I'm on my way to the promised land! (Highway To Hell - AC/DC)

Member Name: Wolfzilla

Product:	Highway To Hell - AC/DC
Date:	26/02/07 (178 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 10 bluesy Rock & Roll anthems for the ages!

Disadvantages: Bon Scott's last album

Few rock bands can claim to have outlasted Punk, Heavy Metal and Britpop, but then, few rock bands are worthy of comparison to the mighty AC/DC. Form in the early 1970s by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, the AC/DC that recorded Highway To Hell were, the Young’s aside, a different band to the one that started out. In the time between 1974’s High Voltage and this 1979 release, with those 5 years seeing the entrance of drummer Phil Rudd, English bassist Cliff Williams, and most importantly, singer Bon Scott. Scott, as with the Youngs, was a Scottish ex-pat in Australia, who had enjoyed minor success in a few prog-rock bands in the early 70s, before landing himself a job as AC/DC’s chauffeur. When their original singer Dave Evans refused to take to the stage for a gig, Scott took his chance and the rest is history. One of rock’s most charismatic frontmen, Scott was never, by any technical definition anyway, a good singer, yet his slightly screechy wail did boast a certain roguish charm, and it was undeniable that he was the master of the double-entendre.

Indeed, while the band’s trademark bluesy rock ‘n roll had garnered quite a few fans by the time 1979 rolled around, it was Highway To Hell that really put the band on the road to Rock immortality, which made it all the more sad that it was the last record to feature the vocals of Scott, who died a few months after it’s release after choking on his own vomit following a night’s drinking. While his death overshadows the album slightly, to an extent Scott, along with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, is one of the cases of death simply leading to immortality, with Scott always being remembered as ‘the love hungry man’, whose main obsessions seemed to be whisky, women and rock & roll, age was never allowed to dilute his charm.

However, Highway To Hell isn’t simply remembered as Scott’s swan-song in terms of significance, as it also was the first album to see the band partner themselves with producer ‘Mutt’ Lange, who managed what many would seem impossible, to spit and polish AC/DC’s previously rough, garage sounding blues rock and make it sound more professional, without compromising that raw quality that makes AC/DC so great.

Lange made the sound clearer, more professional, and this just served to illustrate a unique element to AC/DC’s appeal. Even with a clean, polished sound, the band still managed to sound dirty, leery, sleazy and brilliant.

Unfortunately, this fact also worked against the band when more sinister events were tagged onto the album. When an AC/DC baseball cap was found at the scene of a murder later attributed to serial killer Richard Ramirez, some of the blame for this was attempted to be passed onto the band, in particular for this album’s closer, Night Prowler. Unlike some acts, whom the stigma of such an event has never left, over the years the band have managed to at least somewhat shake the stigma. Sure you’re parents probably still wouldn’t approve of you listening to them, but isn’t that what Rock & Roll is all about?

On paper, Highway To Hell really isn’t all that different to any other AC/DC album. Bluesy, rather simple guitar and bass chords driven into the ground by Malcolm Young and Cliff Williams while his Angus lets rip some blistering solos, all the while Rudd keeping a nice little beat while Bon let’s rip his tales of booze, birds and both at once, with sing-a-long chorus powered by chants from Malcolm and Cliff. However, while AC/DC have basically repeated this formula for their 16 albums, simply replacing Scott for current frontman Brian Johnson’s croaky vocals after this record, what Highway To Hell does different is that every song is a scorcher. While I wouldn’t say the band’s catalogue contains all that many bad tracks, they are guilty of veering into repetitive land on many of their albums, with a few classic tracks there to rekindle interest. There is none of that on Highway To Hell, from the instantly recognisable opening riff of the title track to Bon’s bizarre Mork & Mindy quote at the end of Night Prowler, Highway To Hell gets your foot tapping, the air guitar going and quite simply rocks like very few other albums can claim to even come close to.

While lyrically depth is something the album, and the band’s CV in general, isn’t heavy on, how good are those bluesy riffs? What about Angus’ solos? Even if he is spouting what should be cringe-worthy double-entendres and puns on Led Zeppelin song titles, it’s hard not to love Bon Scott’s vocals.

If I were to pick favourites, naturally the album opener and title track would be among them. There can be few opening riffs as instantly recognisable as Highway To Hell, and there’s a reason for that. Not only does the riff set up the song perfectly, but also the entire album. As with almost every AC/DC song, it’s hard to sum up exactly what makes it such a great track, but I defy anyone not to be singing along with Malcolm and Cliff at the chorus or nodding along to Angus’ fantastic solo. But then, the same could be said of essentially the entire record. You see, while AC/DC’s sound may not change much, the Young’s do have a knack of coming up with outrageously catchy and fantastic cuts of guitar, and even if Bon’s voice wouldn’t last see him past the preliminaries on TV shows like The X-Factor, the fact is that he had the X-factor that made him such an endearing frontman. There’s something endearing about a guy who can make repeating “girls got rhythm, back seat rhythm, rock and roll rhythm“ and make it sound cool.
However, as many will point out, the thing that makes Highway To Hell so effective is hindsight. The song celebrates the life of a rock and roller, how it’s the ‘highway to hell’, a path Scott himself followed. Perhaps it’s this seemingly autobiographical song, sung with that enthusiasm and glee that characterised Scott, that seems to have helped make him such an icon.

So, while the album, and the band’s career in general, may not exactly be known for musical diversity, there is no denying they are incredibly good at churning out these powerful, driven rockers, and Highway To Hell saw them manage to construct 9 incredibly good examples of Rock & Roll in it’s most pure form. The reason I say 9, is that the final track, the somewhat tainted Night Prowler isn’t really traditional AC/DC. A brooding, rather ominous song, to an extent I could see how it could be interpreted as being about a serial killer…but as Malcolm Young was later to point out, it could just as easily be about sneaking into a girl’s bedroom as to avoid her parents…a theme which fit’s the AC/DC mould a bit more comfortably.

So, while it may not be big or clever, Highway To Hell crams in some of the most anthemic, foot-stomping rockers every to explode out of speakers, and even a clean production can’t completely wash out the sleazy goodness that drips out of every Young guitar riff or the lovably leery innuendo that seeps out of Scott’s vocals. I don’t think there would be many that would argue that Highway To Hell is one of the finest Rock & Roll albums of all time, and to be honest, I don’t think is any other score I can give it than full marks.

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

Review also posted on Epinions.com

Summary: Quite easily one of the greatest rock albums ever, Highway To Hell is an album all rock fans need.