Music Monday: AC/DC “Highway To Hell” Turns 40

acdc-highwaytohell
AC/DC’s 6th studio album “Highway To Hell” released on July 27, 1979

Easily my favorite AC/DC album, “Highway To Hell” was more than an album. More than a song. It was a mantra, at least for some of us who loved the hard rock and music from the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and this band of 4 chord musicians from Australia. Released in the summer between my Sophomore and Junior years of high school, it was my gateway out of drugs and alcohol and an embrace of songs that would guide me to a sober life to finish out the second half of my high school days.

Track Listing

  1. “Highway to Hell”
  2. “Girls Got Rhythm”
  3. “Walk All Over You”
  4. “Touch Too Much”
  5. “Beating Around the Bush”
  6. “Shot Down in Flames”
  7. “Get It Hot”
  8. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”
  9. “Love Hungry Man”
  10. “Night Prowler”

Raw and Simple

What would end up being the final album for lead singer Bon Scott, who died in February 1980 of alcohol poisoning, this was his best of the previous 5 albums released. The raw vocals he belted out are classic and brutal. Angus guitar is his own. The rest of the band: Malcomn Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd provide the rest of the music that take these 10 tracks to the rock level. I love all of the songs on this album, but my favorite is the last song “Night Prowler” which ends up having an odd last words of studio recorded vocals for Bon Scott: “Shazbot! Nanu Nanu” which is the famous catch phrase of Mork from Ork, played by the late Robin Williams.

To this day, this album has aged very well. And I task any fan of AC/DC to rank it any lower than in the top 3 of their entire catalog.

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