AC/DC - Who Made Who

When I first started buying CDs for myself AC/DC was one of the bands I was really into, and I bought every album I could get my hands on easily, and the cheaper the album the more likely I picked it up. Who Made Who was one of those albums, and if memory serves it was one of the first five CDs I owned from the band from down under.

This is a great introduction album, for anyone wanting to discover AC/DC. It mainly contains tracks from the Brian Johnson era of the band, but there is one from Bon Scott, and it's one of his best. There's also a few new tracks.

I was a bit stupid about this album and the movie that it was the soundtrack for, Maximum Overdrive. I was around thirteen or fourteen at the time and very excitable. I would head bang like a complete retard Butt-Head, and act like a typical Metal head spaz. I can admit my faults. Problem was music was my only outlet, but at the time that outlet involved only listening to music, and dreaming of playing it. This is not the remastered version since I've already indicated when I bought it. I will make sure that one day it is, because I really do love the mix that makes up this collection and would like to hear it with better quality.

The album starts with the title track. This song lyrically sums up the concept behind the movie Maximum Overdrive, in a round about sort of way. "Video games she play me / Face it on the level but it take you every time on a one on one / Feel it runnin' down your spine / Nothin' gonna save your one last dime / 'cause it own you / Through and through / The data bank know my number / Says I gotta pay / 'cause I made the grade last year / Feel it when I turn the screw / Kick you round the world / There ain't a thing that it can't do / Do to you, yeah / Who made who, who made you / Who made who / Ain't nobody told you / Who made who, who made you / If you made them and they made you / Who pick up the bill and who made who / Who made who / Who turned the screw / Yeah / Satellite send me picture / Get it in the eye / Take it to the wire / Spinnin' like a dynamo / Feel it goin' round and round / Runnin' outta chips / You got no line in an eight bit town / So don't look down, no". After that it just repeats variations of the line "Who made who". Musically this is an interesting track that is production based. There's always something missing from live versions of this song. However, I am a fan of this track. Which is also the first of three original tracks for this album.

Next up is the classic You Shook Me All Night Long, originally from Back In Black. If you don't know this song you should be ashamed of yourself. If there is a nudie bar that doesn't play this song at least once a night, they should be ashamed of themselves. If a night goes by when a bunch of women faux lesbians don't get it on to this song, the end of times will be upon us. This is one of those songs that just must exsist to help preserve the very fabric of reality.

D.T. is an instrumental track that I love. One of the high lights of my life was playing this song live with Matthew 'Doc' Kell and Andrew 'Drewcifir' Kell. It's like the perfect opening song, to pull in people's attention. The track itself is simple for the most part, but it's just so cool.

Sink The Pink comes from the Fly On the Wall album, which I thought was a good album. However, I'm not the biggest fan of this song. It's a bit stock for the band, and it always seemed a little filler to me.

After that comes Ride On. I consider this one of the best AC/DC songs of all time. This is the only song from the band that can be considered Holy or Gosple. I would love to have covered this song, but would have been scared shitless to commit sacralige. This is the closest AC/DC has ever come to doing a ballad, and it's just such a beautiful and simple Blues track. This song is passion.

Next up is Hells Bells, and this is another track that you should just know. I'm very happy that this is the only other track from Back In Black on here. I would have been cool with Rock And Roll Ain't noise Pollution as well, but just the two is great.

Shake Your Foundation is the second track from Fly On the Wall. This track is pretty straight ahead, but it has a great chorus to sing along to. It's a great filler for this album.

The last of the new tracks on this album is Chase the Ace. This is another track that's a great listen. Much like D.T. it's a bit of a jam around, that's an instrumental, and I think meant to be used as a sort of score for the movie, but great tracks all the same. Listening to the instrumentals on this album makes me wish that Angus and Malcom would have recorded and released a jam album. I think it would have been killer.

The last track on this album is For Those About To Rock (We Salute You). To me this song is pretty much a national anthem. I feel the people should stand up and salute during this song, right up until Brian Johnson makes his first sound, then one arm should rise in the air and the head should slowly bang. This was the perfect choice to finish this album.

If you have never owned an AC/DC album, this is a good place to start. It's a small taste of what great things this band has to offer. Chances are if you own any AC/DC you don't own half the tracks on this album, and it's still worth buying. If you are like me and own all the tracks that are originally available on other albums, this album is still worth getting. It's really a great listen. Just make sure you get the remastered version, so you get a better quality. I know I have the remaster for all the other previously available tracks.

8/10 - content

7/10 - production

8/10 - personal bias