AC/DC: Highway to Hell

Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange

Released: 1979

For a band that has often been accused of recording the same album over and over again, it's interesting that if you asked ten different people what their favourite AC/DC album is, you would likely get ten different answers. Highway to Hell is where the journey really started for me; this became a launching pad for experiments with increasingly heavier and faster music right throughout my life so far but if I had to pick my favourite albums of all then this one would be in the list.

Mutt Lange didn't really have to do much to tweak AC/DC's music by the time of this juggernaut, because here is a band at the very top of its game. The unstoppable Malcolm Young riff factory is in overdrive, churning out one memorable tune after the next and Bon Scott's ability as a lyricist are in full bloom. Instead, Lange nudges the sound itself, adding presence to the vocals and Phil Rudd's clod-simple but locked-in-tight drums. The result speaks for itself. Highway to Hell is a rock album of immense power that truly befits both its name and that of the band that made it.

Few bands ever typified the wild rock n' roll spirit the way AC/DC did and with "Highway to Hell" and "Get it Hot" AC/DC even outdo themselves in that regard. "If You Blood" and "Shot Down in Flames" are another pair of volcanic rockers and "Beating Around the Bush" is a high-speed boogie celebration. "Girl's Got Rhythm" is an explosive paean to a hard lovin' woman that, like its subject doesn't let you up for breath. The smouldering swagger of "Touch Too Much" contains possibly Bon's greatest lyric ("Her body a Venus, with arms") and in "Night Prowler" the boys lock in to a mean, slow groove to bring their most savage tale ever to sinister life, only for Bon, ever the joker, to burst out with Mork from Ork's "Shazbot!" as the song fades to a close. Bon Scott really was the ace in ACDC's sleeve and he proves it time and again all over this. His vocal delivery borders on the manic most of the time, but his crafty turn of phrase lets you know that every line is sung with a sparkle of mischief in his eye. Then of course there's Angus, whose lead breaks are always both timely and incendiary, the perfect foil for Bon's banshee wail.

Only "Love Hungry Man" lets the side down, a song so bad even the band disowned it, made even worse (if that's possible) by the profileration of killer tunes all around it. Twenty years ago this would have made this album lose more that 2 percentage points, but now it's on CD you can just skip it completely and never have to listen to it.

Apart from that, Highway to Hell isn't just a classic rock album, it is a quintessential addition to any serious music listener's collection.

1. Highway to Hell


2. Girls Got Rhythm


3. Walk All Over You


4. Touch Too Much


5. Beating Around the Bush


6. Shot Down in Flames


7. Get it Hot


8. If You Want Blood... You've Got It


9. Love Hungry Man


10. Night Prowler

Rating: 98%