AC/DC - Highway To Hell

I was never a big fan of Australia's AC/DC ( even though the Young brothers and Bon Scott were from Scotland, and later Brian Johnson was from Durham ), but two of my school friends were heavily into at the time. Having borrowed a couple of their earlier albums from them, there were a few songs I quite liked, such as "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Rock and Roll Damnation", "Riff Raff" and bagpipe flavoured "It's a Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock And Roll". The occasional song, such as the double entendre packed "Big Balls" was quite witty.

In December 1979 there was alot of excitement in my school that AC/DC were coming to play at the Brighton Conference Centre on their Highway To Hell Tour, and a number of sixth formers were going. Not wanting to be left out I agreed to go along and purchased a copy of the new album so that I would be familiar with the new songs. As you can see, I splashed out £2.99 !

I don't remember much about the concert except that I quite enjoyed it, but looking at the set-list available on the internet, only three of the new songs were included in the set performed that night. With his death in February 1980, it turned out to be one of Bon Scott's last performances.

Highway to Hell was AC/DC's global break-through album, being their first top-10 success in the UK and first album to break the top 100 in the US - it made the top 20. It established the band as one of the major hard rock acts in the world.

I haven't listened to this album since I left school in 1980, and whilst "Highway to Hell" and "Touch Too Much" were major hit singles in the UK, the only other song on the track list that I would say I was familiar with is Walk All Over You and its anthem-like chorus. In fact, whilst I remembered "Touch Too Much" I had forgotten it was actually an AC/DC song. Most people should recognise the riff on opener "Highway to Hell" but I suspect the rest of the material will be fairly monotonous and a challenge to listen all the way through.

Having now sat through the whole album, it is top-loaded so that the stronger songs are at the beginning. After the high point of "Touch Too Much", the fourth track, things start to wane with the closing song on side one, "Beating Around The Bush".

Side Two has little to grab the attention, with three routine songs, with "Shot Down In Flames" the best of them, followed by two very forgettable songs, which I just wanted to end, to close out the album.

However, Highway To Hell was a clear attempt to become mainstream, and to that end it succeeded. A lot of rough edges have been smoothed off, and global domination followed. There are a few decent riffs, but don't listen too much to the lyrics. There is a shortage of the genuinely funny lines found on the earlier albums, and some of the words wouldn't pass modern day political correctness. In this respect Highway To Hell hasn't aged very well.

As to the accusation that AC/DC are boring and samey, I liked the rebuttal from guitarist Angus Young :

"I'm sick and tired of people saying we put out 11 albums that sounded exactly the same. In fact, we've put out 12 albums that sounded exactly the same".

Track Listing :

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

Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 8

Singles :

Highway To Hell ( No 4 - 1979 )
Touch Too Much ( No 29 - 1980 )