AC/DC will return to active duty on October 20 with the release of their first new studio album in eight years (wow, has it really been that long since Stiff Upper Lip?). While there are many who consider Highway To Hell and Back In Black to be one of the best one-two punches in the history of rock, both albums are going on thirty years old.
That the band remains an ongoing concern is quite miraculous when you consider the fact that they could very well have chosen to pack it in after the sudden death of singer Bon Scott. Despite the diminishing returns of many latter-day albums, AC/DC fans both new and old anticipate each new album with hopes of a return to vintage form.
While that may not be entirely fair to guys old enough to qualify for the senior discount at Denny's, word on the street is that producer Brendan O'Brien took a no-frills approach in the recording of their new album, Black Ice, and that the final result is on-par with the band's best work.
As we look forward to the release of their new album, what better time than now to take a look back at the band's previous work?
AC/DC formed in 1973 in their native Sydney, Australia. Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young worked with a number of different line-ups, eventually luring Bon Scott into the fold in late 1974. Soonafter, they recruited older brother George Young (of well-known 60's act The Easybeats, best known for the hit "Friday On My Mind) and Harry Vanda to produce their debut album.
High Voltage (February 1975, Australia-only release)
Recorded in ten days, and considering the then-current line-up had been together only a short time, this album manages to present many of what would come to be AC/DC trademarks - Bon's recognizable wail, Angus and Malcolm's economical, yet effective rhythm-based guitar work.
Most notable is the band's blues-based sound, highlighted by their album-opening cover of "Baby Please Don't Go" and their own "Little Lover". The slickly-produced "Soul Stripper" and "Love Song" (which begins with a quite unusual - for AC/DC anyway - piano/guitar intro) are songs that feature stylistic nuances the band would quickly abandon. "Love Song", for example, features one of the most conventional (for the time) Bon Scott vocal turns I've ever heard. Who knew he had it in him?
Not long after the album's release, the line-up for which the band would first become famous would be solidified: Bon Scott (vocals), Angus Young (guitar), Malcolm Young (guitar), Mark Evans (bass), Phil Rudd (drums). One of the first songs to be recorded by this line-up was "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock & Roll)".
T.N.T. (December 1975, Australia-only release)
The difference between T.N.T. and the preceding High Voltage is that the band dispenses with the slicker glam influences and fully embraces the grittier R&B-based rock style, using heavier, distorted guitars, and turning up the intensity level tenfold. The result is an album that sounds very much like the band that would soon conquer the world. Truth be told, this album features some of their best-known material, including "High Voltage", the aforementioned "It's A Long Way To The Top" and the title cut. My personal fave from this album, though, is "The Jack", driven by a perfectly seething and playfully sinister Bon Scott vocal (here's a great live version of the tune from their '79 tour).
The band would later sign a worldwide deal with Atlantic Records and ready their first album to see release outside of their native Australia.
High Voltage (May 1976 USA)
Despite sharing a title with their Australian debut release, this album features only two songs from that release. The remaining seven tracks first appeared on the Australian T.N.T. album.
Strangely enough, reaction to the album in America was mixed and sales were lukewarm at best.
In hindsight, the band's perverse barroom humor and no-holds-barred rock assault seem positively inspired. Hearing these songs now, one could have almost lumped them in with the first wave of UK punk bands, minus the safety pins and mohawks. Otherwise dependable Rolling Stone critic Billy Altman saw it differently at the time, though, calling the album "mindless...calculated stupidity".
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