This is most evident on the opening “Hell’s Bells,” which, although it is really about a rather terrified Johnson on a dodgy flight with the rest of the group to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, where they had to deal with tropical storms, near-hurricane winds and so forth (hence the references to “rolling thunder, pouring rain,” hurricanes and lightning), also works as a threnody, beginning with the solemn tolling of a single bell, soon joined by the group, deploying an uncharacteristically slow but hard tempo reminiscent of Crazy Horse; you half expect Neil Young, rather than Johnson, to come in.
threnody (n) 1: a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person [syn: dirge, coronach, lament, requiem] – source: Then Play Long: AC/DC – Back In Black
Be the first to leave a comment. Don’t be shy.