Beating Around The Bush

Back in 2017, I started a quest to collect original Australian pressings for all of the AC/DC albums from the Bon Scott era. They don't come cheap, so I've had to pace myself... basically picking up one a year. Last year, I stumbled and didn't pick one up. Record prices were getting out of control, and it made me very tentative about pulling the trigger on something big like an Aussie AC/DC pressing. This year, I needed to make it happen.

With it's unique flames cover, I knew that Highway To Hell was going to carry a big price tag... but as the final Bon Scott studio album that I needed for the collection, I was determined to just get my hands on one regardless of the cost. Fucking hell. This thing looks and sounds amazing! As soon as I dropped it on the turntable and the title track kicked off, I knew that I'd made the right decision in buying this thing.

I tend to lean towards Powerage as my favorite AC/DC record, but Highway To Hell makes a case for taking the top spot. This record is so fucking good. Front to back, every song on here is a blast.

I decided to pull out my original US pressing for Highway To Hell to get the side-by-side photo. While I do like how the flames cover catches your attention, I may prefer the other one with plain shot of the guys just standing there. Angus with the schoolboy uniform and devil's tail is too iconic to hide under a blanket of fire.

While Highway To Hell is the last studio album I needed from the Bon Scott era, I do still need an Australian press of the live album, If You Want Blood (and don't get me going on the few different pieces of colored vinyl as well). Maybe next year.

Record Store Damnation

Bouncing back to my haul from Wanna Hear It Records that I posted about here last month... there was one record that I picked up that proved to be a bit more trouble than I had expected. It took a couple of weeks to get things straightened out, so here we go.

As a collector of AC/DC records, over the past couple of years I've discovered a couple of cover variants with the For Those About To Rock design. Of course, I already own the regular pressing with the the copper cover and black print, but I've recently found that the pressing out of Spain had the colors inverted so it was copper print on a black cover. Very cool. I want one. Then shortly after finding out about the Spain press, I came to realize that the Let's Get It Up single in the US came with that same cannon design, except it was on a red cover. Yes! I want them all! When I was at Wanna Hear It, I was mostly focused on hardcore records, but as I was killing time and waiting for Marcus to finish up, I quickly flipped throught the rock singles, and there was the red cover. Without hesitating, I quickly added it to my pile before checking out.

A couple of weeks later, I was going through all of my records from that day, and something caught my eye. The picture sleeve cover was for the Let's Get It Up single, but the actual record itself was for Rock 'N' Roll Damnation. Fuck. I was going to have to fix this situation.

Thankfully, the Let's Get It Up 7 inch, without the cover, is pretty common and cheap on Discogs, so I quickly bought one to stick in the picture sleeve. The Rock 'N' Roll Damnation 7 inch never came with a picture sleeve, so I didn't have to worry about that one. Problem solved.

Fire Your Guns

When I started to chase AC/DC Australian pressings a few years ago, my plan was to limit this quest to only the Bon Scott albums. When it came to the debate of Bon Scott vs. Brian Johnson, I was always Team Bon. The last couple of years, however, has seen my appeciation for those Brian Johnson records grow and grow... and when I started looking to add The Razors Edge to the record collection, I made the decision to not go cheap.

I didn't pay any attention to The Razors Edge when it was released in 1990. AC/DC were too soft for me at that time, and for the most part I just wanted to thrash. I was familiar with the two singles, Thunderstruck and Money Talks, but they were worlds away from Megadeth's Rust In Peace and Kreator's Coma Of Souls so I wasn't going to fuck around with that weak shit. It probably took me a good 10+ years before I even bothered listening to The Razors Edge, and it wasn't until recently that I really started to love this album. There are some fantastic AC/DC songs here, with Fire Your Guns and the title track absolutely blowing me away with how great they are.

When I started looking to pick up a copy of this record, I knew that I needed the Aussie pressing. The center labels for both the US and UK ATCO pressings were boring, and I really dislike the reissue labels... so the Australian pressings was the only one that was going to make me happy. Yes, I opted to spend more money for the pressing with the better center labels. Either you understand or you don't...and if you don't, what the fuck are you doing here?

Through The Mists Of RSD

I've been obsessing over AC/DC records for the last few years, so when I saw that they were releasing a 12 inch single for Record Store Day this year, I knew that I'd at least be picking up that one record for the day. If it wasn't for this one single, I might not have even bothered to get out to the store.

I wasn't excited that this latest single was pressed as a picture disc, but I'm not too bothered about it. I mean, it isn't like I'll probably ever play this record again since both of these songs were on the Power Up album that was released last year. Still, as another record for the AC/DC collection, I'll gladly take it.

Packaging is pretty minimal here, with just an OBI style strip that lists the song names. 5,000 pressed.

I saw that someone posted the other day on Instagram, checking in to see if people are still spinning the Power Up album, or if the hype had died down and it had been shelved. Me? You bet that I'm still playing that thing regularly.

Australian Powerage

Last year I made some great progress with my AC/DC collection. The band released a new album at the end of the year, and I spent a lot of time leading up to it grabbing pieces of their back catalog. Things haven't been as productive on the AC/DC front this year, but I've actively been on the hunt for the Australian pressing for Powerage for a while so it feels good to finally cross this big boy off my list.

Powerage was AC/DC's fifth album released in Australia, and the first to not carry the kangaroo logo on the record label...plus it was the first time the cover art was the same as all other international releases. Because of these things I assumed that I wouldn't have to sink as much money into this record as I had the first four. I was wrong. I guess that any first press Aussie pressing for AC/DC is going to hit the savings account hard.

I'll often cite Powerage as my favorite AC/DC record, so I was very excited to finally add this one to the collection.

Apparently the European pressing has an earlier mix than all others and has a slight variation in the tracklisting by adding Cold Hearted Man and dumping Rock 'n' Roll Damnation, so I'm obviously going to have to chase that one down as well...and let's not forget about the red vinyl Canadian pressing or the New Zealand one with the different color text on the cover. I need them all.

Blow Up Your 12 Inch Singles

Back in 2017, when I started toying with the idea of collecting Australian pressings for the Bon Scott era AC/DC albums I never would have expected my obsession over the the band to explode the way it has. I was just going to collect those Aussie pressings because they were so different than the US versions that I grew up with, but the last couple of years have seen me also chasing singles and some pricey first pressings from their latter period. I want it all, and after picking up a Spanish promo for Rock Your Heart Out earlier this year, it had me in the mindset to pick up more singles.

I've been on the hunt for the UK 12 inch pressing of That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll for the past year. When I saw a copy pop up in my want list over on Discogs from a US seller, I didn't hesitate to jump on it, even if the price was a little high.

Released as a single for the Blow Up Your Video album, the major selling point for this record is the exclusive b-side song Borrowed Time. I don't think that a lot of bands were throwing exclusive tracks like this around at this time... or maybe as an American, I just missed out on cool shit like this from overseas... but either way, it is cool to discover stuff like this 30+ years down the line.

How cool is that gatefold cover for a 12 inch single? This entire package feels special, and not some cheap throw away.

Honestly, one of the things that really drew my attention to this 12 inch single was the patch that came with it. That red patch for the Blow Up Your Video world tour in 1988 looks great. I love collectible shit like this.

Shortly after picking up the That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll single, the other single from Blow Up Your Video fell into my lap. I picked this one up from a seller in the UK, and as I was loading up my cart with cool records from them, I definitely needed the Heatseeker single as well.

The Heatseeker single gives us another exclusive b-side song with Snake Eye.

Another good looking gatefold 12 inch cover, and it feels good to pick up both Blow Up Your Video singles in one shot. Okay, what AC/DC record should I pick up next?

Rock Your Heart Out

Over the past couple of years, I have made some significant progress on my AC/DC collection. Cheap pick-ups, expensive first pressings, singles, albums...it hasn't fucking mattered...I've been obsessed with the band, and will buy anything. What initially started out a few years ago as a simple "I just want Australian pressings for the Bon Scott records", has turned into "give me all of it" mentality.

As I was checking Instagram last month, Henk had made a post about his top five AC/DC records, and we started exchanging messages. Our lists were pretty comparable...top loaded with Bon Scott era albums with a couple Brian Johnson records thrown in for good measure. It was fun to talk about the band with someone that is as passionate about them as I am. It had been a hot minute since I'd added a new AC/DC record to the collection, and talking with Henk had me all fired up to do some shopping.

With the release of their latest album, I've kind of become infatuated with the band's more recent stuff. As much as I feel the Bon Scott era is the best period for AC/DC, lately all I've wanted to listen to is those six Brian Johnson albums released from 1990 on. With that mentality, I wanted to try and find a single from that era, and was pretty happy to find a US seller on Discogs that had this promo 7 inch from Spain for the song Rock Your Heart Out from The Razors Edge.

I've recently just started to really appreciate The Razors Edge from AC/DC, and while this Spanish promo isn't much to look at, I was still excited to score a copy for the collection.

PWR/UP

I was pretty sure that we had seen the last of AC/DC when the Rock Or Bust tour came to a end in a ball of flames in 2016. Malcolm Young was already out of the band with dementia, and then Brian Johnson had to quit mid-tour with hearing issues. Oddly enough the band got Axl Rose to step in as the vocalist to finish the tour, but then Phil Rudd hired a contract killer and got busted for meth, so they had to get Simon Wright to jump in on drums, and by the end of the tour Cliff Williams was like "fuck this" and he quit too, leaving Angus as the last man standing. Honestly, I didn't expect them to come back after that. When rumors started flying around about a new AC/DC record in 2020, I was a bit skeptical.

Not only are AC/DC back, but holy fuck, they come back with an album that leaves me awe struck. Power Up is the band's sixteenth album (well, seventeenth if you are counting from their Australian catalog), and it is good...like really fucking good. I'm not sure if it is because my expectations were low, but Angus pulled Brian, Phil, Cliff, and cousin Stevie back for an impressive showing. The more I listen to this record, the more I dig it. I don't know if it matches the hype that people keep throwing around, like "it harkens back to Flick Of The Switch", but if this is the album that AC/DC go out on, it is an exclaimation point to a solid fucking run.

Solid yellow vinyl was only available in the US AC/DC webstore.

Black Ice

With AC/DC releasing a new album this year, I've been kind of excited about the band and thinking a bit about where my record collection stands for them. I've crossed off a few big ticket items for them this past year, but before the album landed on my turntable, I wanted to make one more move.

When AC/DC released Black Ice back in 2008, I remember barely giving it any attention. The album was almost an hour long, and at the time it just felt like it was too much. I listened to it one time that year, proclaimed it wasn't memorable, and I shelved it. Yeah, no shit, one listen isn't going to get the album to stick with you, dipshit. Sure, for a while I'd pull the CD out once every couple of months, but I never really spent much time with it. Oddly enough, when Rock Or Bust was released in 2014, I loved that album immediately.

Feeling in the mood for some of that latter era AC/DC, I've been revisiting those albums to prepare for the new record, and I was surprised with how much I found myself enjoying Black Ice. Thankfully, you can still pick up the vinyl for a decent price, and looking to expand the collection, I grabbed a copy off Discogs.

It is hard as hell to get a good photo, but the black on black spot finishing looks amazing...along with the red and black printed dust sleeves, I love the packaging of this record.

U.S. Voltage

I picked up a couple of big pieces for my AC/DC collection this year, grabbing the Aussie first pressing for High Voltage, as well as the original pressing for Stiff Upper Lip. Huge wins for the year...but as we started to close in on the end of the year, I got it into my head to make another run at one of the older AC/DC records.

For those early AC/DC records, in addition to the first Australian pressings, I also want to own the original US pressings as well. With the differences in track listings and cover artwork, I've got to get my hands on both...and there are a few other oddities that I would like to pick up at some point too, but I don't anticipate hitting those targets for quite some time. So keeping it simple, I made a move for a AC/DC's first US release High Voltage.

While I'd hoped to grab a copy of this record for cheap, I quickly realized that I was going to have to put down a few bills if I wanted a copy in good condition. With the album cover in such light colors, it is tough to find one that doesn't look beat to hell and covered in ringwear. Very happy with the one that I managed to pull off eBay.

Eight records of the first four AC/DC albums.

Stiff Upper Lip

After crossing off a big ticket AC/DC album earlier this year, and then a couple really cool singles, I was itching to keep things rolling. When collecting AC/DC records, you have to choose which path you want to take. Do you want to just get their albums onto your shelf and not break a sweat, or do you want to be a fucking collector.

When I started looking to pick up a copy of Stiff Upper Lip, it was tempting to make an easy run at the reissue. No doubt the reissue looks kind of cool with the printed inner sleeve full of photos from that era as well a nice written bio on the record, but I didn't like the look of the center label, so like an idiot, I decided to go with the original pressing...and since Stiff Upper Lip was originally released in 2000, when CD was king, and only Europe bothered to press it on vinyl in limited quantities. So I basically spent an additional $80 on an original pressing just because I didn't like the look of the reissue center labels.

This record tends to get kicked around by AC/DC fans, as most of them seem to look down their noses at it. I don't understand the hate. I fucking love this album and for some reason I've been obsessing over it this year. I fully expect that by the time December rolls around, Stiff Upper Lip will be one of the albums that I've listened to the most this year...so obviously the time was right to finally buy the vinyl.

Yeah, the printed inner sleeve for the original isn't as slick as the reissue, but I do love the image of the fist in the air. Worth every dollar spent.

Japan Shook Me

I've had a few things circling around in my head lately. AC/DC. Singles. Japanese pressings. I've been obsessing over each of these things lately, and they all happened to converge for this post.

Since picking up AC/DC's Touch Too Much single last month, and knowing that I had the first pressing of High Voltage on the way from Australia, I was itching for more from the band. I started randomly checking to see what was available from US sellers, and when I happened to catch someone with a Japanese 7 inch for You Shook Me All Night Long, I jumped on it...and while the $25 price tab seemed a little high at first glance, the sales history shows that the record typically goes for twice that, so I was fucking stoked to grab this.

I don't know man. There is just something cool about Japanese pressings and singles. I first got the bug when Doug went to Japan last year, and he started texting me photos of Dokken singles that he was picking up. Shit looked so great, and I wanted some of that action myself. Doug was a selfish motherfucker and filled his suitcase with records for himself instead of saving some room for me, but the fuse was lit, and since then I've been toying with the idea of hunting down some of those Japanese singles for myself. It feels good to take this first step.

Blue Roo Voltage

One of my priorities for the past few years has been to collect Australian first pressings for the Bon Scott era of AC/DC. These things don't come cheap, so each year I dedicate a portion of my annual bonus from work to the hunt, and I check another one from the list. This year, the band's first album, High Voltage, from 1975 was my target.

When it comes to the first few AC/DC albums, things can get confusing when comparing the original Australian releases to what the rest of the world saw from the band. Different cover art. Different track listings. Shit gets messy. In the case of High Voltage, things get extra sticky.

High Voltage, released in 1975, was AC/DC's first album and only available in Australia and New Zealand. When the international release of High Voltage was released to the rest of the world in 1976, the majority of that album contained songs from AC/DC's second Australia record, T.N.T., and only two songs from the original High Voltage album. So basically, AC/DC has two different albums named High Voltage.

I was expecting to go deep for an Australian first press of High Voltage. To find one in great condition, you can expect to go over $300, and I was ready to step up. As it turned out, I jumped on an eBay auction from an Australian seller just as the Covid pandemic was fucking exploding across the globe, and as a result, bidding was practically non-existent as I walked away winning the auction for half of what I expected to pay. Good deal. Of course, the downside was that Covid also ground international deliveries to a halt, and my record sat in the Australian customs office for about two months before it finally caught a plane for the States. Worth the wait!

This copy of High Voltage completes my collection of Blue Roo Australian first pressings for AC/DC. I still have a few more records to pick up for those Bon Scott years, and they still have high price tags, but at least I no longer have to look for that kangaroo on the label.

Touch Too Much

Last year I picked up a grip of AC/DC singles, and it was a lot of fun to chase them down and add them to my collection. I still have a lot of holes in the record collection when it comes to AC/DC studio albums, so it feels weird to prioritize singles, but I've been obsessing over these 12 and 7 inches lately and I just let my heart lead the way when record shopping.

I've been itching to pick up some more singles lately, and with AC/DC on my mind, I dove into the Discogs marketplace to see what I could dig up.

Of course all the best looking singles came out of Europe and Japan, and usually all we got here in the US was the 7 inch packaged in a boring dust sleeve. Other countries packaged this shit right, with a nice looking picture sleeve. I mean look at the cover for this French pressing of the Touch Too Much single. That live shot on the front is fire.

Even the back cover photo is cool!

Thankfully I found a US seller that had this 12 inch available, and I scooped it up at a decent price.

Bootleg On The Wall

Last year, I picked up the vinyl for AC/DC's Fly On The Wall album. It had been a while since I'd really listened to that record, but I was interested in growing my AC/DC collection, so I grabbed it when I found it in the used bins at a great price. I didn't expect to have such a strong reaction to it, but man, revisiting that album had me falling in love with it all over again, and surprisingly I was giving it repeat spins.

The Fly On The Wall tour was the first time that I saw AC/DC live, and it was one of the earlier concerts that I had gone to. Revisiting the album had me all nostalgic for those days, so when I discovered a bootleg album from that tour, I didn't hesitate to grab a copy.

There are a lot of bootlegs showing up these days that are old radio broadcasts, and this AC/DC boot is one of those. The sound quality is excellent, but it doesn't capture the full setlist, and around five songs are missing here. That's okay though, it still captures the three songs from Fly On The Wall that AC/DC were playing on this tour, and those are the ones that I'm most excited to hear on this.

Nice gatefold packaging with a bit of writing on the state of AC/DC at this time...pointing out that while the band wasn't selling as many albums for Fly On The Wall, the band was still selling out stadiums everywhere. Such a great bootleg to capture that band at this time.

It's A Long Way From The UK

I love meeting up with my old blogging buddies from the UK, and when they are available I'll make every effort to get together in Boston for the day. I was able to catch up with Sandwell back in October, and I was very happy for the opportunity to meet with Marcus and Anna when they made a quick stop in Boston while on their way to Florida. Even if we didn't really care for each other, we still made the excuse to hang out so we could trade some records that we'd had shipped to the other so we could save a few dollars on overseas shipping.

I few days before Marcus checked in to see if I wanted to have any records mailed to him that he could bring over with him, I'd just discovered a pressing of AC/DC's High Voltage album with the cover art that was unique to the UK. I was in love with how this cover looked, and as soon as he made the suggestion for me to ship stuff to him, I was on Discogs and ordering the record from a UK seller. This thing is as beautiful as I'd hoped it would.

I've made some good progress with my AC/DC collection this year, and next to the Dirty Deeds Aussie pressing, this UK pressing of High Voltage is one of my favorite additions.

It was a fun day driving down to Boston with my wife to meet up with Marcus and Anna for some pizza and pastries, and then we got down with a little wife swap back at the hotel...no...wait...record swap...I meant record swap.

Back In Business

I love my AC/DC collection. I've still got a long way to go, and there are still a number of big ticket items on my want list, but it still feels like I'm making big moves whenever I fill another hole.

Back in '85, I was a hungry young metalhead. I had been digging into all the big bands, and discovering their back catalog over the past couple of years. Between my brother and I, we were able to attack those older albums from bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and AC/DC...putting together a pretty good cassette collection between the two of us. None of those bands could do wrong in my eyes, and while most people were losing interest in the newer AC/DC records at that time, I was still madly in love. I don't think that Fly On The Wall received much attention, and there were certainly no hits from the album that the band carried in their live setlist beyond that '85/'86 tour...hell, I saw them on this tour and they only had three songs from the album in their set...but damn, I still loved everything about this album.

For the Bon Scott records, I need to get the Australian pressings....that era of AC/DC never fails to give me a thrill, so I've got to go big for it...and while I still love the Brian Johnson era, I'm content with the regular US version for those. When I discovered Fly On The Wall in the used bins at one of the local record stores, I was happy to scoop it up for ten bucks.

Aussie Deeds Not Dirt Cheap

I've had a lot of irons in the fire this year. I've wanted to grow my NWOBHM collection...I was obsessed with records celebrating their 30th anniversary from 1989...I've had a blast chasing some 80's hair metal records that I ignored when I was a kid...and because of all these different targets, I've spent very little time focusing on my list of Top 10 Wants that I put together at the beginning of the year. I knocked two of them from the list early, and was feeling pretty good, but since then, I've made no progress.

For the past few years, I've included original Australian pressings for the early AC/DC records. While they tend to carry a hefty price tag, they have been a priority for me. So before we lose too many more months this year, I needed to get off my ass, and get the job done.

The heavy hitters are the first four AC/DC albums. I've already picked up Australian first pressings for T.N.T. and Let There Be Rock, so I was already 50% there. In the game of trying to figure out which one I was going to pick up next, it all came down to availability and cost. In the end, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap happened to be the winner for this year.

One of the big draws for me with the Australian pressings for the early AC/DC records is the artwork for the cover. It is so different from what we saw in the States.

Dirty Deeds also has a couple changes with the track listing. The US pressing had songs like Rocker and Love At First Feel, while the Australia pressing had Jailbreak and R.I.P. (Rock In Peace). So obviously, you have to have both.

Blue Roo or bust.

As if collecting these original Aussie pressings for AC/DC wasn't difficult enough, when I was buying Dirty Deeds, I also had to make sure that it came with the original "song book" insert. Another cool piece of history.