“Realize,” the opening cut from AC/DC’s massive hit album Power Up, gets the video treatment with a cool black and white clip of a live-in-studio performance of the tune. Another classic, chunky foot-stomper in the AC/DC canon, lyrics including “I got the power to electrify Make or break or satisfy / And feel a chill up and down your spine,” could reflect the rock and roll experience… or be about women.
In a 2020 interview about the making of Power Up, singer Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young told SPIN that the presence of late rhythm guitarist/co-founder Malcolm Young was throughout the new album. That presence was both literal and posthumous: The Young brothers wrote the songs years ago, and spiritual in that his vibe was alive in the studio.
Power Up was welcomed by fans and the band, given the several years of uncertainty after Axl Rose joined AC/DC on tour when Johnson left the group due to major hearing issues. “Four years ago people would have thought, ‘This ain’t gonna happen ever again,’” Johnson admitted to SPIN. “It’s all screwed up; Brian’s lost his ears; Cliff’s retired; Phil is kind of screwed up in New Zealand with the situation [legal issues stemming from drugs and a “threatening to kill” charge] that he was in.”
“Demon Fire” was the previous video from the album; it arrived in time for Christmas.
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