AC/DC as they should be heard (If You Want Blood You've Got It - AC/DC)

Member Name: DrRobert

Product:	If You Want Blood You've Got It - AC/DC
Date:	14/11/03 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A real slice of Rock history., So many classics on one CD.

Disadvantages: Too short.

AC/DC have always, first and foremost, been a live band. In the late seventies there were very few bands that could touch them when it came to putting on a show. It didn't matter if they were playing in a small pub in front of an old man and his dog, or supporting some megastars, like The Who, the end result was invariably the same. One Hell of a good show.

This album is a perfect document of that era in AC/DC's history. Here we have a band on the verge of super stardom, and you can tell by the performance that they knew it.

This is a remastered copy of the album I'm listening to, and it sounds fresher than it did when it came out all those years ago. They have done a great job bringing out the bass without drowning any of the other instruments or vocals.

The CD gets under way with the sounds of the crowd getting impatient, then we hear some tantalising feedback, which cuts straight into a no holds barred performance of 'Riff Raff' Brilliant. Next up is 'Hell aint a bad place to be', if Bon says so, then I guess it can't be.

Next up is a showcase for Angus' talents (in more ways than one;)) 'Bad Boy Boogie', this song has become legendary for two things over the years; Angus Young's solo and his cheeky striptease routine. Classic AC/DC.

The next song is 'The Jack', but it's not the same as the version on High Voltage. Oh no. This version shows just how clever of a wordsmith Bon Scott was. On the album it's a rather tame song about playing poker with a naughty lady. On the live stage Bon completely changes the lyrics to a song about sexually transmitted deseases, and he implores the audience to, 'give it to me, give it me...' Bon did love plenty of 'audience participation'.

What used to be 'side 1' back in the old days ended with 'Problem Child' a classic slice of 'don't mess with me!' rock and roll. When B
on screams 'what I want I take, what I don't break, and I don't want you' you just hope he isn't talking to you.

'Side 2' opens with one of the greatest ever 'live album moments' in rock history. The crowd are all wild and chanting Angus! Angus! Angus! in time with the riff to 'Whole Lotta Rosie'. This is the band at their best, everyone is playing as tight as a drum and Bon's story about the large Tasmanian lady in firmly engraved in rock fokelore. Perhaps one of the best live songs of all time.

'Rock n Roll Damnation' comes next. It's even better here than it is on Powerage, even if it may be played a bit slower here. That might just be my imagination. It certainly sounds heavier than the album version.

More audience participation up next on 'High Voltage'. If proof were needed that AC/DC were at their best on stage this could be it. The studio version of this song is, by AC/DC standards at least, a bit boring. But certainly not here. One gets the feeling they could have played 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' on this album and it would have sounded raw and exciting, then again AC/DC don't do covers, so we'll never know.

'Let there be Rock' Indeed.

The album closes with a short sharp shock of 200mph rock n roll, on 'Rocker' Bon sounds like he's about to burst his vocal chords. It's loud, it's fast, it's simple. It's AC/DC live.

A fantastic album.

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