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Retrospective Review: IRON MAN 2 (AC/DC Soundtrack)

AC/DC’s Iron Man 2 album successfully combined two popular brands. 
     The Iron Man 2 soundtrack album was released in 2010 to coincide with the movie’s release and was supplied by Australian rock band AC/DC. This soundtrack is unique because it doesn’t contain any new material that was released up until that point.  However, this is not a greatest hits record because several of their most famous songs like ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ and ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ aren’t featured on this album. It’s more of a compilation of songs from AC/DC’s storied career.
     This album contains fifteen songs.  Some of the songs on this album are among AC/DC’s most famous like ‘Highway to Hell’, ‘Thunderstruck’, and ‘Shoot to Thrill’. ‘Shoot to Thrill’ would become highly associated with Iron Man because it was featured prominently in the Iron Man 2film and because a music video was released which mixed footage from the film and footage from an AC/DC concert, which gained popularity on YouTube. What I like about this album is that it showcases some of AC/DC’s more obscure songs like ‘Evil Walks’ and ‘If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)’. These are songs you never hear on the radio despite the fact that they are just as good as AC/DC’s biggest hits.
     The magic of these songs is that they are absolutely genius in their simplicity. Even people that aren’t AC/DC fans can recognize the riffs of Malcolm Young, Angus Young’s guitar solos and stage antics, and the howling vocals of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. AC/DC is one of the few bands that have truly embodied the spirit of rock and roll.
     What’s impressive about AC/DC’s involvement with the Iron Man franchise is how successfully these two brands have become intertwined. This album would inspire fans to make music videos featuring clips from various Iron Man films with AC/DC songs like ‘Thunderstruck’ and ‘Back in Black’.  Many of these videos have tens of millions of views on YouTube, which shows that AC/DC’s brand of bare bones rock and roll has never gone out of style despite all the changes that have happened in popular music.