Rather than push hard to make these albums successful – you know, like a record company’s JOB is – they instead decided to push the band’s management to firstly replace lead singer Bon Scott (yep, that would have been a great move), and eventually pushed them to change their producers. The problem with that of course is that the band’s producers for all of their albums had been Harry Vanda and George Young – yep, Malcolm and Angus’s older brother George. Now that seems like a story that wasn’t going to end well. Atlantic’s representative flew to Sydney, and told George that for the record company to continue to invest in AC/DC, he would need to accede to their wishes, something he grudgingly agreed to. Atlantic then brought in Eddie Kramer, who had produced albums for Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Kiss, and was no doubt someone they thought could produce an album to their liking. The problem was, Kramer and the band did not gel, and it eventually came out that Malcolm and Angus were sending demos of the sessions back to George in Australia, who was obviously critiquing them harshly. Eventually, having relocated to a studio in the US and with the relationship completely breaking down, Malcolm’s constant barrage to have Kramer replaced came to pass, and another alternative came into the mix for the first time – Robert John (but better known as “Mutt”) Lange. It was to be a partnership that did indeed take AC/DC to another level of success, in album sales at least if not necessarily in the quality of the output achieved.
Lange at that time had conjured up chart success for the Boomtown Rats, and his more hands on approach as a producer was beginning to see results with whatever he was involved in. The stories from the making of this album, from him teaching Bon how to coordinate his breathing during the singing of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” after being told by the singer “if you’re so good, why don’t you sing it?”, to which he apparently did first time, to manipulating what Angus played on what became the solo to the title track “Highway to Hell”, became legendary. It was a partnership that took both parties to a higher level of success.
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 band 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 very 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. The pure simplicity of the track is often overlooked, because it is such a great song with a terrific groove and Bon’s teasing vocals over the top. The song caused a ripple in the US when it was the name chosen by the band as the album’s title (conservative US get a bit prickly about stuff like that) while many mistook the song being about wanting to party in hell, when in fact the lyrics are about the band’s experience of being on the road non-stop, and how that could very well wear you down.
It is interesting that when you listen to it in the context of the album it starts, it feels almost like a plodder when you crash into the follow up "Girls Got Rhythm", which takes off at a faster pace alongside Bon's ecstatic vocals. It's a bold comparison, and "Girls Got Rhythm" has always been a favourite track of mine because of the way it jumpstarts the album. The supporting vocals from Malcolm and Cliff also excel here. From here 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. It mixes up the faster paced harder parts with the slower and softer mid-section along the way, and once again with Malcolm and Cliff’s supporting vocal tying out the track. Listening to this in the live environment exemplifies the strongest parts of the track in much better style as well.
There’s no time to rest, as the album moves along straight into "Touch Too Much", a song that rises on the back of Bon's great vocal performance in particular, pushing up the energy levels of the track. It’s a different style to the music for this song, built around the sensational rhythm section which ebbs and flows as to the needs of the vocals, with only two short bursts from the lead guitar to punctuate it. Another superb song, one that is crafted particularly well. The first side of the album concludes with "Beating Around the Bush", that harks back to a style found on the first couple of albums.
Side Two opens with "Shot Down in Flames", a straight up rocker where the band hits the groove from the outset and then let Bon and Angus do their work. Simple, uncomplicated, and terrific. Rinse and repeat for “Get It Hot”, following the same storyboard but making enough changes so that the band can’t be accused of plagiarising... themselves. Then comes what is arguably one of the band’s most iconic and best songs, "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)". This is a brilliant song to drum to (as those who have watched the movie ‘Empire Records’ would know), along with the great riff from Angus and Bon's blood-curdling lyrics and vocals it makes almost the perfect song. Brilliant to sing along with, a great anthem and a great party song. It covers the full gamut.
In contrast, "Love Hungry Man" appears quite lacklustre and underwhelming and seems a strange choice to follow such a terrific and energetic song. The album closes off with "Night Prowler", which probably received more attention due to its eventual association with 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 of AC/DC's work, the unheralded star once again is the rhythm section of the band. It does not miss a beat, and provides the bulk of each 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.
Growing up in Australia, AC/DC was an institution. In the 1980’s especially, as a high school student, you knew the band, you knew the hits. There was someone within your circle that had their music, and you all listened to it in some way. This is how it happened for me, knowing all the songs that were played on the radio and on music video shows, and hearing albums at different friends and acquaintances homes along the way. Eventually, as I found the funds required, I began to build my own AC/DC album collection. Somewhere along the way, “Highway to Hell” became one of those purchases.
Often considered as one of the best two or three AC/DC albums recorded, this has always been one of those albums that contains more than a touch of magic. There is a lot of great music here, and some of the songs are indeed legendary, and if you wanted to argue the point as to where this album should rank on any all-time list I'm sure you could have me come around to your way of thinking if you had enough good points.
“Highway to Hell” is a driving force. Put it on at work and you start playing drums on the desktop. Put it on in the car and the air guitar starts flying. There is a real perpetual motion going on with the tracklist, a consistent drive that barely abates from start to finish. Those that have only ever heard the singles and 'famous' tunes may not know a lot of the songs on this album, but they all meld together to make an album that does not quit.
Bon's vocals on his final charge are probably the peak of his career, and the mix with the backing vocals of Malcolm and Cliff add both drama and power to every song. Bon’s performance is top shelf, and the fact it was his last still stings. Phil Rudd's drumming is sublime, and the rhythm is brilliant. There aren't many times Angus Young plays second banana - and he is great here, no doubt - but Bon is the star and this is a pretty fair finale for him. His passing just seven months after the release of this album could easily have meant this was AC/DC’s final album as a band. That it wasn’t, and that they continue to tour and record 45 years later is an amazing achievement. There were still some terrific albums to come, but Bon’s passing does mean “Highway to Hell” concluded the first great era of AC/DC. Some fans think the great days ended here, while many agree that the follow up to this album showed the band had a lot more to give. Like the song says... if you want blood...
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