After a couple of lighter albums I
found myself craving something with a bit more bite to it. Although the CD
Odyssey is random, the universe must have heard me and granted my wish.
Disc 856 is….High Voltage
Artist: ACDC
Year of Release: 1976
What’s up with the Cover? Angus Young introduces North
America to his school boy gone bad aesthetic with ACDC’s first North American
release. Also a lightning bolt because…rock and roll!
How I Came To Know It: This album was part of the
landscape in the small working class town I grew up in. ACDC is in my DNA.
How It Stacks Up: I have nine ACDC albums and unlike my recent
experience with Neil Young, I like them all. “High Voltage” ranks sixth best
out of nine but is still awesome.
Ratings: 4 stars
“High Voltage” is ballsy, raw and at times a little
rough, but that’s exactly how I want my ACDC to sound.
The record is their first release in North America
and is an amalgam of two earlier albums released in the band’s native Australia
the year before. It doesn’t feel glued together like North American hybrid
releases can, but instead has a natural flow throughout.
The album launches with a bang, with “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna
Rock ‘n’ Roll).” ACDC is known for their rhythm guitar riffs, so it is
fitting that the first song on their first album has such a memorable one. This
song manages to combine the grind of proto-metal with the aggressive twang of Chuck
Berry. Best of all, the song features frickin’ bagpipes. When the guitar and
the pipes start answering one another in riff after riff it is bombastic,
ridiculously over the top, and exactly what the is needed to hit the next
level.
Later in the album, “T.N.T.” delivers another unforgettable riff, this time complete
with the band loudly chanting “Oy! Oy!
Oy!” When you hear this song, whether you are at a high school dance, at a
friend’s house or just out driving there is no resisting joining in the chant.
“Rock ‘n’ Roll
Singer” is almost as powerful, and introduces the band’s other main weapon;
the lascivious voice of Bon Scott. I will always stand up for Bon Scott being
ACDC’s greatest vocalist, and while “High Voltage” doesn’t have him quite as
dirty and grimy as he achieves on “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” he still leaves
you wanting to shower after every verse. “Rock
‘n’ Roll Singer” also has some pretty sweet guitar soloing from Angus
Young.
Scott delivers suggestive lyrics throughout the
album. “The Jack” is a song where a
card game is a metaphor for catching a venereal disease. Later, songs feature Scott
asking women if he can sit next to them (I imagine they look away uncomfortably
but he sits beside them anyway). On “Little
Lover” he sings:
“Saw you in the front row
Moving to the beat
Just movin' and groovin'
Killed me when I saw
The wet patch on your seat
Was it Coca Cola?
Oh baby I hope you liked the show
When the band said goodnight
I had to say hello”
Scott isn’t a leading man or a teen idol, he’s an
oversexed creep who clearly revels in being inappropriate.
The great rhythm guitar work of Malcolm Young is on
full display throughout. ACDC songs live and die on how well they sit in the
pocket, and Malcom is the master of keeping the song strong in the groove. Even
at this early stage of the band’s career, he is already the glue that holds
everything else together. This gives lead guitar Angus and vocalist Bon the
freedom they need to add flavour to each song.
Despite these high points, the album is uneven in
places and a lot of riffs are similar to those used on later records to better
effect. While both “The Jack” and “She’s Got Balls” are devilish good fun,
both songs drag a bit through the middle.
Fortunately, the album recovers at the end with the
title track which is a simple yet effective celebration of rock music.
I struggled with whether this album deserves 4 stars
or fell just short at 3. I was about to say 3 but the gratuitous use of
bagpipes and Aussie chants alone put it over the top.
No comments:
Post a Comment