'For those about to Rock' was the much anticipated follow up to legendary 'Back in Black', and although it sold millions, a lot of this was put down to the success of it's predecessor. The song writing abilities of the late 'Bon Scott' start to be missed here and the penmanship is a problem 'AC/DC' would continue to have throughout the 80's and 90's. Fortunately there's a few solid tracks to keep this album out of the mire, but to me it sounds rushed and ranks as a below average 'AC/DC' release.

The album kicks off with the title track and probably one of 'AC/DC's' best known songs, performed at almost everyone of their concerts, 'For those about to Rock' is in my opinion the only track on this album good enough to be on 'Back in Black'. Things start off pretty ordinary and gradually picking up pace and progressively build on the great anthemic chorus, by the close the chorus is being blasted out by 'Brian Johnson' and the tempo is fast and furious and finishes with the famous cannon blasts- the best song on the disc. Following on is the pulsing 'Put the Finger on You' and while it flows nicely, lyrically its crude in both senses of the word, repetitive and after a couple of listens quite irritating. Continuing in similar fashion is 'Let's Get it Up', another generic 'AC/DC' number that again is lyrically trite and unimaginative. Better is the hard rocking 'Inject the Venom', here they blend a strong pulsing rhythm, reminiscent of 'Bon Scott' material with a powerful but regrettably repetitive chorus. Side one concludes strongly with the 'Flick of the Switch' sounding 'Snowballed', the all too frequent grooving rhythm is reinstated here and while its not up to the quality of 'Black in Black' its a very decent track, complete with some choice guitar work. Continuing in fine form is the strong rocker 'Evil Walks', lyrically it's basic, but it's well structured, hard hitting and a pretty memorable number. The good run is sustained with another chorus heavy number 'C.O.D.' vocally 'Brian Johnson' sounds on impressive form and is well backed up, both vocally and by the 'Young' brothers. The rest of the album fails to live up to expectations, 'Breaking the Rules' is a sluggish number, that fails to inspire while 'Night of the Long Knives' shows plenty of promise, but turns out crude and repetitive. Last up is 'Spellbound' a fairly slow bluesy number that shows a more mature stance, lyrically one of the best on the album, but musically it just sounds recycled from earlier work.

While there's a couple of decent tracks especially that of the well known title track, 'For those about to Rock' isn't really in same league as it's predecessor. Don't give up though, the next release 'Flick of the Switch' although chronically underrated is one of their best with 'Brian Johnson', and well worth picking up.