Published on Jul 20, 2000
People always treat
High Voltage, the 1976 release from Australian rockers
AC/DC, as their debut release. So many people seem shocked when I
break the news to them: this is only their American debut.
A compilation of two earlier Australian albums (including one by
the same name), Bon Scott and crew plow through nine tracks that
show they’re well on their way to becoming hard rock legends – but
they weren’t there yet.
First, a word about the remastered version of this disc, which
was released a few years ago: It’s about time. For so many years, I
grew up thinking the version of “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You
Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” I knew of was normal, but it wasn’t until I
heard the version on
T.N.T. (one of the two Australian albums) that I discovered
part of the final chorus had been chopped. It sounds so much more
natural with the extended chorus, and it’s thankfully restored on
this disc.
In effect, AC/DC – vocalist Scott, lead guitarist Angus Young,
rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil
Rudd – can do no wrong for two-thirds of this album. This disc just
oozes with classics such as “Live Wire,” “Can I Sit Next To You
Girl,” “T.N.T.” and “The Jack,” some of which have become standards
in AC/DC’s live shows. (The version of “Can I Sit Next To You Girl”
with Scott as vocalist easily blows away the original, recorded
when Dave Evans fronted the band.)
Admittedly, this is not a polished act that you hear on
High Voltage – but what they lacked in studio shine they
more than made up for in musical attitude. Who else would have
dared to use bagpipes – bagpipes?!? – in an area normally reserved
for the guitar solo? Who else but Scott could have launched into a
Sex Pistols-like diatribe in the bridge of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer”?
Even Angus Young’s guitar solos showed he was still growing into
his role as a future rock god, but there was more than enough bite
to make even these tracks sweat.
So where is the problem? Two tracks on this disc – “Little
Lover” and “She’s Got Balls” – almost prove to be its undoing.
“Little Lover” is a lazy, plodding number that fails to go
anywhere, and would have better been left as an outtake to release
on something like
’74 Jailbreak. (Why didn’t they include “Stick Around” from
the Australian pressing of
High Voltage?) Then again, they could have thrown on “Love
Song” – proving the cure sometimes is worse than the disease.
As for “She’s Got Balls” – well, this track just fails to
materialize into anything special. There is a live version the band
did around ’77 (this might be the one on
Bonfire – I haven’t gotten that far into the box set yet)
that kicks the studio version’s ass, showing the band had grown
into the song. It just hasn’t happened yet on the studio
version.
As for the title track, if you accept it at face value, it’s a
decent enough rock song. But if you know AC/DC’s two Australian
albums, you’ll know the song doesn’t end where it fades out – and I
again wonder why no one bothered to let things proceed as they did
on
T.N.T. and allow the band to segue into their cover of Chuck
Berry’s “School Days”. (One of these days, I’m gonna review
T.N.T. on this site – that is, unless Alfredo beats me to it
first.)
High Voltage is an interesting first American step for a
band who was wowing the other shores before we got wind of ’em. And
while this picture has a few rips in the corners, it’s still a fun
one to go back and listen to from time to time.