AC/DC
Let There Be Rock

I already know that many will think: there was no need for another review of "Let There Be Rock", but I too absolutely wanted to review what I consider one of the greatest albums in rock history as well as the most beautiful of the band along with "Highway To Hell", if not at least in second place.

First, a few historical notes. In '76, the band had finally embarked, after some postponements, on the conquest of England and Europe. The tour was scheduled alongside Paul Kossoff's new band, but the premature death of the former Free guitarist disrupted plans and again postponed the tour by a few days. Finally starting, AC/DC traveled around Europe for about 8 months, devastating venues and clubs with their unstoppable fury. Many legends are told about it, such as their legendary performances at the "Marquee" where they shattered attendance records, with people crowded and crammed in who would finish the concert almost completely naked and exhausted (and the band as well). They also played at the famous Granada Studios in Manchester 3 weeks before the legendary performance of the Sex Pistols.

The Australian band ended up being lumped into the punk wave by audiences, musicians, and specialized magazines for the fierceness and energy they put into their shows, as well as their conduct and the "scandalous" Angus stripteases that caused many problems for the 5 upon their return home for the "Giant Dose Of Rock N Roll". Many shows were canceled due to negative press campaigns that spoke of "obscene acts", and many threatened to prevent the band from playing if the stripteases did not stop.  

But AC/DC wanted to change their image; the adolescent and scandalous image they had used in their early tours had run its course, and after the first 3 albums "High Voltage," "T.N.T.," and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," they were ready for the decisive leap in quality that would also change the minds of the American Atlantic, which was reluctant to bring them to the USA.  

As soon as the previously mentioned tour was over, they devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the new album, which materialized in a few weeks between the end of the current year and the beginning of '77; the album was meant to be a violent declaration of intent. It was recorded at the usual Albert Studios in Sydney with trusted producers Henry Vanda and, especially, the sixth AC/DC member George Young. There are many anecdotes regarding the recordings: the band exchanged the studio with fellow countrymen Angels, who recount that every time they returned for their own sessions, they could still feel and sense the aura of AC/DC's previous sessions; indeed, our guys unleashed themselves in the recording studio as if it were almost a concert.  

The Young brothers wanted the album to be as real and violent as possible, never wasting time on overdubs or the like; the first take was the good one; AC/DC wanted an album that was damn rock n' roll, a rock n' roll that was bare and primordial like the very first recordings of Elvis and Little Richard, but the influences always ranged from blues to even John Coltrane's jazz.  

The album kicks off with a bang with "Go Down" and "Dog Eat Dog", two tracks that immediately reflect this style, with guitars in great shape and more aggressive than ever. But these two great tracks are nothing compared to what would become the most stunning track the band had proposed up to that moment: the title track "Let There Be Rock", an incredible, devastating six minutes filled with a biblically inspired text (obviously in the Bon Scott way). This was one of the first tracks to be recorded in those sessions. It is said that the recorder was old and the tape was about to run out, so the final outburst was played thinking time was running out, but it held and "exploded" shortly after the end of the recording. It immediately became a classic and one of the most intense moments of the album and the concerts.  

In fourth place comes another classic, another super piece: "Bad Boy Boogie", which continues in the vein of the previous ones, four electrifying minutes that still leave their mark, as does the subsequent "Problem Child", included in the second European edition instead of "Crabsody In Blue". This track was symbolically dedicated by the frontman to the little guitarist, although according to Angus, the lyrics were actually about Bon and the problems he had had with the law a few years earlier.  

"Overdose" is the slowest and perhaps the least significant track of the work, a long rock blues very beautiful, but that is a bit less aggressive compared to the previous ones, yet still superb.  

"Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be", another very famous piece, resumes the formula of the first tracks, becoming another classic, but the best is yet to come...  

Now comes the moment of the last track. Each time you listen to an album, the last track is the one that stays with you, the one that gives you the final impression and makes you sum up the experience. Well, we're faced with the best possible closure, namely the legendary "Whole Lotta Rosie". The "Angus Angus" shouts from the audience right after the riff explosion will be the most exhilarating moment of their concerts for the next 30 years. The lyrics tell a story Bon had with a mythical Australian redhead a few years earlier, a great woman 1.80 meters tall and very hefty, whom the great singer could not resist.  

This is just one of the many legends circulating about the band. What matters is the music they left us, the same charge they brought on record at least up to "For Those About To Rock", but then they could no longer replicate themselves. This "Let There Be Rock" was perhaps the peak of that aggressive charge, it is no coincidence that almost 33 years after its release, the 2 iconic tracks are still live classics, they still constitute the longest and most exciting moments of their shows, and even "Dog Eat Dog", "Bad Boy Boogie", "Problem Child", "Go Down" and "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be" have always been reprised, even on April 30, '78, at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow for the legendary album "If You Want Blood".  

This is perhaps the album with the most tracks reprised live and the one with the most enduring pieces over time. The genre never changed, but this is not simply "one of the usual 3-chord AC/DC albums," as some "phenom" thinks and says. Seven out of 8 tracks became classics. The album was the first to be released in the USA, the first to enter the Billboard charts, the first in the UK top 100, in short the first bulwark towards their ultimate artistic and commercial consecration which would happen 2 years later with "Highway To Hell" and then with "Back In Black", but those are other stories.  

Indispensable, among other things the last with Mark Evans on bass, who was replaced by Cliff Williams a month after the release.