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| The third greatest rock band ever. |
I’ve mentioned many times on this blog what a latecomer I was to heavy metal, being as I was a child of the punk/new wave explosion of the late 70’s and early 80’s. But perhaps surprisingly the one genre of music that I DID start liking early on was hard rock a la AC/DC. My exposure to AC/DC started pretty early actually; back in the early 80’s, the line between punk/new wave and hard rock like AC/DC wasn’t as hard and firm as it is now, and specifically I can remember legendary Southern California new wave radio station KROQ playing “Let’s Get It Up” by AC/DC often, and it remains one of my favorite AC/DC songs to this day.
But it wasn’t until 1986 or 1987 that I started actually exploring hard rock music in more detail and seeking out this music. In the summer of 1987 I lived in a frat house on UCLA campus rather than going home and living with my parents; it was my first real attempt at independence. I can remember buying AC/DC’s Back In Black album around that time and just loving the catchy but rocking simplicity of the songs; the title song and “You Shook Me All Night Long” were obvious standouts but some of my favorite songs were ones that allowed new lead singer Brian Johnson to really show what his voice could do. To his immense credit, and indeed to AC/DC’s credit in hiring him, he never tried to be a Bon Scott clone; his higher pitched delivery, which had already brought him renown in England as a member of the Newcastle glam rock band Geordie, was very unique and distinctive from Bon’s raspy yowl. In particular, I really like the bump and grind of “Given the Dog a Bone” and “Shake a Leg”, the slow steady build of “Hell’s Bells”. “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” has one of my favorite lines from a song: “I took a look inside your bedroom door, you look so good lyin’ on your bed”; I always picture ugly Brian Johnson peering with his bug eyes into some gorgeous woman’s bedroom and laugh to myself. And finally, I love “Shoot To Thrill”, an extremely under-rated AC/DC song; I once saw a video montage of violent, gun-laden images set to this song being shown at the legendary 80’s LA hard rock club Scream that has stuck with me to this day.
After getting into Back In Black my next discovery was of Bon Scott era AC/DC and what an amazing vocalist he was. The first song I remember hearing of his was “’74 Jailbreak”, which was recorded in 1974 but wasn’t released in America until 1984. The thing I love most about this song is the very first line; “There was a friend of mine on MURDER, and the judge’s gavel fell; the jury found him guilty, gave him FIFTEEN YEARS IN HELL!” The thing was, when Bon Scott talked about knowing someone up on murder charges, YOU BELIEVED HIM. He was one of the last true great rock and roll icons, someone who walked the walk and talked the talk, and eventually of course died way too young, choking on his own vomit (or someone else’s, they can’t really dust for vomit). But before his tragic demise he created some magnificent music, completely different (certainly in vocals) than AC/DC’s work with Brian Johnson, so much so that I almost treat them as two different groups.
My next discovery was the first two songs off Highway To Hell, the title song and “The Girl’s Got Rhythm”, arguably one of the best one-two punches of any album ever; actually, one of the only ones I can think of that can best it is another Bon Scott era AC/DC album, If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It, which starts with a blistering version of “Riff Raff” then segues into a bludgeoning take on “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”. But getting back to Highway to Hell, the riff that starts the title song, building it up before the rhythm section lurches in, is one of the most iconic and electrifying in all of rock to me; even today when I hear it it makes my heart speed up. I first heard it at some random apartment party near UCLA campus in 1987 or so with my roommate Gil; everyone was very drunk by the time we arrived so Gil and I hijacked their tape deck and blasted those first two songs continuously all night. I was so taken with them that I ended up stealing the cassette and taking it home!!
And my love affair with AC/DC has continued ever since, though the last album I bought by them and really enjoyed was 1988’s Blow Up Your Video (I love “Heatseeker”, “That’s The Way I Want To Rock and Roll”, and “Go Zone” (one of the greatest surfing songs ever). I did like the single “Money Talks” off their 1990 album Razor’s Edge but otherwise my fixation has been on older AC/DC, “Who Made Who”, “Flick of the Switch”, “Let There Be Rock”, “Rock and Roll Damnation”, “Riff Raff”, What’s Next To The Moon”, “Sin City”, “Whole Lotta Rosie”, “High Voltage”, “It’s a Long Way To the Top (If You Want To Rock and Roll)”.
Despite my heavy leanings toward punk and new wave, I would honestly put AC/DC as the #3 greatest rock band of all time, behind only the Beatles and the Sex Pistols. They have so many memorable, iconic, catchy songs in their canon that by sheer volume they’d make the top 5, but it’s also their image, their longevity, the distinctiveness of their sound that count here too.
Because here’s the thing: AC/DC makes music that’s simple, direct, honest . . . but VERY few people have managed to make music as MEMORABLE as they do. Some have come close though, whether by aping every aspect of their sound or by simply creating music that while sonically similar isn’t identical.
Falling into the former category is the 80’s band Rhino Bucket, who’s lead singer, Finland-born Georg Dolivo, sounds like an exact freaking clone of Bon Scott. The band has endured snipes by AC/DC fans because their sound is SO identical to that of AC/DC but frankly I’ve never understood this. Bon Scott was dead nearly a decade by the time Rhino Bucket came on the scene and nobody else was doing anything like that at the time. Songs like “One Night Stand”, “Beg For Your Love” and “She’s a Screamer” are like missing Bon Scott era AC/DC gems and are among my favorite hard rock songs from the 80’s. I would honestly put Rhino Bucket’s self-titled debut album up against almost any Bon-era AC/DC album, it’s simply that good. Anyone who tells you otherwise is some stick-up-the-ass AC/DC purist, pure and simple.
There was a rash of Hollywood bands that strived for an AC/DC-influenced sound in the 80’s, incorporating the bluesiness and simplicity of AC/DC but the vocals and songs were not nearly as identical as those of Rhino Bucket. Junkyard, the Sea Hags, and the Hangmen have all been written about in by me in other posts. The best songs are “Waste of Time” by Junkyard and the classic morning after song “Rotten Sunday” by the Hangmen.
Another 80’s hard rock band that edged into AC/DC’s territory was Jetboy. I had an early connection to this band; in early 1987 I saw them play live for free on Kerckhoff Patio at UCLA’s campus, soon after they’d relocated from San Francisco and very shortly after original bassist Todd Crew died of a drug overdose in the hotel room of Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist Slash in 1986 (to be replaced by original Hanoi Rocks bassist Sam Yaffa). I was really struck by their image; at a time when most hard rock and heavy metal bands were growing their hair longer and longer, lead singer Mickey Finn had a peroxide blonde Mohawk! Quite a dramatic fashion statement at the time. Their debut album Feel The Shake was released in ’88 and the title track is an absolute gem, with its slow, ominous guitar riff, which starts the song (and album) before the rest of the band catapult into the mix; I love the line “electric music played as loud as it comes, YEAH!” This is vintage AC/DC boogie and groove. I’m always a sucker for a song about rock music and this one really captures their vibe perfectly. Their second album, 1990’s Damned Nation, was a little bluesier and the song “Stomp It (Down to the Bricks)” is another standout. Unfortunately too much of the other material on both albums suffers from the typical late 80’s over-production and doesn’t catch the ear like either of these songs.
Switzerland’s Krokus also made riff-centric AC/DC hard rock; formed in the mid-70’s as a prog rock act, they evolved toward a metal/hard rock sound after seeing Bon Scott era AC/DC play live in the late 70’s. They sacked their former vocalist and hired Marc Storace, who, like Georg Dolivo of Rhino Bucket, was the spitting sonic image of ol’ Bon. They released two excellent albums in the 80’s that captured this sound (and several sucky ones that did not), 1983’s One Vice at a Time and Headhunter, which contain several could-be-mistaken-for-lost-Bon-Scott-era-AC/DC songs, including “Bad Boys, Rag Dolls”, “Night Wolf”, “Eat the Rich”, and best of all, “Long Stick Goes Boom”, with its huge guitar build-up and thumping tempo.
At the start of the 90’s Rick Rubin produced an album (Nobody Said It Was Easy) by the band the Four Horsemen that really recaptured the catchy crunch of classic AC/DC. “Rockin’ Is Ma Business” has that classic 4/4 stomp and the simple but memorable guitar riffs that one associates with AC/DC songs like “Down Payment Blues”. “Let It Rock”, “Lookin’ for Trouble”, and “Hot Head” have the same great hard rock flavor and are strongly recommended.
In the mid 90’s AC/DC style hard rock seemed to fall out of favor, eclipsed by first grunge, then alternative and electronica. LA’s own Buckcherry got the hard rock ball rolling again toward the late 90’s with their debut album; hit single “Lit Up” was a catchy blast, and lead lead singer Josh Todd’s smoky, angry yowl was perfect. “Lawless and Lulu” and “Related” are other fantastic songs that capture this band at their peak. 2001’s Time Bomb continued in an even more AC/DC influenced vein, particularly on songs like “Riding”, “Time Bomb”, and “Slammin’”, all of which capture the simplicity of AC/DC at their riff-heavy finest.
In 2004 I attended a conference in Austin Texas, and just happened to be there during some weekend music festival. Basically for like 10 or 15 bucks you got this bracelet that got you into every participating venue, which in a music-crazy town like Austin means a LOT. It was one of the funnest musical nights of my life; because I’d already paid it didn’t matter if I stayed or if I left, so if I walked in and the band didn’t immediately grab my attention I would walk right back out. I probably saw two dozen bands over two nights in nearly as many venues, everything from techno to punk to early Crue-inspired glam metal to Texas blues. It was fantastic. Two bands I saw that really caught my ear were the Yuppie Pricks, a punk rock novelty act that wore tennis and golf clothes and sang humorous, Dickies-inspired songs like “Coke Party”, “Poverty Sucks”, and “Stock Market”; the Pricks were signed to Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label, which might not be surprising since lead singer Trevor Middleton sounds eerily like Jello form his Dead Kennedys days. Another band from the opposite end of the spectrum I got to see soon after their formation was The Sword, who have become a critical darling in the metal world.
But the band that blew me away the most was Broken Teeth. Formed by former 80’s glam metal band Dangerous Toys lead singer Jason McMaster in the late 90’s, Broken Teeth were a revelation live; the venue exploded with frenetic fans singing and belting out every song. It must have been like seeing AC/DC play small clubs in Sydney circa 1974 or 1975. “Undertaker”, from their eponymous debut album, is a fantastic slab of AC/DC-style bar boogie; even the constantly thrumming bass sounds exactly like Phil Rudd’s classic work for the brothers Young. “Guilty Pleasure” off the 2004 album of the same name even has the “oy” backing vocal of AC/DC’s classic “TNT”. “Hanging by the Skin” off this same album is also almost eerily AC/DC-like, the rhythms and riffs and even the big sing-along chorus, and sounds for all the world like an amalgamation of “High Voltage” and “Flick of the Switch”. 2009’s Electric even has a song called “Bonfire”, about as close as a direct nod as you can get! 2010 saw the release of their fifth album, Viva La Rock, Fantastico!; “Spitting Nails”, “Breaking Spells”, and “Twister” all continue their AC/DC obsession.
I haven’t been able to find out much about them, but Scottsdale’s Big Cock have released a handful of albums that bridge the gap between AC/DC and Guns ‘N’ Roses. “Real Man” off 2006’s Got Big Cock? Is a great example of this hybrid beast, vocals that yowl like Axl in fine fettle but with that classic AC/DC groove. But its “Road To Ruin”, off 2008’s Motherload that really captures the classic AC/DC feel while still maintaining the uniqueness of the vocals so as to not sound like a tribute band.
Two Swiss bands are also plying their hard rock trade to good measure. Sideburn formed from the ashes of Euro metal band Genocide (not the Bobby Ebz Jersey punk metal band of the same name) in 1997 and were named after Elvis’ facial hair (definitely a plus). “Hell on Wheels” off 2002’s Crocodile has the sound and lyrical feel of classic Bon Scott era AC/DC (albeit with a European accent), while the title track off 2003’s Cherry Red comes on like some weird cross between AC/DC and Tom Petty’s song “Running Down a Dream”, definitely a good combo in my book. “Ghost of 1980 (Tribute to Bon Scott)” is, as the title implies, a slow, sleazy strutter that Mr. Scott would have appreciated for sure. Also hailing from Switzerland, Backwash released just one album, 2006’s Kick Ass! It’s got a couple of terrific rockers, “My Good and Bad” and “Crash”, which have an AC/DC-meets-the-Hellacopters vibe to them.
Also on the European front, Scotland’s Wired Desire released one excellent EP in 2008, Barely Illegal. Each song is good but “The Hard Stuff” comes across like a cross between Flick of the Switch era AC/DC and Dr. Feelgood era Motley Crue. The guitar solo is beautiful and unlike anything of either group though, going for a high noodling sound more reminiscent of GnR.
My absolute favorite hard rock song of the moment though is “Suck It” by the now-defunct Long Island band Dirty Rig. This takes its rumbling bass and boogie rhythm from AC/DC but this song is actually a magnificent amalgamation of just about every great metal band of the last 30 years; the apocalyptically huge riff that begins the song sounds like a 21st century reworking of “Black Sabbath” or something off Hallow’s Victim by Saint Vitus. It’s big, doom-laden and heavy, but then it segues into a classic AC/DC boogie bass while the guitar sounds like something Rob Zombie would be proud to call his own. The guitar solo is an almost note-for-note crib of Slash’s guitar lines from “Paradise City” by Guns ‘N’ Roses. That’s a pretty good romp through the metal of the past three decades! This song is everything a metal/hard rock song should be, and when it comes up on my iPod while I’m running I usually end up sprinting by the end of the song. “Dogs” off this same album (Rock Did It from 2006) is good but “Suck It” is in a class by itself, truly.
In a similar vein are North Carolina’s Crank County Daredevils; their song “Kings of Sleaze” falls right between the elegant simplicity of AC/DC and the dangerous blast of classic Guns ‘N’ Roses, most specifically “It’s So Easy”, which is still one of my favorite GnR songs ever. “Ride the Dog”, also from 2009’s Kings of Sleaze album, sounds almost identical.From N'Awlins comes Supagroup, who have a mellow, bluesier take, which evokes AC/DC songs like "Gone Shootin'" and "What's Next To the Moon"; "Jailbait" off their album Fire for Hire is a great example of this slow grinding vibe.
“10,000 Miles” by the Charm City Devils is another great song that captures the bluesy yowl of Bon Scott in his heyday. This band, which is signed to Nikki Sixx’s Eleven Seven label, has released one album, 2009’s Let’s Rock and Roll, and I hope to hear more from them in the future.
Perhaps one of the strangest hard rock outfits I’ve run across is Young Heart Attack from Austin, Texas. Their sound mines some of the classic hard rock sounds of the 70’s but with a decided 21st century alternative twist. Specifically, their dual vocals shared between male vocalist Chris Hodge and female vocalist Jennifer Stephens give this a uniqueness that almost evokes something like the Hellacopters crossed with Sleigh Bells. Another way to think of it is if Evanescence, instead of combining douch-y goth with even douchier nu-metal mixed mid 70's cock rock of Black Oak Arkansas and Nazareth and "Who Are You" era Who and the digital hardcore full frontal assault of Atari Teenage Riot. “Mouthful of Love” of their 2004 album of the same name is almost manic, like a cross between “Shoot To Thrill” and Foghat’s “Slow Ride”. “Over and Over” is an MC5 cover and surprisingly is a little less manic, but only slightly, but builds to a crescendo that sounds again like classic Nugent crossed with Kiss crossed with Elastica. This is truly crazy stuff and these kids are committed to it, for sure. The title track off “Rock and Awe” is more elaborately rocking than anything AC/DC has ever done but comes across like the MC5 crossed with Nazareth. “Get It Hot” off their 2004 EP Tommy Shots features Motorhead’s Lemmy sharing vocals and has the most overtly AC/DC rhythm and feel. I can’t recommend this weird shit enough.
Two Australian bands have done their best to keep their homeboys’ music in the spotlight. Perhaps the most renowned is Airbourne, who sound like a carbon copy of Brian Johnson era AC/DC, kind of a pleasant change from the Bon obsession most other groups have. Their albums Runnin’ Wild and No Guts No Glory are absolutely chock filled with fantastic rockers in the AC/DC vein, including “Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast” (love the amalgamation of the Dolls and Crue album titles), “Diamond in the Rough” (which reminds me of “Rockin’ Is Ma Business” by the Four Horsemen crossed with “Flick of the Switch” by AC/DC), Fat City” (shades of “Whole Lotta Rosie”), “No Way But the Hard Way”, “Rattle Your Bones”, and “My Dynamite Will Blow You Sky High”. The other band, Sydney’s Hell City Glamours, have a DC-like vibe but also mine some pretty unique territory; “Flyin’ Away” has a southern fried, Lynyrd Skynyrd feel to it and is my favorite by them right now.
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