Album of the Day — December 1
AC/DC — Highway to Hell
AC/DC — Highway to Hell
01.December.2020
AC/DC
Highway to Hell
1979
Nearly 50 years into their career, and just as they release their new album Power Up, at this point, you either like AC/DC or you don’t.
(Even if you don’t, I bet you still sing along to “You Shook Me All Night Long.”)
I was driving home from a friend's house the other day and decided to listen to the “RAWK!” station. You know, the station that plays “rock so hard you’ll shit your pants.”
And just when you didn’t think they could top the month of “Rock-tober,” they do:
December is officially “AC/DCember.”
To wit: AC/DC’s Highway to Hell.
If you were born anytime between 1970 and 1990 and you were NOT part of some extremist religion or cult, the odds are favorable that you’ve heard “Girls Got Rythym” or “Highway to Hell” at least once.
As songwriters and musicians, AC/DC has been using the same template to make albums for their entire career. Hardly a criticism; it’s done wonders for them. They’ve had the same career peaks and valleys as the artists who have ventured into other musical territories.
The album was released in 1979. It would be the band’s last album with original lead singer Bon Scott and the first with producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.
Highway to Hell would mark the beginning of hard rock dominance for the Australian band. Between its original release in 1979 and its re-release in 2003, the album has charted in almost every country that keeps such charts.
Stand out songs include “Girls Got Rythm,” “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It),” “Touch Too Much,” and “Beating Around the Bush” — AC/DC is many things, discreet is not one of them.
CRITICS:
Carlo Twist at Blender — “Producer “Mutt” Lange sanded off a few of AC/DC’s rougher edges and bolted the steam-hammer riffs and Scott’s foul wit to pop-friendly choruses. The title cut hinted at the singer’s perilous hedonism while making disaster sound like the best fun in the world. AC/DC’s message was simple: Get wasted, have sex with dangerous women, repeat.”
Greg Kot in Rolling Stone — “The boys graduate from the back of the bar to the front of the arena on Highway to Hell, with a cleaner sound courtesy of Shania Twain’s future husband, producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The songs are more compact, the choruses fattened by rugby-team harmonies. The prize moment: Scott closes the hip-grinding “Shot Down in Flames” with a cackle worthy of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Loudersound.com — “AC/DC never lacked balls, energy or thuggish aggression, but on Highway To Hell, their swinging punches were delivered with precision and poise, impacting with heart-stopping force.”
In 2013, AC/DC fans Steevi Diamond and Jon Morter led a campaign on Facebook to propel the title track, “Highway to Hell,” to number one on the UK singles chart for Christmas. They wanted to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary and prevent the television show The X Factor from getting another number one single. The proceeds from the single went to Feel Yourself, a testicular cancer awareness charity.
As hard as it is to believe, the efforts by Diamond and Morter helped “Highway to Hell” peak at number 4, and, after 40 years, it became AC/DC’s FIRST UK Top 10 single.
Highway to Hell is AC/DC’s second best selling album after Back in Black (also produced by “Mutt” Lange) …and easily one of the best in their catalog.
Hop on the highway; you won’t regret it.