Back In Hell

I've always been a big AC/DC fan, but I never really put much effort into picking up the vinyl from their catalog. AC/DC records aren't rare or anything, so time after time, I pass them by for something more exciting. That changed when I made a quick and fun purchase of Blow Up Your Video a couple months ago...which prompted me to get serious with a first Australian pressing of TNT...and now I'm adding a couple of beat up copies of Back In Black and Highway To Hell. It is funny how things have snowballed into a mini run on AC/DC lately. Sometimes, things just work out that way.

Even though it has been a year and a half since Steve died, and my mom gave me his old record collection, I've been slow to really do anything with it. It took me until this past Spring to finally go through them all, and separate the trash from those few that I wanted to keep. After letting them sit there for another six months, I'm finally just getting around to adding them to the collection.

I tend to overlook Back In Black. The album is massively popular, and even the least Metal people you know will go nuts on the dance floor at your cousin's wedding when the DJ spins You Shook Me All Night Long. Because of this kind of bullshit, I forget just how great the album actually is.

Earlier this summer, I was participating in a 100 mile relay race with a team, and one of the guys was playing Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution as he was getting hyped up for his next run, and the song really struck a chord with me. Holy shit...that song rules, and made me want to listen to nothing but AC/DC for the next month.

Normally, I would have little interest in a record that has as much wear as this one does...the cover is beat to shit, and the off center A side label cranks up my OCD...but since it came from Steve's collection, I'll happily place it on the shelf, because the vinyl still sounds amazing.

While Powerage stands as my favorite AC/DC album, Highway To Hell gives it a good run for it's money. Not a single weak track on this record.

While I am looking to build a complete Australian first press collection for the Bon Scott albums, I wouldn't mind getting a full collection for the US pressing as well.

As I was cleaning the vinyl for these albums, and giving them a spin on my turntable to prepare for this post, we got the sad news that guitarist Malcolm Young died at the age of 64. Seems like a good time to crack the cover for Martin Popoff's latest book on AC/DC, and dig in deep with this band.