AC/DC - Live

In 1992 I was sporting a pretty big hard on for AC/DC, and a lot of it came from the release of Live. The double CD recorded live at Donnington is jammed full of AC/DC classics, plus it was the promotional tour for The Razor's Edge, which means that it has other great underplayed gems.

Now, this review will be about the double live album, but I didn't start with that. I started with the single live disc, which was a best of both disc collection. It was just as good in it's more limited capacity. At the end of the article I'll include a list of the songs that made up the single disc live album.

Let me start by saying that if I could only own one AC/DC album ever again it would be this album. One of the main reasons is that it's a best of collection, that covers most of the songs I feel a need to hear. The other is that it's two discs, with twenty-three songs. How the hell can you go wrong with twenty-three live tracks from AC/DC?

Let me start with the slow build up, that works the crowd into a frenzy, before the first note is hit to signify the opening riff of Thunderstruck. Of all AC/DC songs, this may be considered the most over played piece of shit. But, when Thunderstuck is your most over played piece of shit, you are doing something totally right.

Which brings me to the only AC/DC song I honestly consider a piece of shit. I have never been a fan of Shoot To Thrill. I don't know why it's as popular as it is. Out of all the songs on the Back In Black album this is the only one I skip. I do the same thing with the live version too. If you're a fan of the song than you'll like the live version too.

After that it's on to the title track from the classic album I just mentioned. "We got some Back in Black for ya. Ready?" To which the crowd replies, and the song counts in. Then it's played well, and finishes. This is one song that sounds very stiff and ridged. You can hear that they put it where they did in the rotation just to get it out of the way early.

I personally love the fact that AC/DC jammed Sin City in between Back In Black and Who Made Who. This is one of those songs that I think they enjoy playing live, even though it's not a huge song. In fact this live version is the only AC/DC version of the song I own, and that's more than enough. Nothing against the song, I just am very happy with this version. It has such bad ass swagger to it.

I love Who Made Who. I bought the CD of the same name, even though I owned most of the songs already, just for this song. (There's other songs I discovered on that CD I like as well, but that's another review.) The live version on here doesn't do it justice. There's something missing in the sound and I'm pretty sure it's a production thing. It's a certain type of buzz, that reminds me of Live Wire, and it really made the original song.

I was mistaken earlier when I said that Shoot To Thrill was the only song I considered a piece of shit. I don't like Heatseeker either. I skip this song no matter which version it is.

The very first AC/DC CD I ever owned was Razor's Edge. I swiped my Uncle Matt's cassettes for Highway To Hell and Back In Black, about four months before I got a CD player, and got Razor's Edge shortly after my CD player. It was the fifth compact disc I owned, which means I listened to it a lot. Fire Your Guns is a song I liked from that album, to a small degree, and the version on here is spectacular. But, I've heard it more than enough in my life to never feel the need to hear it again.

Every live album has that one song that you think goes on too long. In recent reviews I've written I've come across songs like Metallica's eighteen minute version of Seek And Destroy, or Iron Maiden's equally long version of Running Free. This album has Jailbreak, and it runs just shy of fifteen minutes. If you have ever seen an AC/DC concert you know that Angus Young always performs a little strip show during one of the songs. This is that song, for this show.

Like all live albums that contain these extended live songs for crowd play purposes it works live, but get's boring as all fuck when you are listening to it. Angus does some of his cool soloing on the song and get's the crowd going, but it does not translate the same on audio only. Which is a bit of a bummer, since this is one of my all time favourite AC/DC songs.

There's a fade out, and then a fade in. "We're gonna do a song you might know. Song's about a dirty woman's... This song's called 'She's Got The Jack'." The actual listed name is The Jack, and to this day I still don't know if I prefer this version or the studio version more. This was the first version of this song I ever heard, but I really like the card game lyrics as well.

One song that surprises me every time I see the title, and hear the music, on this album is The Razor's Edge. The title track from the album that this touring was for, is one of the best album cuts on it's respective disc. I'll listen to that song before I'll listen to most of the singles from that album. The fact that they sandwhiched it between The Jack and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap makes me think they wanted more people to like it too.

The live version of this song has most of the same feel as the studio version but, this one feels a little more rushed. Which I find takes away from the gangland feel the original had. In this case it sounds more like the war barrage that it is supposed to be.

After that Dirty Deeds seems like the perfect way to go. I love this song. I have been in a band playing this song live. This song is just pure energy and passion, fuled with three tons of chest beating aggression. This song is Rock N' Roll at it's pure ugly dirtiest. This song was always meant to be played live, especially that solo.

The first disc finishes off with Moneytalks. A very honest song, which also sickens me personally. When this song was the big hit single I liked it, then as I discovered other AC/DC songs I didn't like it so much anymore. Nowadays I skip it, and this live CD ends after Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

One of the best parts about AC/DC Live is that you can look at it as two separate seventy someodd minute concerts or one, two and a half hour long, concert. The first disc and second disc both flow in a way where they sound like two perfectly different set lists, but equally enjoyable. The only problem with the first one is the length of Jailbreak.

The second disc opens with Hells Bells, which is just a great song. As well as being the perfect way to start off the second half of the concert, or just the sesond disc on it's own. Also since this song is as popular as it is, I don't feel a need to say more on the song.

From there it's on to Are You Ready. This is one of those songs that's grown on me over the years. I didn't like the single when I first heard it, and I still don't care for the studio track all that much, but this live version has really grown on me. I still don't go out of my way to listen to this song, but I don't feel a need to skip it anymore either.

I don't care for That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll. It's one of those songs that just sounds badly dated to a time in music I don't care to think about. Specifically the 1980's.

High Voltage is one of those songs that I both like and don't care for at the same time. I find it bland and lacking the balls that one might find in an AC/DC song, but at the same time it does have great drive to it. The version found on this live collection falls under the "bit over extended" catagory. It runs about ten minutes and is used to work the crowd. I do enjoy it artistically, because of some of the jamming, but over all the mid section runs too long.

You Shook Me All Night Long is the biggest, sexiest, most commercial song AC/DC has ever released. I don't care how many strip clubs I go into. I don't care how many "special events" I attend. This song will always be welcome in my life. This song is sex on high heels and totally what Rock N' Roll is one third about.

I was raised thanks to my dad and Uncle Paul that the magic words were "Drugs, sex, Rock N' Roll." These are the secrets to great Rock N' Roll for sure, and make up almost the entire AC/DC catalog. Every other song is covered by Alice Cooper's secret recipe of "Sex, Death and Money".

Track six is the perfect follow up to You Shook Me in a sense. Whole Lotta Rosie is a Tasmanian hippo in heat, on high heels. I didn't care for this song when I was a teen, and it took until I was in my early twenties before I would say I enjoyed this song in anyway more than my personally seeing it live. Now, I'll put it on my Mp3 player when I want a fun mix.

The one song I have never liked from AC/DC is Let There Be Rock. This song was designed to be played live, and it is an excellent live staple, but it's not for me. I also really didn't need a twelve minute live version. This one is still a skipper to this day.

This flows into Bonny, which is just a nice little filler, for the crowd's enjoyment. At a minute long it's perfectly acceptable to throw in here for fun. Then it's into three of my top five favourite to end the live album. First it's Highway To Hell, which is best when performed by Bon Scott. I love Brian Johnson's live version, but you can't beat Bon.

After that it's T.N.T. This song is so Punk. I mean it's too complex to be Punk, but I swear this is where the British Punks got their "Oi!" chanting. This is the only time that I might like Brian Johnson doing a Bon Scott song better. There's soemthing in this live version that just sounds more bad ass.

The album and concert comes to a close only after the cannons of For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) signal it. This is my favourite AC/DC song, with the exception of Night Prowler. I love the studio version, and this live version takes me even further into the stratosphere, but after seeing it live in person it's never the same. Those cannons are instruments of sonic beauty. It's the perfect climax to a body draining, spiritually fulfilling concert.

I will never badmouth this album, except for certain songs I just don't care for, or certain songs running too long for the CD listener's enjoyment. Bruce Fairbairn did an excellent job on the production of this album and I enjoyed every song I already enjoyed, and in some cases I enjoyed them more on here.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

8/10 - personal bias

Bonus Review: The single live disc.

Thunderstruck, Shoot to Thrill, Back in Black, Who Made Who, Heatseeker, The Jack, Moneytalks, Hells Bells, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Whole Lotta Rosie, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway to Hell, T.N.T., and For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) make up the single disc edition of AC/DC Live . Unless you are a hardcore AC/DC fan, this disc is more than enough for you. With the exception of Heatseeker and Moneytalks, this makes a great greatest hits package for a starting AC/DC fan.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

9/10 - personal bias