There is no need to psychoanalyze the best rock album of the year. If they try to slow you down, tell them all to go to hell. This line pretty much sums up the record's ethic: go hard or go home. And if you go home, we will come get you out of bed and have you partying again.
Couched in slightly ragged, anthemic power-punk that leaves all nuance at the bedside, Celebration Rock's message is one of fist-pumping excess. Joyous, all-night, fist-pumping excess. The songs are not about the hard-hitting comedown (who wants to hear that?), but rather the upward flight of friends, adrenaline, and intoxication. In other words, the same stuff rock bands have been singing about for 50 years. Here, however, the tone is all celebration. Case in point: find me a better three-song run of rock than "Adrenaline Nightshift," "Younger Us," and "The House That Heaven Built." You cannot. These songs will get you to Hell and back, unscathed.
Too bad more listeners cannot escape the confines of their classic rock vault. Fans of AC/DC's straightforward approach would love this album, even though it has been informed by years of punk and alternative listening. The riffing is crowdpleading and the sing-alongs are glass-raising. It would be impossible not to love this record if rock'n'roll is in your DNA. Or if your blood-alcohol content is above the legal limit.
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