I am not saying this lightly. The best AC/DC records, are (in this order) 1. Let There Be Rock. 2. Powerage. 3. Back in Black.
This record is a reverential hymn to the glorious majesty of rock. It’s perfect. It’s an improvement on TNT. The best song on it is one they’ve never played live and never will.
Phil Rudd was the drummer on this one and basically from here on out. People who criticize Phil Rudd call his playing simplistic and uninspired. One: fuck them. Two: try to play the drum track for “Let There Be Rock”. Six Minutes at 120-130 BPM. Don’t speed up, don’t slow down, and don’t miss. Play six perfect minutes. Good luck. Ok, now play those six perfect minutes 2/3 of the way through a 2 hour live show. Phil Rudd is the Ringo Starr of hard rock. You could set an atomic clock to that guy’s timing. And he plays with a groove.
The standouts are the title track and “Whole Lotta Rosie”. They played ‘Rosie live on Aussie TV from some gymnasium venue. On National TV, Bonny announced the song as, “This is a song about the time I had a great big fat chick from Tasmania.”
But those standouts aren’t my picks.
“Bad Boy Boogie” is Angus’s signature song. Live versions sometimes reach up to 20 minutes. Lots of solos, and Angus famously used the song as an opportunity to do a slow dance strip tease, ending with him pulling his shorts down to reveal a pair of boxer briefs emblazoned with the flag of the country they were playing in at the time. When Angus dies, the Bad Boy Boogie covers are gonna be done by the bands that loved his music best.
The opening track, “Go Down”, is a barroom stomp. And the lyrics are Bonny’s enduring love letter to his favorite sexual activity - getting his pole smoked. The album opener is a barroom stomp about getting head. Fuck yes do I love AC/DC.
And my pick for the best track on the album, and my favorite AC/DC track EVER is a B-Side that they never played live. AC/DC’s mission statement, as musicians, is to make riffs that sound simple and then beat those chords into your soul. That’s “Overdose”. It’s 3 fucking chords and it makes me bop my head and stomp my feet like a man possessed.
