Airbourne - Airbourne (2026)
I think Airbourne is a decent hard rock album, but I don't think there are enough memorable songs to make me want to return to the full record very often.
GUTSY is a strong opener. The riff is immediate, Joel O'Keeffe sounds convincing and the chorus does exactly what an Airbourne chorus should do.
Alive After Death works better for me because there is slightly more emotional weight behind the usual hard-rock formula. It still sounds completely familiar, but at least the song has a reason to exist beyond pure energy.
Here She Comes is another good moment. The chorus is simple and effective, and this is probably one of the tracks I would keep.
After that, though, the album starts to blur.
Kid In A Candy Store and Sky High both have good riffs, but they feel much more like variations on the same idea than songs with a strong individual identity.
Who Put The Rhythm In You? is catchy enough, but again I remember the general Airbourne sound more clearly than the composition itself.
Christmas Bonus is probably the weakest track for me. It feels more like a novelty than something the album really needed.
The second half has plenty of energy, and Last Man Standing and Bogotá are enjoyable, but by that point I already feel like I know exactly what every song is going to do.
Hell's Got No Vacancy is solid, but I don't think it adds much.
Send Me To Rock 'N' Roll Heaven is a good ending because it brings a little more feeling into the record and gives the whole thing a proper conclusion.
My main problem is not that the album is badly made. Quite the opposite.
The guitars sound huge, the rhythm section is powerful and the band clearly still know how to write this kind of hard rock.
The problem is that forty-seven minutes of almost the same emotional and stylistic register is too much for me.
I would keep a few tracks, but most of the album feels more effective in the moment than memorable afterwards.
Pros
- GUTSY, Here She Comes and Send Me To Rock 'N' Roll Heaven are the main highlights
- Excellent guitar sound and very strong live energy
- The band remain completely convincing in their style
Cons
- Too many songs blur together
- Very little stylistic or emotional variation
- The album is too long for such a narrow formula
Genre: Hard Rock
Country: Australia
Final Verdict: 62% (Good Album)
Yearly Ranking: 440th / 671
Highlight: Gutsy
Made me think of:
AC/DC
Rose Tattoo
Black Stone Cherry
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