Think AC/DC… but louder, younger, and more aggressive, and you have Airbourne. But I won’t bore you with anymore comparisons to their fellow Australian rockers. The formula may be borrowed, but it’s tried and true.
The album kicks off with a screeching solo; but before you know it, the frantic guitar riff kicks in, and Born To Kill is up and running. A great opening number.
No Way But The Hard Way, the lead single, features one of the best guitar riffs I’ve heard in a while. And for good measure, tops it off with a catchy chorus and infectious groove.
The next song, Blonde, Bad And Beautiful, has another huge, incredibly catchy chorus. Three instant classics in a row!
Raise The Flag is currently the band’s choice to open their concerts, and I can see why. Loud, obnoxious guitar riff? Check. Huge chorus you can fist pump to? Of course.
A change of pace is shown in Bottom Of The Well, but you’ll sure as hell never see a ballad from Airbourne. A solid track with yet another good, sing-a-long chorus.
White Line Fever is more of what you would expect by now; a catchy chorus and great riff. Not one of the stand-out tracks, but that’s not criticism so much as complimenting the quality of the other tracks.
The fastest track on “No Guts. No Glory.” is a little ditty by the name of It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over. Nothing special, but still good, dumb fun.
Steel Town, written about Airbourne’s struggle to make it in the music business, is another great track. Killer riff, pounding drums, and a catchy chorus.
Chewin’ The Fat follows. Brilliant guitar riff and a huge stadium chorus. Enough said. It's quickly become one of my favourite Airbourne songs.
Next up is Get Busy Livin’, which really shows Airbourne at their best. Solid riff, catchy chorus, pretty much everything you need for a good rock song is here. Definitely one of the best songs on the record.
Armed And Dangerous and Overdrive are both solid songs, but there’s not a whole lot to be said here. Standard Airbourne, nothing special but still enjoyable.
Back On The Bottle is a fast paced track that perfectly closes the album.
Five bonus tracks follow on the special edition, including Devil’s Child, which kicks ass and should have actually been on the album. The rest are pretty good too.
“No Guts. No Glory.” may just be the album of the year. Not a single bad track, and quite a few really good songs. After the brilliant “Runnin’ Wild”, I didn’t think Airbourne would be able to release a worthy follow up. I was wrong.
High Points:
- Great vocals and huge choruses
- Brilliant guitar riffs
- No bad songs
Low Points:
- No low points!
My Rating: 9.5/10
