Review: Only good thing about 2020 may be a new AC/DC album

AC/DC, "Power Up" (Columbia)

A new AC/DC record may well be the only good thing to happen in 2020.

The legendary Aussie rockers are back with "Power Up," the latest in a long line of electricity-themed albums that not only talk about power but bristle and crackle with it.

It's been 40 years since AC/DC released arguably the best heavy metal album of all time with "Back In Black," but these guys still sound as good as they did back then.

For some, that's a bit of a problem: Decades of AC/DC albums have tended to sound like each other, and that's the case with at least part of "Power Up."

The opening track, "Realize," uses almost the same "ah-ah-ah-ah" chant that served as the foundation of 1990's "Thunderstruck." Another new track, "Witch's Spell," uses a similar-sounding guitar line.

"Rejection" uses the same four-chord pattern as 1979's "Shot Down In Flames." And "Shot In the Dark" bears more than a passing resemblance to 2008's "Rock 'N' Roll Train."

Not everything here has been heard before. "Kick You When You're Down" has a funky, catchy riff atop pounding drums, and "Demon Fire" is a fast-paced boogie with a riff that burns into your brain with just one listen.

After an extended hearing-related absence that necessitated Guns 'N' Roses' Axl Rose filling in to finish an AC/DC tour, lead singer Brian Johnson is back at the mic, and his voice, subjected to so much torture over the decades, sounds powerful again.