AC/DC: Classic or Dud

Do you really have to choose? I think they can be both. I have to admit that I can't really take much AC/DC at any one sitting, but it's hard to deny the hip-shaking power of something like "You Shook Me All Night Long". Earlier material, while revved up through the amplifiers, is really classic blues with a nasty bent (not that blues can't already be pretty explicit and nasty): Mark Kozalek played this to the hilt with his folked-out reworkings of early AC/DC numbers on his What's Next to the Moon album.

In a way, though, AC/DC is much like the Ramones: if you have one or two of their albums, you probably have all you really need. I'd probably choose Back in Black and Dirty Deeds. Anything post-Back in Black is probably best avoided, though there are sporadic moments worth noting.

Let's see how many of us get to that age and can still rock even slightly, I say. Classic, natch. The Ramones comparison is apt, to be sure, but I feel that all the Bon-era stuff and the first couple of Brian Johnson albums belong in every home. Also, the bottle opener key chain that came with the box-set has proven incredibly useful over the years.

Only strike against them - ditto Sean above - is they've lingered so long, consequently made more good albums than you'd need. But, y'know, some of those less celebrated albums - POWERAGE, FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK - are solid as all get out.

(Also, totally inappropriate to apply the word misogynist to songs about fucking, liking women, and liking to fuck women. Albeit AC/DC's are crudely worded - "Up to My Neck in You," "Inject the Venom" etc. The doggerel's part of their charm. More apt to call 'em "human naturists".)

ANYway, I zapped an e-mail to my New Yorker editor with the flimsiest of hopes that he might be able to hook us up. I don't generally like to exploit this particular avenue, as my connection with the magazine seems TENUOUS at best, and I don't want to ask for extra favours or rock the boat. But, to my considerable surprise, John wrote back (the subject header read: "YOU RAWK TONIGHT!") and all was a go! Trouble is, being that this gig was at the Roseland Ballroom (a large-sized venue for mid-level bands, but tiny for AC/DC), the tix were being distributed in a scalper-defying voucher system. Once I heard from John that there would be two tix in my name at the box office, I trucked on up to Roseland and waited
for a chilly HOUR in the cold with a gaggle of other middle-aged,
leather-clad mooks, only to be turned away when I finally got in with the news that: "Press tickets won't be available `til this evening!"

I went back at 6:00, and the street was crawling with scalpers, mounted police, crestfallen metalheads and grown men with paunches and thinning hair dressed like pre-adolescent Australian schoolboys. After unspooling a giant ball of red tape, I finally got my envelope of two tickets (thank god, I was expecting to get stiffed with only one, and having to explain that to Rob would've been unpleasant and awkward). I jogged over to Ye Olde Tripple Inn on 54th street and celebrated with a few pints of Yuengling while I waited for Rob to show up. Huzzah!

After a quick bite, we repaired back over to Roseland where the mob scene was in full swing. We'd heard rumours that the opening "mystery band" was going to be some sort've R'n'R Hall of Fame amalgam featuring members of the Clash and the Police, but suffice to say.....I didn't really expect as much (can you imagine Paul Simonon and Sting playing at an AC/DC show? Me neither.) It wasn't. Instead it was some nobody band called, I think, Momento, who insisted on chiding the capacity crowd with taunts of "old people" and "how come there are so many old fat guys here tonight?" What did they expect? This is AC/DC, not fuckin' Linkin Park. They left the stage to a smattering of indifferent applause.

The floor was packed like a massive cannister of hirsute sardines. Our press tix got us, however, up to the Mezzanine level, which afforded a bit more elbow room and comparitively unobstructed views (although we were still behind the VIP section, which featured little tables on the balcony.) We settled in, grabbed a few more beers and readied ourselves for rock. I spotted Rick Rubin, but no other notables. The crowd was peppered with a truly diverse cross-section. Aging metalheads, guys in business suits, a few hipsters who could've been Strokes roadies wearing "ironic" shirts featuring bygone luminaries like Rainbow and Dio, a couple of legit Hell's Angels, a few mohicans, a mixed bag.....though no hip hop kids. Surprise.

Promptly on-time, the band hit the stage, opening with "Hell Ain't A Bad Place to Be." Bassist Cliff Williams hasn't aged a day. Malcolm is
significantly trimmer and less goblinesque than before. Phil Rudd on the drums is the *SPITTING IMAGE* of Iggy Pop...it's bizarre. Brian Johnson -- complete with signature cap and indecipherable Geordie accent -- still has the pipes, and comes across as possibly the most grounded, nicest guy in rock. And then, of course, there's Angus.....Australia's finest embodiment, now almost fully bald save a friar tuck ring and a thinning widow's peak. His trademark "dance" while playing (massive, gleaming guitar at trunk-level, left knee-raised, shoulders back phasing into shoulders forward, head down, right-knee raised, full-on rocktastic grimace all the while) is a bit less feverish than in years past...but, y'know, the man's fuckin' in his fifties, for god's sakes, and still rocking absolutely furiously. Majesty.

The set list was a bit soft on momentum. Lots of older numbers, like "Gone Shootin'," "The Jack", "Rock'n'Roll Damnation", "If You Want Blood". They, of course, did do stand-bys like "T.N.T.", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Thunderstruck," "Back in Black" (the second number of the evening), "Shoot to Thrill", "Hells Bells" (the track that got me into them way back in Eighth Grade), "Highway to Hell" and "Whole Lotta Rosie." I was somewhat struck by the absence of "Who Made Who", "Let There Be Rock" and "For Those About to Rock", yet they insisted on playing "Stiff Upper Lip" from their most recent album. After a to-the-minute hour and a half set, they only did one encore (knowing full well that no one paid to get in, save the poor slobs who paid ridiculous scalper fees...I was offered three hundred for my pair) with "You Shook Me All Night Long". To be honest, I've never really liked that song. It's kind of their "Whip It," y'know? Their one "hit single."

After that, following a bit of a tease, the house lights went up, and that was it. Personally, I could've standed a few more tunes, but hey.....I can't complain.

What the heck is with these new reissues? I guess they sold the rights to Sony or something? Ok fine, great, an opportunity to finally put the catalog in order. But no, they're re-releasing the same stupid American versions! So we're going to once again end up with "Problem Child" stupidly on both Let There Be Rock and Dirty Deeds Done Done Dirt Cheap, and a half-assed Jailbreak EP, while great Australia only cuts like "R.I.P", "Stick Around", and "Carry Me Home" languish. How idiotic.

me: do you like AC/DC?
coworker: duh. i'm a guy.

Good lord, so do I.

a drummer friend often says that phil rudd is his favorite drummer. he plays the same beat on every song but he's tight as hell and doesn't try to steal the spotlight or do anything flashy.

(Oh, yeah, classic, btw.)

There's no need for any more than that.

This is so true. I'm glad they got him back in the fold after the years with "the bald guy from the Firm" (as everyone used to call him).

If I had to OPO it would probably be Let There Be Rock. Which sort of a weird choice because it probably has the least amount of Bon's signature humor. Which is of course one of the main reasons I love the band so much. That side is best featured on Dirty Deeds and Highway to Hell.

But Let There Be Rock - it's just so relentlessly heavy. The production is weird, the guitars just crackle with electricity. The album really shows off the way the twin guitars play off each other to create those glorious riffs. Like on "Overdose" which has the long intro w/ the arpeggios and the crashing drums. Then one guitar picks up the riff, then the next one locks in. It just becomes this churning monolith. Like space-rock or something. Yet for all of that there is still space in the music; they don't let the chords ring too long, they clip them off. This sound is nothing like the happier music, still tethered to the blues, on earlier records like High Voltage.

But yeah, every Bon Scott era record is a classic, and a decent number of the Brian Johnson ones as well (I'll take everything up to and including Flick of the Switch, and I actually really liked Ballbreaker).

Also, they played "What's Next to the Moon"!

http://www.dromo.com/fusionanomaly/flow.gif

However, isn't it possible for you to express your opinion about the band without directly insulting the vast majority of the people who have posted to this thread?

AC/DC is, other than Zep, the only hard rock band that every single woman I know —and probably many, many I don't— likes, if not loves.

so Black Ice is now out there, any fans?

http://i33.tinypic.com/2q0rn8k.jpg

official release date it October 18, 2008.

1. Rock N' Roll Train (4:21)
2. Skies On Fire (3:34)
3. Big Jack (3:57)
4. Anything Goes (3:22)
5. War Machine (3:09)
6. Smash N' Grab (4:06)
7. Spoilin' For A Fight (3:17)
8. Wheels (3:28)
9. Decibel (3:33)
10. Stormy May Day (3:10)
11. She Likes Rock N' Roll (3:53)
12. Money Made (4:15)
13. Rock N' Roll Dream (4:41)
14. Rocking All The Way (3:22)
15. Black Ice (3:25)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7792166.stm
AC/DC are about to be paid a glowing tribute at Holyrood in recognition of the rock band's Scottish roots.

South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame has lodged a parliamentary motion calling for the achievements of the group to be acknowledged.

Founding members Angus and Malcolm Young were born in Glasgow before the family moved to Australia in 1963.

And former frontman Bon Scott was born in Kirriemuir, where there is a memorial plaque in his honour.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45313000/jpg/_45313762_41646570.jpg
AC/DC were formed in 1973 and have sold more than 150 million records worldwide, with songs such as Highway to Hell, Back in Black and For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).

In 2003, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Glasgow gig

They recently released a new album called Black Ice and will play Hampden Park in Glasgow next year as part of a world tour.

Ms Grahame's motion - entitled AC/DC, We Salute You - calls on the Scottish Parliament to recognise the band's Scottish roots; note that their popularity continues to grow and welcome their forthcoming performance in Scotland; and to acknowledge the musical inspiration the band has provided to thousands of Scottish musicians.

Ms Grahame said: "It is clear Scott had a strong sense of his identity, from the 'Scotland forever' tattoo he had on his arm to his playing the bagpipes on the AC/DC track It's a long way to the top.

"When they played Glasgow in 1978 the whole band wore the Scotland national football strip as their concert took place just ahead of the World Cup finals and it would be fitting if they were to do the same when the band play Hampden national football stadium next June.

"After 35 years AC/DC are still contributing to music and giving fans enjoyment worldwide.

"I think they have long deserved official recognition from their homeland for that major musical contribution and my parliamentary motion will go some way towards recognising that."

Angus and Malcolm Young are guitarists and songwriters in AC/DC. Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning in 1980, aged 33.

The band I was in did an AC/DC covers thing for a NYE and we specifically focused on the Brian Johnson era stuff cuz it wasn't as "cool" but we did a deep dive and really practiced the material (like more then we normally would for own shit, natch) but so it gave me a renewed appreciation of those songs and Johnson is a fucking incredible singer, to sound like he does and do it LOUD is a lot harder then you'd think

we had a confetti canon on stage and sync'd up "For Those About to Rock" with the midnight countdown so "FIRE!" came right at midnight and it would have been awesome but our bass player kinda step on the touchdown call cuz he thought I was going to blown up by the confetti canon so he pulled me away and can you tell I'm still pissed about it haha?

Apparently Cliff is back, but Phil is out. :(

I guess it's kinda hard to guess where Rudd's head is at given his history

Fun fact: Rudd was the only Australian born member of the blockbuster era.

i love the Bon era the best

but overall with this band I think the joy of relistening as a longtime fan now is that there is a lot of joy in their music, and how the fun IS that it’s not really “about” anything. And lately for me on a musical level, marvelling how the whole rhythm section is *so* locked in, solid as a fucking rock, with these perfect spaces to support Bon’s showmanship, or Angus’s solos, or fuckin bagpipes or whatever

it’s a thing of beauty imo

Booming post, cosign 100%.

oowerage is so so awesome, Chris otm

There is a 2 part ABC documentary about Alberts LTD which covers from the 60s with the Easybeats through AC/DC that is on Youtube that is worth a view. It is like many of these RNR documentaries but the Australian view point is pretty novel to me, especially seeing some of the other acts covered in the show like Rose Tattoo. The part where Young and Vanda was using drum tape loops to make tracks was interesting.

oowerage is so so awesome

First tour since 2016, I guess. But just Brian and Angus as anchors. No Cliff or Phil.

Phil Rudd has not toured with them for fourteen years tbf

(four years before his meth / murder-for-hire legal complications)

(and Cliff retired from the band aged 67, so not touring at age 74 for an album that he popped back to record for a few weeks in 2018 is not much surprise)

And Malcolm is dead. I know *why*, doesn't make it much better. But Cliff did play with them at that Power Trip show back in October, so there was a possibility.

Aw man why is this thread not called "AC/DC C/D"? Someone really slipped up there.

Makes me really nervous when two separate threads about aging artists get bumped.

tbf this the rare band where it's unusual when something bad *doesn't* happen to them.

the current Mitsubishi commercial has done the impossible and actually made me dislike "Thunderstruck"

AC/DC C/D S/D

mods please rename

xpost same thing happened to me but 20+ years ago, ithere was a Holden ute commercial that played in Australia foreverrr in the late 90’s early 00’s

still cannot with that fkn song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA7n33zWak

Do they sound great? Eh. Do they sound good enough? Sure. Do they look good? No. Do they look like they are having fun? Yeah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOCgskt2kpI

Can't wait!

So glad I got to see them twice on the Black Ice tour (the last one with the Brian/Angus/Malcolm/Cliff/Phil lineup) — November 2008 at Madison Square Garden and April 2009 at the O2 in Dublin. Both shows were amazing, but the O2 date was wild because the way the seats are arranged, if you're on the floor like I was, they seem to be going up the walls like the "Thunderstruck" video, or Thunderdome.

I saw them in Glasgow in 2009 too, but i had the worst seats and the wind was blowing the sound away from me so it was less than ideal. i took my partner at the time who was AC / DC ambivalent before the gig and AC / DC atheist after. I spoke to friends who had the best seats and their experience was totally different to mine!

Prior to that I saw them on the For Those About To Rock Tour in Edinburgh in 1982, front row in The Playhouse which is a 3000 capacity theatre - it was probably the last time they played such an intimate venue. I don't remember much about it except Angus appearing in the circle (first time i had seen a radio mic) and the canons going off when they played For Those About To Rock.

yeah i saw them in 09 too, in Oakland. terrible seats, like i could almost touch the roof lol. i was glad i saw them, they were good, & it crossed off a bucketlist for me, but tbh mostly i wished i was old enough to have seen Bon :/

My brother saw them with Bon! 1979 at Hammersmith Odeon, I've always been jealous but I was 11 at the time so wasn't going to happen. In fact I haven't seen them to this day, not sure I could be bothered nowadays tbh.

He said it was a life-changing experience, I can believe it.

for me it was very weird to see Angus still doing his Angus-laying-on-the-ground-playing-guitar thing. At some point it’s a choice rather than an expectation, yknow? Like i think as a global nation of fans we’d all be okay if Angus just like, stood and soloed. Like, dude. You don’t have to do this.

(for me, anyway. maybe everyone else is like FUCK YES THIS 70 YEAR OLD STILL DOES THE THING HE STARTED DOING AS A TEENAGER)

xpost yeah i can believe that it wouldve been life changing. lucky guy!!

My sister saw them with Bon at Glasgow Apollo in 1979, I've always been jealous but i was also 11 at the time so it wasn't going to happen.

x post

I saw them on the "Ballbreaker" and "Stiff Upper Lip" tours, so Brian/Angus/Malcolm/Cliff/Phil. Both shows ruled, the latter iirc so hard that they *opened* with "You Shook Me ..." Don't know if I needed or want more.

I saw them — or what remains of them — in Nashville last night. First stadium show I've been to in forever, and tbh it was a thundering good time. Brian uh doesn't sound great, but he's such an amiable grinning goblin wobbling around the stage that he was totally endearing anyway. And Angus definitely gave it his all. The epic 10-minute solo was more impressive as a feat of endurance than virtuosity, but he sure seemed to be having fun. Boy do they miss Malcolm tho. It's sweet that they kept it in the family by bringing in the (68-year-old) nephew on rhythm guitar, but he sure doesn't have his uncle's crunch. The rhythm section for hire was fine, kept things moving. Collectively, they rocked quite credibly for more than two hours. Not the setlist of my dreams (not even "It's a Long Way to the Top") but sufficiently stocked with bangers. I'm mostly glad I got to see some version of them finally after all these years, and the 50,000 or so fans were pretty happy throughout.

I wanted them to be my first-ever rock show, when I was 13. I asked my dad to take me to the For Those About to Rock tour, but he wasn't up for it. He took me to U2 on the War tour the next spring instead, which was a lot of fun. But what could have been!

The set-ending fireworks.

https://i.imgur.com/FYhJ5rn.jpeg

USM and I saw them in Mpls and once we snuck into the lower bowl from the nosebleeds it was pretty great, I thought Brian sounded pretty good, Angus as great, the for hire rhythm section was surprisingly great and def missed Malcolm but it was a pretty fun show.

I was impressed that in the day and age of triggers & modeling amps, et al, it all seemed very old school, for better & worse.

“American thighs”

It's crazy how they went from being (with Bon) the kind of band that if you saw them in a bar would change your life forever to (with Brian) an absolutely amazing arena/stadium band, while seeming to be the exact same band.

Blame Mutt

I was impressed that in the day and age of triggers & modeling amps, et al, it all seemed very old school, for better & worse.

You ever see the Angus rig rundown video where his tech basically says that a big hunk of the Marshall stack backline wall is all live, because Angus doesn't like in-ear monitors and wants to be able to hear himself and the band wherever he is on or around stage at all times? Shorter version with all the amp stuff here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2bXLaQX2rw

“UK tushes”

Bolivian insteps

Full version worth watching too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5C7GKGxICg

You ever see the Angus rig rundown video where his tech basically says that a big hunk of the Marshall stack backline wall is all live, because Angus doesn't like in-ear monitors and wants to be able to hear himself and the band wherever he is on or around stage at all times?

At one point between songs there was the very loud and unmistakable sound of a cord being jacked into a guitar and it dawned on me that at least some if not all of the amps where real and not just fronts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unCKH8YyW18

“Taking everting in my stride…”

My awesome brother in law got me this boss shirt, muled by my mother in law all the way from Australia:

https://imgur.com/db4a97ec-82c7-4582-999b-f2598dc0c658
https://imgur.com/631122c3-1d3b-47d3-a507-0cbf310dee92

Dammit. Here's the back:

blob:https://imgur.com/631122c3-1d3b-47d3-a507-0cbf310dee92" class="noborder">

Or not.

https://imgur.com/a/BzkFdFu

imgur fucking with me

https://i.imgur.com/JMqidiJ.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/gCJEF5b.jpeg