{"id":13458,"date":"2014-09-01T01:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T05:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13458"},"modified":"2022-01-06T19:42:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T00:42:18","slug":"content-needed-the-album-by-album-challenge-acdc-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13458","title":{"rendered":"The Album by Album Challenge: AC\/DC (Part I)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Welcome to another \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge.\u201d For those that are new here, the \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge\u201d is where I take a band\u2019s entire discography and listen to every album in order of release from front to back. With my unforgiving and well-aged ear, I call it how I hear it. In some cases, I find that what I once thought was good is actually pretty crappy and sometimes crap manages to age into something pretty kick ass. And in some cases, face melting is still just good ol\u2019 face melting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This time around we have a two parter as we dive into the AC\/DC discography. I\u2019ve been an AC\/DC fan since 1985 and as a fan I know that they can at times rival KISS for putting out inconsistent albums. Just because they\u2019re inconsistent doesn\u2019t make me any less a fan. In this challenge I had all kinds of really pleasant surprises and some god awful revelations. This was a really fun (and at times really frustrating) challenge so I hope you\u2019ll enjoy it. Did I come close for you? If not then let me know how you disagree.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>High Voltage<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> May 14, 1976<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: It\u2019s A Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock N\u2019 Roll, Rock N\u2019 Roll Singer, The Jack, Live Wire, T.N.T, Can I Sit Next To You Girl, Little Lover, She\u2019s Got Balls, High Voltage<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So when I was young lad just discovering hard rock\/metal music, AC\/DC was one of the greats but at this point in time, Brian Johnson had been in the band for about 3 albums so he was the guy I really connected with. I can remember a friend of mine\u2019s brother giving me a copy of Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap but I didn\u2019t really dig it because it wasn\u2019t Brian Johnson. Well, as a got older and started to find a love and respect for the greatness of the late Bon Scott and High Voltage became the next album I would buy.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vbCJMrsd3BA\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>It\u2019s probably been 20 years since I listened to this album in its entirety and it is every bit as awesome now as it was back then. It\u2019s impossible to not just love this gritty, dirty, back room bar style hard rock music. Every song is a winner and the production of this album is warm, raw, and in your fucking face. Even though it has been 20 years, I can still sing along with every fucking song like I just listened to it last week. This is such a solid debut album and it\u2019s the sound the inspired a million fucking bands.<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheep<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> September 20, 1976<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Love at First Feel, The Rocker, Problem Child, There&#8217;s Gonna Be Some Rockin&#8217;,<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong> Big Balls, Ain&#8217;t No Fun Waitin&#8217; Around To Be A Millionaire, Squealer<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s funny that after listening back to this album in its entirety have a different outlook on it. I really remembered liking this album so much in high school but in this listen I find it to be inconsistent and just kind of bleh. \u201cDirty Deeds\u201d is as awesome as it always was but it was \u201cLove at First Feel\u201d and \u201cThere&#8217;s Gonna Be Some Rockin&#8217;\u201d that I was surprised to see that I had forgotten about. Songs like \u201cBig Balls\u201d and \u201cSquealer\u201d just sounded kind of silly to me and failed to really do much for me.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PepRBMXKCFs\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>All in all, Dirty Deeds just isn\u2019t as strong an album as High Voltage. At times it almost feels like some of these songs are just leftover tracks that weren\u2019t quite good enough to make the High Voltage album. While I didn\u2019t hate this album I surely didn\u2019t love it. I will say this though. This album has \u201cRide On\u201d and that right there just may be one of the greatest AC\/DC songs of all time. As a whole this album just isn\u2019t great but it really does have some great moments that make it more than worth it to own it.<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let There Be Rock<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> March 21, 1977<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>:Go Down, Dog Eat Dog, Let There Be Rock, Bad Boy Boogie, Problem Child, Overdose, Hell Ain&#8217;t A Bad Place To Be, Whole Lotta Rosie<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the longest time I thought this album was a live album because it had the same name as the concert movie. Who knew? I can honestly say that I never listened to this album in full before this challenge and damn what a fucking awesome surprise. Unlike the previous album, Let There Be Rock is full of fresh, fun material as opposed to cutting room floor\/leftover tracks. You can definitely hear AC\/DC\u2019s sound at this point really refining and Bon Scott himself just completely steps up and owns shit like a boss.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o9bxTG2paYE\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>Song for song this album is way fucking solid. There are also a couple of song ssuch as \u201cGo Down\u201d and \u201cOverdose\u201d that I never really even listened to which totally kicked ass. \u201cOverdose\u201d just may be one of my new favorite AC\/DC songs that I never knew existed. Let\u2019s also not forget the \u201cclassics\u201d on this one such as the title track, \u201cHell Aint A Bad Place to Be\u201d, and \u201cWhole Lotta Rosie.\u201d These songs are staples of AC\/DC\u2019s career but what\u2019s up with \u201cProblem Child\u201d being released again? I didn\u2019t quite get that but I\u2019m not complaining because that song fucking rules! Great solid album that I will totally be digging on again.<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Powerage<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> May 5, 1978<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: Rock &#8216;n&#8217; Roll Damnation, Down Payment Blues, Gimme A Bullet, Riff Raff, Sin City, Gone Shootin&#8217;, Up To My Neck In You, Kicked In The Teeth<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So at this point in the game AC\/DC has without a doubt perfected the formula. I mean, one might even say that at this point they have made the same album four times. Well, that\u2019s probably a fair assumption but here\u2019s the deal, the songs are always (for the most part) fucking killer. Sonically they all kind of sound the same but each song has a greatness all their own that allows them to stand strong individually. Powerage boasts two of AC\/DC\u2019s most iconic songs, \u201cRock N\u2019 Roll Damnation\u201d and \u201cSin City\u201d but also has some of the band\u2019s strongest \u201cdeep cuts\u201d to date such as \u201cGimme A Bullet\u201d, \u201cDown Payment Blues\u201d, and \u201cWhat&#8217;s Next To The Moon\u201d which damn well should be considered one of Bon Scott\u2019s finest moments.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i__LRINO2oI\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>Powerage is yet another slap of rock n\u2019 roll perfection with not a bad song in the bunch. Each song is as fucking awesome as the one before it and the overall flow of the album makes this one a really easy listen. Front to back Powerage is a fucking monstrous album with some of my all-time favorite AC\/DC songs. It\u2019s as solid now as it was when I purchased it on vinyl back in 1986.<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Highway To Hell<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> July 27, 1979<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: Highway To Hell, Girls Got Rhythm, Walk All Over You, Touch Too Much, Beatin\u2019 Around the Bush, Shot Down In Flames, Get It Hot, If You Want Blood (You&#8217;ve Got It), Love Hungry Man, Night Prowler<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is just something about hearing that opening riff from \u201cHighway to Hell\u201d that makes me want to jump up and just start air guitaring and duck walking across my office floor. It\u2019s the song most played before just about any arena hard rock\/metal band takes the stage and ya know what? It never gets old and then kicking right into \u201cGirls Got Rhythm\u201d? Man, that one\/two punch gets so many replays from me that it\u2019s insane. Highway to Hell also has AC\/DC somewhat breaking their own formula and doing some really cool shit like \u201cTouch Too Much\u201d and \u201cLove Hungry Man.\u201d These songs kind of had them breaking out of their own mold and let\u2019s not forget the haunting, down right evil closer \u201cNight Prowler.\u201d I mean, a fucking serial killer used that song as his theme. God fucking god!<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5xbPFlwZc9A\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>Highway to Hell is without a doubt worth every bit of the legendary status that it receives. Matter of fact, up to this point I\u2019d have to say that this was AC\/DC\u2019s finest moment. There was so much growth here and their sound was so much more refined. I loved that they didn\u2019t feel confined to their own formula and really did some different stuff. It really makes me wonder just where they would\u2019ve gone from here with Bon and helm but unfortunately, we\u2019ll never know as this was Bon Scott\u2019s swan song. Man, you talk about going out like a fucking boss? He did just that with this album!<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Back In Black<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> July 25, 1980<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, What Do You Do for Money Honey, Let Me Put My Love into You, Back in Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Have a Drink on Me, Shake a Leg, Rock and Roll Ain&#8217;t Noise Pollution<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I can only imagine what AC\/DC fans at this point must have been feeling. Bon Scott was gone and AC\/DC boasted a new singer. Then then put this album on for the first listen and hear \u201cHells Bells.\u201d Holy fuck they must have been blown away. I\u2019d love to know more about this but all I can say is coming off the heels of Bon\u2019s death AC\/DC put out an album full of fire, grit, and pure unadulterated soul. \u201cShoot to Thrill\u201d, \u201cWhat Do You Do For Money Honey\u201d, and \u201cGivin the Dog a Bone\u201d just melt my fucking face every time and the title track NEVER gets old. Every I hear \u201cBack in Black\u201d it\u2019s as awesome as it was the first time I ever heard it.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1e4wx3wasug\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>On Back In Black, AC\/DC really had a lot prove and they totally proved it. Yes, they missed their long time brother and singer but AC\/DC proved that they were just only beginning to show what a powerful fucking entity they could be. On this album they\u2019re playing with an intensity that sounds so driven and unrelentless. It\u2019s a much darker and at times somewhat ominous sound that the band was touching on with Highway to Hell. AC\/DC proved that they were here to stay and that Back in Black was merely the beginning of a brand new chapter in the band\u2019s history. Much like Highway to Hell, this album is very much worth of every ounce of praise that it gets. It\u2019s a goddamn masterpiece front to back.<\/p>\n<p>===================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>For Those About To Rock, We Salute You<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> November 23, 1981<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong>For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), Put The Finger On You, Let\u2019s Get It Up, Inject The Venom, Snowballed, Evil Walks, C.O.D, Breaking the Rules, Night of the Long Knives, Spellbound<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Those About To Rock really blew me the fuck away. I don\u2019t think I ever really gave this album the credit it deserves. This is such a solid fucking record yet for some reason or another I just kinda ignored it as a whole. I mean, I always dug the \u201chits\u201d from this album but the real meat of this album are the deep cuts. \u201cEvil Walks\u201d, \u201cSnowballed\u201d, and \u201cLets Get It Up\u201d are such solid songs but I\u2019ll be damned if \u201cC.O.D\u201d isn\u2019t one of the best fucking AC\/DC songs to date. How and why this song gets overlooked is way beyond me. What a fucking monster of a song.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2ogXmrZTppA\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>At this point in the game, in my opinion, Brian Johnson gives such an awesome performance on this album and this where I feel he stepped it up and showed that he could truly hold his own. AC\/DC proved that they could not only live on after Bon Scott but continue spreading the legacy he left behind by not straying from the sound that made them the band they are. I love the fact that on this album they took a lot of that darkness from Back In Black and managed to mix it with a little bit of fun much like their earlier Bon material. This is such as strong follow up to Back In Black and it really stands tall and strong on its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to another \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge.\u201d For those that are new here, the \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge\u201d is where I take a band\u2019s entire discography and listen to every album in order of release from front to back. With my unforgiving and well-aged ear, I call it how I hear it. In some cases, I find that what I once thought was good is actually pretty crappy and sometimes crap manages to age into something pretty kick ass. And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,277],"tags":[678,1206],"class_list":["post-13458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-by-album-challenge","category-music-news","tag-acdc","tag-bon-scott"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19533,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13458\/revisions\/19533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}