The singer turned and he said to the crowd.....let there be rooooooooooooock (Let There Be Rock - AC/DC)

Member Name: Mr Chubbers

Product:	Let There Be Rock - AC/DC
Date:	18/02/07 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great rock from a then great band

Disadvantages: None at all

This album came crashing into the shops at the height of the punk era, 1977. At a time when the heavyweights of the scene, Led Zep, Floyd and Sabbath were more or less resting on their collective laurels and getting coked up to the eyeballs, along came this wonderfully aggressive naturalised Australian upstart, no-nonsense, 12 bar-boogie band and grabbed a flaccid rock world by the balls and dragged it kicking and screaming back into the limelight. This is a hard, hard rocking album and must be right up there with Highway To Hell as their finest hour.

The great Bon Scott sings: he of the high-pitched yelp coming on like a dog on heat. He sings of sex. He sings of sexually transmitted diseases. Above all he sings of rock and roll in all its soaring glory.

The brothers Malcolm and Angus Young play guitar. Malcolm plays rythym, leaving Angus to put down killer lines. Angus plays one of THE definitive fingerbreaker solos, on the title track. Cliff Williams, who was the token Englishman in this otherwise dastardly band of ex-pats, plays a tight bass laying down a groove over Phil Rudd's thunderous drumming. This album also benefits from a deeper sounding production, courtesy of Vanda and Young, than the often ragged (but still great) sound on their first three albums.

The tracks: oh the tracks. Dead on 12-bar boogie on the opener Go Down, a wonderful six minute paen to the delights of Bon Scott's favourite sexual position. "Get off your back and go down, down on the ground" he begs, he pleads. The ladies acqiuese. Dog Eat Dog, telling the tale of a world where everyone is doing just that to each other. Bon howls at the end, which never ceases to bring a smile to my face . The title track, one of this band's finest seven minutes ever recorded. Starting as a rock and roll history lesson, it steadily builds up to a crushing finish with a supercharged Angus Young putting down a 1000-note guitar line.

"Being a bad boy ain't that bad, I had me more dirty women than most men ever have", winks Bon in Bad Boy Boogie, another song which builds up to a shattering finale. Problem Child, as much hilarious as a message to stray away from the darkside, has some nice lyrics "and my mother hates me". AC/DC throw in some variety with the slower, blusier strain of Overdose before warming back up with Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be, a pounding, snarling slab of hard rock which allows Scott to lay down his basic "f**k you" credo. This man was a real rock star. The band get it up one more time for the finale Whole Lotta Rosie, one of their more well-known tracks, telling the tale of the women who ain't exactly pretty, ain't exactly tall, but when it comes to loving, mmmm she steals the show. Way back in the early 80's this was voted the greatest rock single ever made.

This is a superb hard rock album and as I've already mentioned, is right up with Highway To Hell as this band's defining moment. The production is such that it sounds like the band just walked into the studio and let rip, a very live sound indeed. Highly recommended balls-out no nonsense music from a band who were just about to reach the height of their powers.

Summary: Essential late 1970's hard rock