ACDC album Let There Be Rock: In your collection?

[Ivan May]

I acquired my copies of Highway To Hell and Let There Be Rock from a guy my father works for.

 

By 1977, ACDC had already been well known in their native Australia, releasing their debut, High Voltage, in 1975, and following a year later with Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, both of which became concert staples over the following decades.

 

Let There Be Rock was not a commercial success, in American terms, upon its first release (it stalled at #154 on the Billboard 200, but has subsequently been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.)

 

It has become one of the most influential albums ACDC ever put out. Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains has listed this album as an influence on his guitar playing.

 

Side 1 opens with the track Go Down, which is about--you guessed it--sexual intercourse! Angus Gibson SG powers through the track, whilst Mark Evans rocksteady bass playing and Malcolm's rhythm parts feed Bon Scott's animated reading of his and Angus saucy vocals.

 

Dog Eat Dog is an okay song. I have nothing negative to say about Angus Young guitar playing, but had they put this on Powerage or Dirty Deeds, it would have been better. My parents, however, think it is one of ACDC's best songs (and they should know, because they saw ACDC in concert several times in the Eighties.)

 

Let There Be Rock is the album's title cut, and it is a great song. This is what REAL hard rock sounded like back in the Seventies, with Bon Scott's bluesy screams proving what a force ACDC was back during the Carter years. It's also why ACDC is an enjoyable, highstrung record compared to the albums that bands like Godsmack and Creed are putting out today. Maybe they should listen to Let There Be Rock a few times, that might be an influence on their creative input.

 

Bad Boy Boogie closes Side 1, and it is a great closing track for side 1. The chorus is great, the instrumental breaks are great, with Angus and Malcolm's twin guitar leads crawling up like a rat up a pipe. Excellent string bending from Angus as well!

 

Side 2 opens with Problem Child, an edited version of a track originally featured on their 76 album Dirty Deeds. This track is only available on the US, Canada and Japan releases, with "Crabsody In Blue" appearing on the UK and Australian releases. Problem Child is not exactly heavy metal, but it acts as a showcase of what heavy metal sounded like back in the seventies.

 

Overdose features some multitracked guitar from Angus Young, and Phil Rudd trying to stomp his drum kit into tiny pieces of percussive shrapnel! The version that appears on their live album If You Want Blood is more preferable in my opinion, despite the hearing loss most everybody in my family has suffered from playing that record at full volume.

 

Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be features some witty, improvisational lyrics from Bon Scott, and probably the best basic track arrangement of any song off of the Let There Be Rock album. This song became a staple of the band's concert setlist, and is still played to this day.

 

Whole Lotta Rosie features one of the best closing tracks of any ACDC album, along with Night Prowler from Highway To Hell. That fast-slow-fast rhythm track, Angus guitar going into ear bleeding overdrive, and Bon Scott singing to near hoarseness is proof that ACDC probably rocked harder than any other band in existence. If you need to start buying ACDC albums you should start with this one.

The original 1977 Atlantic release is very good, but I also suggest buying the Columbia remaster, just in case you want to hear a different mix and bonus tracks.

 

Within the next year, Cliff Williams would replace Mark Evans on bass, and Powerage as well as the bloody good live album If You Want Blood..came out that same year.

 

It's also hard to believe that ACDC didn't win a Grammy until about 2010. I guess you can't have everything...

[Caevan O’Shite]

Pfffffffffffffft. Let There Be Rock and Back in Black are my two favorite AC/DC albums, and among my favorite albums altogether. Powerage and Highway to Hell are pretty damn good, too.

I absolutely love Malcolm Young's playing and TONE. And Angus Young managed to pull off an incredible number of perfect solos, too- particularly, perfect for the given song and phrase by phrase, note by note, impossible to improve. (I don't care HOW it was done, the results are undeniable.) Especially on Back in Black. And the interplay between the two of them- just ridiculously perfect.

I don't break out or stream AC/DC albums all that often anymore, but when the urge strikes, it's EXACTLY what the Doctor ordered.

         
 
 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Although I’ve always liked “Rosie”, I’ve never purchased that album.  Part of it is I’m not Bon Scott’s biggest fan, I suppose.  Then again, I don’t actually have a lot of AC/DC albums, period.

 

I probably need more, if I’m honest…but classic radio stations go a long way for scratching that particular itch.

[desertbluesman]

I have had some of ACDC's works in the past on LP and then again on CD. I have not listened to my CD's in years and years. Once in a while on long road trips I do play some of the CD's as both of our cars have CD players in them.

[p90jr]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:29 AM, Caevan OShite said:

Pfffffffffffffft. Let There Be Rock and Back in Black are my two favorite AC/DC albums, and among my favorite albums altogether. Powerage and Highway to Hell are pretty damn good, too.

I absolutely love Malcolm Young's playing and TONE. And Angus Young managed to pull off an incredible number of perfect solos, too- particularly, perfect for the given song and phrase by phrase, note by note, impossible to improve. (I don't care HOW it was done, the results are undeniable.) Especially on Back in Black. And the interplay between the two of them- just ridiculously perfect.

I don't break out or stream AC/DC albums all that often anymore, but when the urge strikes, it's EXACTLY what the Doctor ordered.

         
 
 

I grabbed a Solo Dallas SOLO X BOOST pedal for cheap a little while ago, the simplified "Angus" pedal based on the compressor/limiter/expander built into his famous Solo Dallas wireless unit that Mutt Lange made him use in the studio to record "Back In Black" (and maybe "Highway To Hell," I can't remember) because he'd noted how great his tone was in live settings and it fell short when he set up the same rig in the studio... it's pretty darn cool, no matter what you're playing.

AC/DC was huge to me and my friends as kids... we thought of them as kind of a punk rock band. Being able to play all the songs on "Highway To Hell," "Back In Black" and "Dirty Deeds..." definitely made me seem like a badass back then.

 

[Ivan May]

6 hours ago, p90jr said:

I grabbed a Solo Dallas SOLO X BOOST pedal for cheap a little while ago, the simplified "Angus" pedal based on the compressor/limiter/expander built into his famous Solo Dallas wireless unit that Mutt Lange made him use in the studio to record "Back In Black" (and maybe "Highway To Hell," I can't remember) because he'd noted how great his tone was in live settings and it fell short when he set up the same rig in the studio... it's pretty darn cool, no matter what you're playing.

 

Highway To Hell also seems like a bit of a precursor, in terms of production, to the albums Mutt wound up producing for Def Leppard throughout the Eighties.

[Sharkman]

There is a little known ACDC live album called "If You Want Blood You Got It" that features most of the Let There Be Rock songs performed live.  My friend Greg is a singer/guitarist in a band, and I have told him quite a few times to get this album and listen to the song Let There Be Rock.  I guarantee he will want to play that one with his band if he ever gets around to listening to it.

[Caevan O’Shite]

38 minutes ago, Sharkman said:

There is a little known ACDC live album called "If You Want Blood You Got It"

"Little known"? 😄😉 Oh, man, when I was a kid I wore out copies of If You Want Blood You've Got It on vinyl and cassette! The live version of "Whole Lotta Rosie" on that album was where I first heard that song. That's a great live album! Among the very best.