Black Ice

Not a dire weather warning, this is the latest album from Aussie rockers AC/DC.

It's currently topping the UK charts in spite of the fact that you can only buy it on CD or vinyl but why?

There is a theory that AC/DC are like a barometer for the economy. Their most successful albums are released at times of crisis.

1973: AC/DC form in Sydney, Australia.
Economy: Start of the oil crisis, which saw the price quadruple

1980: AC/DC release breakthrough album Back In Black
Economy: Inflation in UK reaches 20% and unemployment nears 2 million

1990: AC/DC score comeback with The Razor's Edge
Economy: Recession in UK imminent

2008: AC/DC top UK album charts
Economy: Biggest world recession in decades looms

The band, who  have been going for 35 years, have never changed their style. Guitarist  Angus Young still dresses like a naughty schoolboy; almost every song they write contains the lyric "rock 'n' roll" and there are lots of references to scrotums. It is, to say the least, unsophisticated stuff but when times are bad it is escapism into a world untroubled by sub-prime mortgages, record public finance deficits and the awful state of the FTSE 100. For a brief time you can forget about how few euros you are getting to the pound and just drown in heavy guitar riffs and the screaming vocals.

Pam hates them complaining that they are too noisy but when the mood is right, there is nothing better than cranking up the volume on tracks like "For those about to rock we salute you" .