, the lyrics are relatively vague. Far be it for AC/DC to go all political anyways.

For me, those three songs are the biggest standouts on the record. It's very telling that they all appear in the first half of the record, because as you get to the second half, the album begins to blend in as one big long track, and it starts to feel a lot longer than it actually is. Wheels attempts to use the same guitar as horns effect as Anything Goes, with much less success.

The band's obsession with "rock and roll" in the titles of their songs was old 15 years ago, but that doesn't stop them. Aside from the first single, the other songs, She Likes Rock 'N Roll and Rock 'N Roll Dream, are boring, by the number AC/DC album tracks that lack any real energy or gumption.

Thankfully, the slide guitar of Stormy May Day brings some much needed change, and at the perfect time. It's just too bad the record didn't end after it.

Johnson sounds terrific here, thanks to O'Brien's gameplan of finding the best time of day for his voice, and only letting him go for an hour at a time (insert "no wonder it took 8 years for this album to come out" joke here). O'Brien has also helped the band get back to the meat and potatoes rock songs with big hooks and gigantic choruses that came to define the band in the 70s and early 80s. If this is what he's pulling out of AC/DC, he can't get back into the studio with Pearl Jam to start work on their new album fast enough as far as I'm concerned.

I think this is the last real AC/DC album you'll ever see (you might see one or two new tracks once they release their "swansong" greatest hits album), and I think this tour they're starting next week will be the last tour (some promoters have been told as much, and with sellouts in most markets, it seems fans are assuming as much as well). Black Ice may not be a fairy tale way of closing out a career with many classic albums, but it's a step above anything they've put out in nearly 20 years. November 9th can't get here fast enough.

3.5 stars, rounded UP