496. AC/DC / Highway to Hell. 1979. 4.5/5

When a band is on fire, and consistently releases high quality albums, I guess you can only wonder when the dry spell is going to come. Well, it certainly isn’t here, with the lads putting the seal on yet another fine moment in their history. In fact, it could almost be the pinnacle of an ever evolving and growing giant.

Leading off with the great title track, there are once again few weak holes to be found in this package. "Highway to Hell" is a great song, one that still stands the test of time, and is rightly considered one of the band's best. It's funny though that when you listen to it in the context of the album it starts, it feels almost like a plodder when you crash into "Girls Got Rhythm", which takes off at a great pace and Bon's ecstatic vocals. It's an interesting comparison, and "Girls Got Rhythm" has always been a favourite of mine because of the way it jumpstarts the album. Then you dive headlong into "Walk All Over You", which starts off at a mellowing pace before exploding with Bon's blinding vocals and Angus letting rip on lead guitar. Just fantastic stuff. No time to rest, we're straight into "Touch Too Much", a song that rises because of Bon's great vocal performance, pushing up the energy levels of the song, before "Beating Around the Bush" completes the A side of the album.
"Shot Down in Flames" and "Get it Hot" start of the second half of the album, which is then followed by one of my top five AC/DC songs, the awesome "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)". This is a brilliant song to drum to, along with the great riff from Angus and Bon's blood-curdling vocals it makes almost the perfect song. In contrast, "Love Hungry Man" appears quite lacklustre and underwhelming, though it does pick up a bit by the middle of the song. the album closes off with "Night Prowler", which probably received more attention from the serial killer Richard Ramirez, who was nicknamed "Night Stalker" and was supposedly a big fan of the band. Again, this song goes against the grain of the majority of the album, plodding along to its conclusion whereas the high energy of most of the previous songs seems almost lost because of it. To me this has always been a real shame. It's not a bad song, but perhaps just a bad place for it.
As with a lot AC/DC's work, the unheralded star once again is the rhythm section of the band. They do not miss a beat, they provide the bulk of the song, as well as the backing vocals. Phil Rudd on drums is immaculate, while Cliff Williams on bass and Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar lock in on his groove and hold together each and every song. It is their great work that allows the extroverts in vocalist Bon Scott and lead guitar Angus Young to strut their stuff and be so outward in their roles. Bon’s vocals as always are just brilliant, uniquely his, and driving each song. As his epitaph you could ask for little more. The guitaring of Angus here is once more an inspiration to those youngsters growing up in the era.

This is another superb production from a great band. Though turmoil followed them following this release, and they still had great albums to come, this marked the end of the first great era of the band. It was a fine way to mark it.

Rating:  Animal, living in a human zoo.  4.5/5.