#166 - back in black.

for most of my life, i've never been a huge fan of ac/dc. in my elementary school days, while i listened to a bunch of rock, it was mostly of the big hair variety. during my high school years, i got caught up in rap & by the time college rolled around, ac/dc was being kinda meh, putting out songs like "big gun" & working with uber-producer rick rubin & on 1995's lackluster ballbreaker. since then, they've only put out two albums, but i've been stuck in an indie rock mindset for a while now, meaning i was too cool for them. initially, not even landing a job at a company where they're one of the bands i work with was enough to make me like them. it took meeting the band & then seeing them live from the 4th row to really get what they're all about. they're just five dudes from australia who who play straightforward, eardrum-busting rock & choose a working-man's attitude toward their music over a rock star attitude.

sunday was the 30th anniversary of the day back in 1980 when ac/dc unleashed back in black on the world & since then, it's become the second-biggest selling album of all time, trailing only MJ's thriller. for work, for the past month, i've been engrossed in the story behind the album, reading books, watching interviews, going to the library to check out periodicals from the era. i even wrote a lil' something about it. it'd be rather selfish of me if i didn't at least share some of that awesome, acquired knowledge with you, the loyal eat!drink!snack! drone.

the facts: in january of 1980, fresh off their album highway to hell, ac/dc had become a force to be reckoned with. led by frontman bon scott & the antics of schoolboy outfit-clad guitarist angus young, they had just come off a world tour where, driven by a bombastic, high energy rock show, they'd sold out venues left & right. things were looking pretty sweet until on february 19th, bon scott, who'd always been a fan of living to excess, was left in a car after a night of drinking in london & found dead the next morn. obviously, the band didn't take it well, but soon after, they just started playing again to cope & then decided that bon would've wanted them to continue on. that's where the current singer brian johnson came in.

in early april, the band named johnson as their new lead singer & a few weeks later, they were off to the bahamas to record what would become back in black. in what was meant to be a tribute to bon, they recorded an album filled with somber elements that weren't sappy, rocking elements that weren't overdone & lyrics (entirely penned by brian johnson) that kept the same gritty, dirty, tongue & cheek style that bon's lyrics had. the first thing you hear on the opening track is the "hell's bell," which has now become a fixture at their concerts & once the band kicks in, they don't let up until the tenth & final track, "rock n' roll ain't noise pollution." in between, there are songs like "shoot to thrill," "you shook me all night long" & the title track, songs that just rule. for me, it's in that elite group of albums with ZERO crappy/boring songs.

come july 25th, the album was out & ac/dc was back on the road. by august 23rd, the album had entered the billboard charts & it wouldn't leave for 131 weeks. by october, it had gone platinum in the u.s. & all along, the band continued to tour & the buzz around them continued to grow. by the end of the year, they were bona fide badasses. people loved them. as brian explained in some interview from the 80's that i found on youtube, "it was nice the way as the tour progressed the album went straight into the charts in the states and people started to know the songs. whereas before, when we’d say, here's a song called 'back in black,' there'd be nothing, a total sorta, 'hmmmmm.' now with the end of the tour: here's 'back in black' and 'woooooaaahhh,' a big roar. it's fantastic." thirty years later, it's sold almost 50 mllion copies worldwide & the band, after almost two years on the road, has just wrapped up the second-highest grossing tour of all time. whether it's their last tour or not is still up for debate, but even if it is, while it'd be a sad day, at least there's back in black. it kinda makes me wanna rock.

snack: daisy's black & white supreme cookie
drink: back in black i.p.a.

on this sunday's anniversary, i concocted a back in black-themed snack-drink pairing as a tribute to the album. i decided to spend a buck & change on an old-style snack, a daisy's black & white supreme cookie. it's made by clifton, nj's daisy's bakery, a company that i couldn't find out a damn thing about other than the fact that they've been around since either 1999 or 2004, depending where you look on the internet. if i was a "journalist," i'd call the number on the package & ask what their deal was, but i'm a "blogger" & we bloggers don't have standards. therefore, i'm going to assume that it's run by some kindly, cookie-loving grandmother/aunt named daisy or by people who had a kindly, cookie-loving grandmother/aunt named daisy who probably died.

there's no mistaking that it's a processed treat. it's got both mono AND diglycerides. the cake/cookie part has a consistency that's slightly thicker than that of a twinkie & on top of it, you've got your white (vanilla) & black (chocolate) frosting. the way i have it positioned there in the photo, it's sort of like brooklyn. the white part is to the west part of the cookie & the black part is to the east. the black part is weaker than the white part, which is harder & turns out to be the richer of the two. they both work well with the cake part, with its slight vanilla taste, but i preferred the white part. i'm not saying i didn't like the black part; i just liked the white part better.

of course, no back in black anniversary would be complete without 21st amendment's back in black i.p.a., a brand new beer that they just released a couple weeks ago. according to the 21st amendment website, the fact that they released it just prior to the anniversary of back in black's release is completely coincidental, as it's actually "inspired by paul revere's midnight ride." OBVIOUSLY. paul revere was all defiant of the british & this i.p.a., by being black, is all defiant of british i.p.a.'s. OBVIOUSLY. c'mon now. even bierkraft urged their twitter followers to "cue the ac/dc" when they got it in stock. i guess 21st amendment doesn't want to get sued or something. paul revere it is then. i did pick up this particular one as part of a six-pack (for only $9!) at marty's in boston a couple weekends ago & paul revere's from there, so i'll let it slide for now.

i'm mostly going to let it slide because it's a pretty good beer. you probably have to enjoy dark beers if you want to enjoy the back in black, but it is a little smoother than other dark-colored beers, so it might be worth giving a shot even if that's the case. it looks like a stout, but it's hoppy & slightly bitter, like an i.p.a. the difference between this & your traditional i.p.a. is that it's got a roasted malt flavor to it as well. i'm a beer snob, so i opted for pouring it in a glass & getting a good look at the dark color & nice tan head that it produces, but it is in a can & cans are meant to be drank from. with a name like "back in black," it just screams to be drank straight from the can. after all, pouring it into a glass & checking the color & aroma isn't very rock n roll now, is it?