Check out what they are saying about Back in Black
"Great Job, You guys are incredible" - Vince Neil (Motley Crue)
"You guys were off the chart. Absolutely awesome, and the sound especially was DEAD ON. I about flipped when you guys played "Shoot to Thrill" and "Shake A Leg" back-to-back at the top of the set. My two favorite AC/DC tunes, dude!" - Mike Daniel, The Dallas Morning News
Thanks to Mike Daniel and the Dallas Morning News for the great Back in Black Guide cover and article. We also had a nice little write up in the Dallas Observer.
“Back in Black, is absolutely the top of the line. They obviously did their research, as the group sounds just like the records” Harder Beat, Dallas TX, 3/02
“You guys sound better than the real AC/DC” Robert Miguel DJ – 97.1 The Eagle, Dallas TX
“Dallas based Back in Black was quite good at what it did: Reproducing note for note, schtick-for-schtick, AC/DC, both eras. Growling thru songs such as Back in Black, Dirty Deeds, and TNT, singer Darren Caperna sounded eerily similar to both singers…..guitarist Mike Mroz played Angus Young to a T…” Dallas/FT Worth Star Telegram, 9/25/02
“These guys are incredible, they go beyond your expectations for a tribute band” Bo Roberts DJ – 93.3FM The Bone, Dallas, TX
"The band, for the record, sounds exactly like AC/DC, full of screech and power chords, and they even look like them, too, although younger and not quite so ugly." Sarah Hepola - Dallas Observer
Back Black doing their own thing -- finally
By Malcolm Mayhew
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Not many cover bands put out original records, but not many cover bands have stirred up such a following and fuss as Back in Black, a Dallas-based AC/DC tribute band that pops up at nearly every event sponsored by 93.3 FM "The Bone."
Which is fine. That's the group's core audience. Said audience is what inspired the group to get in the studio and not just keep stealing from AC/DC.
"We've been doing this for three years, and during that time, we've met all these great fans who say they want to hear new material from us," says guitarist Mike Mroz, who plays the role of Angus Young. "They say, 'There's nothing good out there.'"
So the group banged out an eight-song, self-titled disc comprising six originals and, of course, two AC/DC covers, Back in Black and Money Honey. They're throwing a release party for it Saturday at R.J.'s Roadhouse in the Stockyards.
The six originals are steeped in '70s-era AC/DC, Mroz says. "Mix that sound with Jet, and that's what people are saying it sounds like. That's a niche in music that needs to be filled right now."
Harder Beat Magazine - March 2005
Back In Black - Self Titled
No, you’re not listening to a new AC/DC album, nor is this an undiscovered gem from the band’s past. This is Back In Black, a Dallas based AC/DC tribute band that’s been electrifying audiences with their amazing live performances. BIB consists of Mike Mroz (guitar), Darren Caperna (vocals), Mike Wagner (guitar), Taylor Smith (bass) and Jay Benzi (drums) Their self titled debut contains six killer original songs including “Drop the Bomb,” “50 cent Millionaire,” “Back Door” and “Burn Bitch Burn.” It also has two dead-on covers of AC/DC classics, “Money Honey” and “Back In Black.” It’s rare for a tribute band to do original material but, in this case, the new stuff is every bit as good as the songs that inspired them. If you’re an AC/DC fan or just looking for some new music with an old school sound, get this CD at www.backinblack.info. (Andy Laudano)
An excerpt from the Dallas Observer
Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Mayfest at Trinity Park Back when my older brother and I read Circus magazine every week, the music of AC/DC was rather shocking. My mother, whose musical tastes run toward Bach and early Beatles, didn't quite know what to make of the cock-rock that is "Hell's Bells." So what am I to make of Mayfest, a family festival whose main-stage attraction is an AC/DC cover band, Back in Black?
All around me, hundreds of adults and children sit in the audience, nodding contentedly and tapping their feet. Near the back, a middle-aged woman in jogging pants points to the stage emphatically with every word. "I'm on the hiiiiiighway to hell," she sings, slapping her hands with delight. The band, for the record, sounds exactly like AC/DC, full of screech and power chords, and they even look like them, too, although younger and not quite so ugly. Meanwhile, parents sit with their kids, nodding their heads and mouthing the lyrics. "Hey, Satan! Paid my dues/Playin' in a rockin' band."
Our original Band - Stripwired
Stripwired CD reviewed in UK
'STRIPWIRED reviewed by Whisperin and Hollerin UK
'Stripwired'
- Label: 'Marque Records'
- Genre: 'Heavy Metal' - Release Date: '2007'
Our Rating: Stripwired (http://www.marquerecords.com) have the pedal to the floor and they're burning so much asphalt that the smoke can be viewed from the moon. This is whiskey-dropping, head-bobbing hard rock so infectious and intoxicating that it will bruise your walls.
Before AC/DC got old and cliched, they were young, hungry, and - I have to say it - ballsy as this. Yes, it's true: Stripwired have big balls. Vocalist Darren Caperna is a dead ringer for Brian Johnson, but he has the lung power, as fully evidenced in "Knock Me Out," to produce the same hammering, in-your-face assault that AC/DC once did so well until age caught up with them. Guitarists Mike Mroz and Mike Wagner shift back and forth between the dirty blues of Bon Scott-era AC/DC and the white-hot heavy-metal thunder of the early Johnson years.
When judging a record like this, what's most important is how engaging the songs are, and Wired do not disappoint. "Walk Away" and "Fifty Cent Millionaire" are two-fisted knockouts. Even better are the misogynist anthem "Burn Bitch Burn," the pulse-pounding "Drop the Bomb," and the ripping "Another Shot." Just about every song jets at beyond the speed limit.
The lads will probably get slagged as AC/DC imitators, but even the naysayers will be own over by "Backdoor." The sexual double meaning in the title will certainly have the juvenile element devilishly snickering; however, the sense of fun, not to mention the paint-peeling riffola, in "Backdoor" is going to hook even the most innocent bystanders.
Here's the second UK review
When I was younger, AC/DC were the gods of the pot-buzzed, beer-bellied outcasts of my high school. Being an admitted music snob at the time, I looked down upon AC/DC for their adolescent sexuality and simple chords. I couldn't even tell the difference between the two men who fronted the band; they both seemed to have come from the same school of crotch-grabbing vocal histrionics. However, the oddest thing happened. As I got older, moving beyond the teenage wasteland that was AC/DC's core crowd, I started to "get it." AC/DC wasn't a group made for intellectual analysis; rather, they provided the soundtrack for sleazy, drunken screwing or when you're feeling pissed out of your mind. Their songs produced a focused, emotional release, as loud and obnoxious as punk rock but with the R&B kick of classic Rolling Stones and the Kinks.
Stripwired must've been bitten by the AC/DC bug early. The guys will probably get tired of the comparison after awhile, but it'd be foolish for anyone to deny who this band uncannily sounds like. And we're not talking pale imitation here. If somebody revealed that Stripwired were actually AC/DC in disguise, I wouldn't be shocked. Screeching, scratchy vocals? Check. Big, booming guitars? Check. Lyrics with sexual double meanings? Check. Knock Stripwired for their lack of originality; however, don't be surprised if this album becomes your guilty pleasure.
And delicacies certainly abound, namely the stud strut of "Fifty Cent Millionaire" and the poisonous kiss-off "Burn Bitch Burn," which is likely to be the soundtrack of frat boys everywhere and you'll probably hate yourself for tapping your feet to it. In fact, you might have to listen to Stripwired in secrecy, afraid of letting neighbors know of the nasty yet catchy CD within your pile of U2 records. But isn't that what rock and roll is about?
- Kyrby Raine