AC DC Highway To Hell

Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It was the band's fifth studio album released internationally and the sixth to be released in Australia. It was the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died early the following year on 19 February 1980.

"Highway To Hell", AC/DC's fifth (international) album and their last to feature their late vocalist Bon Scott, is arguably the best of the Bon Scott era and certainly the most commercially successful. It is also my personal favourite of all of the albums they made with Bon and the first of three consecutive works they recorded with legendary producer, Robert John "Mutt" Lange. I think it's fair to say that, sonically, they had never sounded better on record before this point, as Lange gave them a punch that they hadn't quite managed to capture in the studio prior to this record. Having said that, the compositions are very similar to those from all of their previous releases, so it is a case of "more of the same" from the band… not that that is a bad thing, if you like AC/DC.

AC/DC had been in existence for six years and had released as many albums when they recorded this rollicking show at Towson State College, near Baltimore, Maryland. The band was in its prime, with vocalist Bon Scott leading the group through what would later be viewed as some of their strongest material, with the Young Brothers (Angus and Malcolm) driving the guitar-boogie riffs at full throttle. The band had just released Highway To Hell, the album that would break the entertaining Aussie band worldwide, and was burning up the rock radio charts with a platter of classics that included "Girl's Got Rhythm," "Touch Too Much," and the title track.

The first sound on Back in Black is the deep, ominous drone of church bells – or "Hell's Bells," as it were, opening the album and AC/DC's next era with a fanfare while ringing a fond farewell to Bon Scott, their late lead singer who partied himself straight to hell…

Despite the fact that the band's best days were obviously behind them, a live album for AC/DC was all but completely necessary. After all, the group's first live release, If You Want Blood You've Got It, was recorded at a time when AC/DC was nothing more than a cult act that had yet to produce many of its future rock staples…