Barry: Anyone expecting AC/DC to change its spots on its first new, full-length CD since 2000’s “Stiff Upper Lip” might be disappointed in “Black Ice.”

Longtime fans looking for new material should be pleased, though.

For me, I expect two things when I pop an AC/DC album into the player: I expect to do a little headbanging, and I expect to have a chuckle or two. The headbanging is there, but the trademark naughty moments that make you smile like a teenager hearing a dirty joke have been replaced by a more grown-up, pessimistic ’tude.

This is not simply rehashed licks from the guys, however. Angus and Malcolm Young are hot as ever on guitar. Brian Johnson is in fine vocal form, and Cliff Williams on bass and Phil Rudd on drums provide rock-solid head-snapping rhythms.

Casey: Based on “Black Ice,” AC/DC are pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum from The Verve, whose album “Forth” we reviewed last month. Unlike their British counterparts, these Aussie band rockers haven’t lost their identity with the long delay between albums. In fact, they’ve held onto their trademark sound so strongly that the eight years between “Black Ice” and “Stiff Upper Lip” could easily have been two.

Within a few bars of the Young brothers’ shredding and a line or two of Johnson’s unmistakable wailing vocals, you’ll remember why you either loved AC/DC to begin with or why you can’t stand them. The band has always been polarizing, and since “Black Ice” has their signature splashed over every note, that’s not likely to change.

Barry: While “Black Ice” is classic AC/DC from the opening guitar chords of “Rock N Roll Train,” there are a few twists and surprises. The band goes Texas honky-tonkin’ ZZ Top style on “Decibel,” and Angus gives a nod to Jimmy Page on “Stormy May Day.”

I also really like “Anything Goes,” which is sure to be an arena-crowd favorite.

Casey: Typically, the songs are mostly about fighting, running from the devil, fast cars, faster women and things that go boom in the night. I really dig “Spoilin’ for a Fight,” which has a sound reminiscent of “T.N.T.” Barry’s right that “Decibel” is one of their rare departures from the usual with a hip blues rock feel, thumpy bass line and a pervasive growl.

There’s nothing here to stand alongside “Back in Black” or “Shook Me All Night Long” among the band’s best, but the album does have some standouts. The anthemic single “Rock ‘N Roll Train” and the character piece “Big Jack” — an AC/DC take on a king of the bar brawlers, a la Jim Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” — could easily go eyeball to eyeball with second-tier favorites like “Shoot To Thrill” and “Jailbreak.”

Barry: Agreed. While it doesn’t have anything to rival the opening of either “Hell’s Bells” or “Thunderstruck,” it has some very good moments and gets better with repeated listens.

Casey: With a few fairly memorable tunes and the same sonic shredding you’ve grown to love or hate, “Black Ice” is slightly better than middle-of-the-road AC/DC. Even if it’s nothing revolutionary, this is still a totally solid album that proves that nearly a decade between projects has done little to douse AC/DC’s fire, even if it also proves they aren’t interested in breaking the mold they’ve had such success with.

Tech Talk