AC/DC
Bonfire – Box Set (1997)

review by: Chris Orcutt
Date: 2/10/02

I have to say that I'm a little ashamed to be 33 and reviewing this AC/DC box set. My father got it for me for Christmas and I was prepared to keep it a secret guilty pleasure but . . . you just gotta get this. It's by far some of the most exciting, rocking stuff I've ever heard.

I got into AC/DC with Back in Black so I never really heard the music they did with their original singer, Bon Scott (who died in true rock & roll fashion - he drank himself to death). This set is 4 CDs of unreleased Bon Scott material and a remastered version of Back in Black. I have to say the Bon Scott material, especially the live stuff, is infinitely better. Disc One is a live radio broadcast they did from Atlantic Studios and you can hear the invite-only crowd (probably record company weasels) get rowdier and rowdier as AC/DC essentially tramples them with their crunching, blistering tunes. Discs 2&3 are the band live in Paris; again they are so tight and the songs are so catchy in an in-your-face, bludgeoning sort of way that by the time they get to "TNT" - maybe the best song in this whole set - the French crowd is just screaming through the whole thing. The fourth CD is outtakes from AC/DCs last album with Bon Scott, Highway to Hell, and there's some real gems here, including unlisted sound bites from Scott and the band on tour (by the way, their first Australian tour was called "Lock up Your Daughters," probably for good reason). The final disc, the remastered version of Back in Black is great, of course, but listening to it always makes me turn back to the earlier stuff. Though Brian Johnson could scream like a banshee, Bon Scott was simply irreplaceable.

Angus Young, their eternal schoolboy guitar player, is great on each and every tune. Listening to this stuff makes you realize that he's one of the best guitarists ever, maybe not flashy-technique-wise, but definitely in what he chooses to play. He's a great rhythm player with awesome feel. And the rhythm section of Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams does exactly what the best rhythm sections do: lay down a ferocious bottom that you don't notice unless you happen to consider how great everybody sounds together. Really - get this set. There's no possible way you could be disappointed.

AC/DC
Let There Be Rock (1977)

review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Date: 2/27/01

My fellow headbanger Brian C was so right on with this review, I had to agree in writing! Bon Scott brought something to AC/DC that Brian Johnson (however talented he may be) just cannot duplicate. I'm not sure if it's Bon's trademark gravel-throat, or his lyrically evident rock-n-roll lifestyle - but he will always be one of the legendary hard rockers. This is AC/DC in their finest hour - a stripped down, head-banging straight ahead extravaganza of pure rock 'n' roll. This is hard rock before it turned into leather, metal, and the "show" being more important than the music. AC/DC may continually get lumped in with heavy metal acts of the time....but this band was about nothing EXCEPT the music!

My review would not be complete, however if I also didn't pay homage here to Highway to Hell, which really put AC/DC on the fast track to superstardom. It's Bon's final disc....much more polished and thought out than "Let.....Rock," but equally powerful in it's air guitar inspiration. If you need a disc to get you up in the morning or get you pumped in the evening...this is the one! Thank you Brian C...and thank you Angus, Malcom & Bon!