News

Well damn, another AC/DC album and this time with the amazing Bon Scott behind the mic! This is Let There Be Rock, the third (or fourth if you’re going by the Australian discography) album in the band’s discography. Released March 21, 1977 on Albert/Altlantic Records, the album was once again produced by Harry Vanda and George Young and is also the last album to feature Mark Evans on bass. To date, the album has gone Double Platinum in the United States and remains among the band’s most highly regarded efforts. So let’s see how it holds up….

1. “Go Down” (Angus Young/Malcolm Young/Bon Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t9DWwoey1K0

“Go Down”, what a way to begin the album man.

The guitars are just meatily full of meaty meat that’s just…meaty. And Bon, goddamn is Bon so great on here. First off, his vocals are on point, and lyrically, hey, who doesn’t love oral? I remember buying three albums at Walmart. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, For Those About To Rock, and this one. It was a weekend where I was with my dad and he had a stereo in his garage and I played it on there and by God was this so, so good man. This is just pure, unfiltered, bad to the bones rock and roll. This is the shit right here.

2. “Dog Eat Dog” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kjqWCCXvU

Now we come to “Dog Eat Dog”, which was also a Ted Nugent song the previous year off Free For All, and regardless of politics or anything else, I love some old Ted Nugent. But this right here is AC/DC, and AC/DC with Bon Scott to boot.

First, those riffs that only the Youngs could write. That wall of guitar is just overwhelming man, and the mean and nasty groove of Phil Rudd. Phil Rudd is a beast, fuck your blastbeat bullshit, the dude has power and groove like few others. Watch the ten minute version of “Let There Be Rock” and see him wail away for all ten minutes. Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy, they’d get winded out doing that shit. It’s like with Johnny Ramone, I’ve heard stories about people meeting him near the end of his life where his hands were like a bearclaw, to play that intensely for as many years as he or the guys in AC/DC did is hard as fuck. So respect Mr Phil Rudd you technical muso pickle whistlers.

And speaking of “Let There Be Rock”….

3. “Let There Be Rock” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3f2g4RMfhS0

The iconic title track, with the story of how rock and roll was birthed.

Man, I love, love, LOVE this track. AC/DC is definitely not a band known for epics, but this is the exception to that rule. It’s like a church sermon with Reverend Scott letting us know just how this rock and this roll got started, and I love how the verse is just Phil and Mark Evans holding the rhythm while the guitars gradually creep in. Let’s talk about Mark Evans, great bassist and important part of AC/DC history. Though I do think of Cliff Williams as the AC/DC bassist, let’s also remember the great Mark Evans, who also seems like a super cool dude.

And that blazing solo, which apparently Angus was playing as the amp caught on fire! How awesome and crazy if true! Crazy awesome!

This song is an alltime classic that I never ever get sick of!

4. “Bad Boy Boogie” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lykP9Opw1Ok

Hell Yeah, “Bad Boy Boogie”, which closes out Side One on both the original and international tracklists.

This is just a good rocker, straight up and no frills like you would expect from AC/DC. It’s not the most noteworthy Acca Dacca song but it’s a very solid track while listening to the album. It’s filler but killer filler, I do enjoy it.

5. “Problem Child” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S4uwi5cUyco

Alright, “Problem Child”, which previously appeared on Dirty Deeds and is here as the Side Two opener, replacing “Crabsody In Blue”.

What can I say, it’s a great rebellious rocker with all the swagger that any good rock band needs. I love the hell out of this song, even though it doesn’t make much sense to put it here after it was already on Dirty Deeds.

6. “Overdose” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YDY6fzBvWtE

Anyway, we come to the Australian Side Two opener with “Overdose”, which Overkill later covered. And man what a killer, killer song it is.

First is the music that’s so tight and excecuted like a well oiled machine. But really, this song is Bon Scott’s all the way through. The way he can speak so plainly and yet so artfully is brilliant, he is the hard rock Hank Williams, and yeah, damn right I said it. And yes, I am comparing him to Sr.

This song is an absolute masterpiece and a Top 5 AC/DC track for me and definitely my favorite on here.

7. “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qNfpkK5Uzqg

This one, it was a little bit of a grower for me. I dug it but I grew to LOVE it, The song just has such a bite to it, and the kind of mind games that this chick puts Bon through but man, the love and the passion you have when it’s good just seems to make you forget how much she fucks you up. I’ve never had that experience but I’ve seen people who are constantly going at it but for whatever reason they stick together.

What a fantastic song overall.

8. “Whole Lotta Rosie” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bAOwDZoWXRI

We close with Bob’s ode to when he found a big gal that he had a one night stand with and she was such an impressive lay, Bon just had to write a song about her. The song’s opening riff has come to alternate with chants of Angus’ name. I now go MAL-COLM! ever since I saw someone suggest that.

Man do I love this song, the power of this song is just mind blowing. The groove rich and meaty, Bon sings his ass off on her and holy FUCK does Angus rip it up on this song. What an alltime classic this track is and what a closer to this album. And now to cover the song left off of international tracklists.

“Crabsody In Blue” (Young/Young/Scott):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vmGOEdjoMAU

“Crabsody In Blue”, which originally followed Overdose on Side Two before being removed in favor of “Problem Child”.

This is a great song man, such a cool bluesy tune, Mark and Phil are so in the pocket. These dudes get it, this isn’t some whitebread John Mayer or Eric Clapton shit, these guys feel it to their bone, and really, of course they would. These dudes were dirt poor growing up, Angus had almost no teeth, Bon lived rough, they could totally nail it.

If anything would go, I’d say “Bad Boy Boogie”, because this is more than worthy of making an album. It’s a shame this isn’t more readily available, because it’s a total gem.

FINAL VERDICT

What an alltime Rock and Roll classic, this band was truly on fire and just getting better and better. This is something I can’t recommend enough as it is sick to the bone!

And that is Let There Be Rock. Be sure to comment, subscribe, and spread the word like you’d spread the crabs!