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Rating: "Let There Be Rock" is a declaration of intent right from the album title: let there be rock, especially in 1977, the year of punk, new wave, and new genres. The band relocated to England to record, to refresh the sound, which was too dated and perhaps still too raw. The declaration of intent, and also a declaration of war against punk, can also be noticed from the cover: the band a bit obscured and him in the center stage, Angus Young, sweaty, in full ecstasy from a guitar solo. But let's move on to the tracks.
"Go Down" is rough and scratching; a more compelling opening track could not really be found! The next "Dog Eat Dog" follows the path started with the opening track; heavy guitars, a steamroller drum, and Bon Scott's voice: aggressive, streetwise, and tough like few others. It's now time for the title track: "Let There Be Rock" where Bon Scott narrates the history of rock in the massive and dynamic way of AC/DC; a historical track, which is still performed live today, a sign that this piece has become a masterpiece in the history of the Australian band and of rock in general. The track is composed of one of the most beautiful riffs of all time; also noteworthy is a tremendous bass performance, greatly pumped up, supported by a precise and sharp drum. The anger is part of the fourth track, namely "Bad Boy Boogie" where the bad boy is naturally Bon Scott, who tells us about his stories and what it means to be a bad boy. The guitars are heavy and wicked and pissed off like Bon's singing: epic!!
The atmosphere becomes less pissed off with "Problem Child", a track that is composed of three/four chords repeated endlessly: quite an easy track, but no less important within this rock work; as usual, a great performance from the Young brothers' guitars, in perfect harmony with each other. "Overdose" has quite a calm intro: an arpeggio accompanied by drums that seem almost to warm up before getting into the field... indeed, after a minute, the rhythm changes, and the guitars become heavy and sharp as blades: certainly not the most dynamic track on the album, we can consider it as a kind of experiment by AC/DC.
We are almost at the end of the album, and just at the end, we are expected to encounter two gems of the rock universe. "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be" where Bon talks about the advantages of living next to the devil, essentially a declaration of love towards hell!! The finale, however, is something explosive, a dynamite called "Whole Lotta Rosie" that goes more or less like this: "Wanna tell you a story / 'Bout a woman I know / When it comes to lovin' / Oh, she steals the show / She ain't exactly pretty / She ain't exactly
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Dog Eat Dog (03:34)
Well it's a dog eat dog, eat cat too
The French eat frog, and I eat you
Business man when you make a deal
Do you know who you can trust
Do you sign your life away
Do you write your name in dust
Hey, hey, hey
Every dog has its day
It's a dog eat dog, dog eat dog
Dog eat dog, read the news
Someone win, someone lose
Up's above and down's below
And limbo's in between
Up you win, down you lose
It's anybody's game
Hey, hey, hey
Every dog has its day
It's a dog eat dog, dog eat dog
And it's a eye for eye
Tooth for tooth
It's a lie
That's the truth
See the blind man on the street
Lookin' for somethin' free
Hear the kind man ask his friend
What's in it for me
Hey, hey, hey
Every dog has its day
It's a dog eat dog, dog eat dog
Dog eat dog, Dog eat dog
Dog eat dog, Dog eat dog
Dog eat dog, Dog eat dog
Dog eat dog, Dog eat dog...
03 Let There Be Rock (06:06)
We roll tonight [we're on tonight]
Till the guitar bite
Yeah, yeah, oh
Stand up and be counted
For what you are about to receive
We are the dealers
We'll give you everything you need
Hail hail to the good times
'cause rock has got the right of way
We ain't no legend, ain't no cause
We're just livin' for today
For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
We rock at dawn on the front line
Like a bolt right out of the blue
The sky's alight with the guitar fight
Heads will roll and rock tonight
For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
Yes we do
For those about to rock, we salute you
Oooh, salute!
Oooh, ooooh yeah
We're just a battery for hire with a guitar fire
Ready and aimed at you
Pick up your balls and load up your cannon
For a twenty-one gun salute
For those about to rock - fire
We salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
Those about to rock - fire
We salute you
Fire
We salute you
We salute you
Come on, whooa
For those about to rock, we salute you (x4)
Shoot, shoot (x2)
For those of you, for those who
Yeah
(ain't gonna get tired, won't take a break, we salute you.)
We salute you (x3)
Fire
05 Overdose (06:09)
I never smoked me no cigarettes
I never drank much booze
But I'm only a man doncha understand
A man can sometimes lose
You gave me somethin' I never had
Pulled me down with you
Hit me up with a big hunka love
Hope you can pull you through
I overdosed on you
I overdosed on you
Crazy but it's true,
Ain't nothin' I can do
I overdosed on you
Oh woman you give to me
More than I can take
But listen honey
I don't mind
You're a habit I don't wanna break
Don't want me none of that harder stuff
Don't need it anymore
I'm in hell and I'm sinkin' fast
And I don't need no cure
I overdosed on you
I overdosed on you
Crazy but it's true
Ain't nothin' I can do
I overdosed on you
I was as happy as a man can be
To far gone to save
Died of love and plenty of
Just write on my grave
I overdosed on you
I overdosed on you
Crazy but it's true
There's nothin' I can do
I overdosed on you
On you
On you, on you
All over you, all over you, all over
I overdosed, overdosed
Overdosed on you
Overdosed, aaaahhhh
08 Whole Lotta Rosie (05:24)
Wanna tell you a story
'Bout a woman I know
When it comes to lovin'
Oh, she steals the show
She ain't exactly pretty
She ain't exaclty small
42-39-56
You could say she's got it ALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
Never had a woman, never had a woman like you
Doin' all the things, doin' all the things you do
Ain't no fairy story
Ain't no skin-and-bones
But you give all you got, weighin' in at nineteen stone
You're a whole lotta woman
A whole lotta woman
I gotta whole lotta Rosie
A whole lotta Rosie
A whole lotta Rosie
I gotta whole lotta woman, yeah-yeah-yeah
Honey, you can do, do it to me all night long
Only one can turn, only one can turn me on
All through the night-time
Right around the clock
To my suprise, Rosie never stops
You're a whole lotta woman
A whole lotta woman
I gotta whole lotta Rosie
A whole lotta Rosie
A whole lotta Rosie
I gotta whole lotta woman, yeah-yeah-yeah
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Other reviews
By puntiniCAZpuntini
"And when the deaf box starts with the beautifully dragging riff, and the raspy voice of Bonn Scottland says 'I am hot, And when I’m not, I’m cold as ice, Get out of my way, Step aside, Or pay the price... That’s Nothing You Can Do, 'Cause I’m Problem Child!' you think 'you’re right, you are, Bonn!'"
"Hooray for stupidity, screw the tie. Angus, you sure got it all figured out, damn it. Over 50 years old and still out there fooling around, don’t smother the child within you."
By Sket
'Let There Be Rock' is the masterpiece within the masterpiece: Bon’s voice, accompanied by the bass, screams 'let there be guitar' (Angus) and LLLLLETTHREBEROCK!!!!
So if at the World Cup I was somewhat rooting for Australia, even against Italy, the credit goes to them.
By teenagelobotomy
"Seven out of 8 tracks became classics."
"This 'Let There Be Rock' was perhaps the peak of that aggressive charge... and even decades later the iconic tracks remain live essentials."
