Highway to Hell

Back in Black Most critics complain Back in Black, the album AC/DC recorded after the death of their original lead screamer Bon Scott, is ridiculously juvenile, obvious, snickering, bludgeoning, derivative, single-minded about sex and booze, a big cartoon. All true, of course, and--on rock 'n'...	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap While Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap sounds like every other AC/DC album, it is distinguished by a lyrical puerility spectacular even by Bon Scott's standards. Two tracks--"Love at First Feel" and "Squealer"--are ruminations on the morality of sex with schoolgirls. "Big Balls," oste...	Let There Be Rock AC/DC's second U.S. release took the raw energy from their debut, High Voltage, up a notch, producing another huge collection of driving, intense songs for serious headbanging, but adding a bit more professionalism into the equation. The songwriting and production are tighter and...	High Voltage In 1976, when the Eagles, Peter Frampton, and Heart ruled the rock airwaves, along came five scruffy young men (the lead guitarist was maybe all of 18 and dressed in a schoolboy's uniform) from Australia playing some of the rowdiest, hardest, dirtiest rock of all time. Screaming ...	Powerage AC/DC's fourth album is the lull after the triumph of Let There Be Rock and before the mighty peaks of If You Want Blood You've Got It and Highway to Hell. Powerage contains all the familiar AC/DC trademarks: Bon Scott's rather less than Yeatsian lyrical vision ("Rock & Roll Damn...
For Those About to Rock We Salute You Lesser bands might have been put off their stride by the death of their lead singer, but not AC/DC. No sooner had Bon Scott met his whiskey-sodden end in 1980 than AC/DC recruited a new singer, Brian Johnson--who sounded almost exactly like Scott--and released, in Back in Black, ...	The Razors Edge	High Voltage In 1976, when the Eagles, Peter Frampton, and Heart ruled the rock airwaves, along came five scruffy young men (the lead guitarist was maybe all of 18 and dressed in a schoolboy's uniform) from Australia playing some of the rowdiest, hardest, dirtiest rock of all time. Screaming ...	Stiff Upper Lip Like death and taxes, you can count on AC/DC. The Australian metal men, unlike the more daring likes of Metallica, have stuck with one virtually unchanged formula since 1973. While '90s albums such as Who Made Who and Razor's Edge are uneven at best, the five-years-coming Stiff U...	Who Made Who

A MONSTER HARD ROCK GEM
HIGHWAY TO HELL IS A MONSTER! IT ROCKS REALLY HARD WITH BON ON VOCALS! THIS IS TIMELESS GEM FOR HARD-HEAVY ROCKERS!

The perfect book end
This album manages one of my rare five star gradings due to a range of issues. Firstly is it's purity of mission. There is nothing but self belief on this album and that's always a good start. There is no hint of compromise nor of doubt and the band has here achieved a purity of mission the like of which they only ever achieved again with such perfection on Back in Black. Secondly the tunes themselves are excellent. Numbskull boogie metal this may be with about the same level of adventurousness as Status Quo post about 70's but AC/DC have their auto pilot locked onto a far more testosterone fueled trajectory. From the opener Highway to Hell which is anti authoritarian and triumphant to the hot and heavy boogie of Girls Got Rhythm to over the top heavy rockers like Touch Too Much, the whole album hangs together beautifully. Not to mention the endless double entendre of which Bon, with his mischievous and evil vocal tones, bring to life with an evil glint the eye. Thirdly the album not only sounds right in terms of tunes, it sounds right in terms of production. Even my remastered edition is not in possession of the sort of super plush shag pile production you'd get in later times but a traditional knob job that allows the songs to breath and to rely on strength of riff without the overuse of bells and whistles of studio trickery to spark things up. Which adds to the feel of honesty and grit that always surrounded this bands early output, even where the songs weren't quite up to the task. With a strong sense of purpose and a frontman who'd grown in stature through relentless touring AC/DC here produced a quality party metal album, pure in form and unapologetic about it's lack of nuance. Everyone should own a couple of AC/DC albums for those times when you need something without frills and IMHO this and Back in Black are the best of the lot and perfect for people wanting to find out what all the fuss is about.

Hey Satan...paid my dues....
Man, "Highway the Hell" has to be one of the greatest rock songs ever...I mean c'mon??? The riff, the lyrics, the beat, the production.....just flawless. This song and its accompanying album, released in July of 1979 put AC/DC into the stratosphere. No longer seen as dangerous rock n'roll underdogs, threatening to rape the headliners they supported in tours across the US and Europe over the last three years, they were now headlining superstars. Produced by the infamous Mutt Lange who would twiddle the knobs for 'Back in Black', Def Leppard's best selling albums and spouse, Shania Twain (how many records has this guy produced that have sold over ten million copies!!!!????), AC/DC provided their record company with a multi-platinum sound but kept their raunchy roll. Bon Scott's swan song (February 1980, RIP), there could be no better way to go for this gutter rat who became immortal and should be considered one of rock's greatest frontmen. Young, Young and Scott were not a lawfirm but a trio of short delinqents who crafted an absolute masterpiece of hard rock. "Highway to Hell" has already been gushed about but what about "Night Prowler", as pure a blues as the band ever did and pure malevolence. Why did they get so much crap for this song? Because Richard Ramierez chose it as his personal anthem (imagine if that psycho loved Slayer instead?)In no way should that hurt your enjoyment of any of the manic tunes on this landmark lp. "Shot Down in Flames" is awesome and funny (toss off buddy she's mine). "Girls Got Rhythm" is sort of a mission statement for rock stars...."got that backseat rhythm". "Walk All Over You" is beautifully diabolic with the best backing vocal track the band had done to date! "If You Want Blood" like "Highway" is an ode to the destructive lifestyle of bands who leave it all on the stage including their lifeforce...."Love Hungry Man" is probably the most underated track and "Touch Too Much" may be a bit to poppy (too much Mutt!) but both hold up their spaces on the track list. Pissing off the religious community with a doozy of a cover and title, AC/DC cemented their status as quite possibly the greatest pure rock band to walk the planet, but at the ultimate cost, the loss of their class clown and master of ceremonies. On the highway indeed....

Just About Perfect
Ac/Dc is a band that is truly in a class all itself,they have never changed their style to fit what the flavor of the week is. I really respect that. Every release from Ac/Dc is filled with high energy blues tinged hard rock and roll meant to be played at 10! Highway To Hell the release that followed 'If You Want Blood' is just about perfect,this along with 'Back In Black' is what I would play for people who are just learning about Ac/Dc. It has their absolute best song ever,the title cut 'Highway To Hell',it also has one of their most underrated songs 'Touch Too Much' Let me explain...this CD is absolutely great from start to finish,if you crank this up to 10 you are experiencing hard rock in it's bare ultimate form,all of today's bands should listen to this and take notes,lots of notes. Angus is playing guitar the way it was meant to be played,where every note is filled with emotion and meaning..and the rhythm section is as tight as can be,without excessive stuff that isn't needed...Ac/Dc never needed to show off to prove how great they were at their instruments...and of course there is Bon...Bon was truly one of the greatest rock and roll singers of all time,because he had a distinct style that many of tried to copy but no one has ever done it like him. In Highway To Hell he perfects the art of rock and roll singing Highway to Hell-quite simply the best song Ac/Dc ever wrote Girls Got Rhythm - a testimony to the power of women...awesome walk all over you - great rock song about lust ! touch too much - one of their most underrated songs...filled with melody and power beating around the bush - great shot down in flames - one of the classics that will be around forever get it hot - great rock song if you want blood - another great one love hungry man - more great music night prowler - one of the most powerful atmosphere rock songs ever...and I love the 'shazzbot nanew nanew' at the end ! The upside - One of the greatest rock albums of all time...produced by Mutt Lange...it is a step by step example of how to create a classic album.. the downside - there is none...you need to get this the bottom line - This is one of the 2 albums I'd play for anyone just learning about Ac/Dc or rock and roll in general (the other being 'back in black') Run out and buy this...it's classic ..the donutman says so!!!

Not the best of a great lot!!
Firstly may I just begin by reminding all those people who seem to take delight in trying to make out AC/DC as a bad band that without this group Guns and Roses and the rest of the spandex brigade would be nowhere. AC/DC was not a second time around 16 year old heavy metal pleaser (like so many of the second and third wave groups) but they importantly (along with others Black Sabbath. Led Zep etc) created the whole heavy metal genre. To listen to a AC/DC album from the Bon Scott era is as fresh today as it was then. Think 50s rock and roll and add in Muddy Waters with a distorted guitar and your close. It is also important to point out that unlike most of todays groups AC/DC attracted not only new metal heads but also gained the respect of hardcore bikers and the like. AC/DC bites the others only sting..... Now onto this album. Yes it was the last of Bon Scotts albums and I believe (and I am a total champion of the group) that this album marked the beginning of a more commercial and slick type of production. The producers were changed for this album and an attempt was being made to make the band more appealing to those outside of Australia. It has to be remembered (although today difficult to imagine) that upto this point AC/DC were still very much a Australian band and appealed to the Australians more than the rest of the world. Hence this album starts to make a more smooth production which paves the way for countless other groups who have taken on this sound. What no group (maybe with the exception of Motorhead and the old 60s banns) have been able to do is create a totally new sound. Please remember in the days when the new wave metal bands were still in nappies AC/DC were creating a new sound. One which only latter became known as Heavy Metal. The album is good but if you want to hear AC/DC at their uncommercial best try Powerage. Its real blues and thats that. And of Bon Scott. No body and I mean nobody will ever tell me that he was not the greatest rock singer of all time. So dont even try.