02. AC/DC Highway to Hell 1979 (Atlantic)
Hard Rock
The girl’s got the backseat rhythm.
Overview
Highway to Hell would be one of the most revered hard rock albums ever released and it would be without doubt the icing on the cake when it comes to the ‘Bon Scott’ era of the band.
Highway to Hell would quite simply be the album that AC/DC had always strived to achieve right back from their earliest days and over the ensuing years they had furrowed hard to achieve this goal. They had certainly reached a pinnacle on the previous
Let There Be Rock back in 1977 (see review) but you always felt that the band could do even better and
Highway to Hell proved that they could. Sadly
Highway to Hell would become the perfect album title for its hard rocking and even harder drinking frontman Bon Scott, who would become one of the most famous deaths in rock several months after the recording of the album. He would die at the age of 33 (yep not 27) due to alcochol poisoning after falling asleep overnight in a car in freezing temperatures in London on the 19th February 1980. There is of course as with any famous rock death, a number of different stories and concoctions but the above seems to be the most common reason given. Either way rock had lost one of its most iconic frontmen who went out at the height of his game. Another notable highlight of
Highway to Hell must surely be the appointment of Robert John “Mutt” Lange as producer to replace the previous double act of Harry Vanda and George Young, who had produced every AC/DC album upto this date. In fact Mutt Lange was originally the second choice to replace the Vanda and Young team, as Kiss producer Eddie Kramer had been the actual first choice (It’s easy to see why he would’ve been chosen) but he was quickly fired and replaced with Mutt Lange. Mutt Lange would of course become one of the most important and most revered producers of his generation, with a reputation that was garnered from his perfectionist nature and his endurance in the studio which would push artists to their limits! He therefore made a big splash with his two AC/DC albums
Highway to Hell and the following
Back in Black in 1979 and 1980. Previously he had mostly worked with the UK punk and new-wave scene of the mid to late 1970s and certainly made his impact on the crisp sounding recordings that he gave the Boomtown Rats. He would of course go onto work with the likes of Def Leppard, the Cars and Foreigner, all bands who would have their biggest selling albums thanks to him.
Highway to Hell would make Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ list along with countless others over the years.
Bon Scott- Vocals
Angus Young- Guitar
Malcolm Young- Rhythm
Cliff Williams- Bass
Phil Rudd- Drums
Production- Robert John “Mutt” Lange
Album
Highway to Hell- The integral title track shows a somewhat controlled tempo by the band, as they serve us up another one of the infamous beer drinking anthems and its main guitar riff written my Malcolm Young and performed by Angus Young is regarded as one of the most famous riffs ever put down on record.
Girls Got Rhythm- The pace picks up immediately on this song and it’s a song that just seems to click in all the right places with its catchy rhythm and a stunning vocal performance by Bon Scott, and it’s another infectious band essential.
Walk All Over You- After its sluggish start the song soon emerges into a surprisingly adept piece of melodic hard rock and despite having a number of AC/DC hallmarks throughout, the song has a classic anthemic chorus that would be much copied throughout the 1980s. The song though is superbly superbly highlighted with its contrast of melody and Angus Young’s guitar.
Touch Too Much- Slow building, infectious and just so damn cool on the ear, as Bon Scott and the band deliver one of the crowning achievements.
Beating Around the Bush- A manic and nifty song, that is a great album filler and a song fit for any great album.
Shot Down in Flames- Similar in tempo to the album opener and title track and the song is carefully and carefully placed to start the b-side of the album.
Get It Hot- Typical AC/DC album material here and nothing special.
If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)- With a live album of the same name (see review) the band surprise us by putting out a song with the same name and it’s a solid track from start to end.
Love Hungry Man- A somewhat offbeat track by the band and again they use the chorus style approach of “Walk All Over You” in certain places.
Night Prowler- Supposedly based around the exploits of serial killer Richard Ramirez and a song which sees the band put out their most bluesy effort on the whole album. The song also finishes with the well known phrase “Shazbot, Nanu Nanu!”
Verdict
Highway to Hell is the perfect example of how a basic musical premise such as ‘hard rock’ could be taken and then stripped right back to its bearest bones, and then rebuilt to make it not just contemporary for its time but also as a timeless example of a hard rock album that was built to last. Part of the credit here surely goes to the band, but it also goes with Mutt Lange as well, as he painstaikingly delivered one of his production masterpieces with
Highway to Hell. The album starts off with the title track “Highway to Hell” and the band sound like that they’ve been doing this sound for years (which of course they had) and the song quickly joins a list of well-known band anthems, but it’s with the second track “Girls Got Rhythm” that things on the album really get moving, due to the song’s catchy and irresistible vibe and it’s one of the best and most infectious songs in the band’s discography. The same could also be said for a “Touch Too Much” another stellar track where the band let it all hang out a la Led Zeppelin. Album substance is provided on stalwart tracks like “Shot Down in Flames” “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” and the album closer “Night Prowler”. But possibly the real unsung brilliance of the album surely comes with its melodic moments, especially on a song like “Walk All Over You” which displays a greater commercial appeal than most of the band’s earlier material, with the inclusion of a melodic and anthemic chorus in a song that still manages to keep its rocking guitar chops. This same infectious melody can also be found on the previously mentioned classics the “Girls Got Rhythm” and a “Touch Too Much” as well. Also the lhe latter album track “Love Hungry Man” sees the band getting somewhat close again to the melodic flow of “Walk All Over You” and the brilliance of these tracks are surely the influence of Mutt Lange. AC/DC as a band have always had their fair share of filler and
Highway To Hell for all its brilliance doesn’t escape this trait, and here the filler ranges from being downright good with “Beating Around the Bush” to mediocre on “Get It Hot” but given the overall quality of the album, this filler easily gets sucked in with the good stuff and doesn’t detract from the album experience. Overall
Highway to Hell is a hard rock masterpiece that incorporates melody and commercial appeal, without sacrificing the ballbreaking core sound of the band. Whilst Motorhead were giving us a dirty blood and guts experience, AC/DC would give us more straight-up hard drinking material, which would convert into some of the most famous hard rock tracks ever produced and cement Mutt Lange’s name as one of the most revered producers of his time.