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1976
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"...Long Way To The Top..."
What a nightmare! In order to properly explain
this 2003 Remastered CD – its artwork and even its track list – we have to go
into some serious AC/DC lore.
When the first two AC/DC
albums were released in Australia – 17 February 1975 for "High
Voltage" on Albert Productions APLP.009 and 1 December 1975 for "T.N.T."
on Albert Productions APLPA.016 – tracks from both were used to form their "High
Voltage" debut album in the UK, US and International arenas (and they
sported different artwork too).
The American variant of "High
Voltage" didn't arrive until 14 May 1976 on Atco SD 36-142 and again with
different artwork to the Australian Original whilst the UK issue had shown up
earlier, 30 April 1976 on Atlantic K 50257.
This ConnecteD Technology Digipak CD Reissue and Remaster from 2003
uses the US artwork, and as a nod towards the differing artwork for the Oz
original of "High Voltage" and the UK variant - the rear of the 16-page booklet shows both alongside
the Australian "T.N.T." LP.
So 1976’s "High
Voltage" is in fact Australian recorded AC/DC from 1974 and 1975. True
nutters would want all three LPs in their home - "High Voltage" Oz, "T.N.T."
Oz and "High Voltage" UK and US - and in order to give my own nod
towards that, I’ve listed how to get them later on.
But first to the daughters
you need to lock up and the wires that are live and the balls that are jacked
and that long haul to the top. Here are the details...
UK released May 2003 -
"High Voltage" by AC/DC on Epic/Albert Productions 510759 2 (Barcode
5099751075929) is a 9-Track 'ConnecteD
Technology' Digipak CD Reissue and Remaster in a Card Sleeve Repro Digipak
that plays out as follows (44:22 minutes):
1. It's A Long Way To The
Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) [Side 1]
2. Rock 'n' Roll Singer
3. The Jack
4. Live Wire
5. T.N.T. [Side 2]
6. Can I Sit Next To You
Girl
7. Little Lover
8. She's Got Balls
9. High Voltage
Tracks 1 to 9 are the British
and US debut album "High Voltage" – released 30 April 1976 in the UK
on Atlantic K 50257 and 14 May 1976 in the USA on Atco SD 36-142.
AC/DC was:
BON SCOTT – Vocals
ANGUS YOUNG – Lead Guitar
MALCOLM YOUNG – Rhythm
Guitar
MARK EVANS - Bass
PHIL RUDD – Drums
If you want to sequence the First Two Australian LPs - you’ll
actually need three of these 2003 CD reissues - "'74 Jailbreak",
"High Voltage" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and two
Box Sets - "Bonfire" from 2003 and "Backtracks" from
2009...
Their 8-track Oz original of
"High Voltage" (pictured above) played like this...
Side 1:
1. Baby Please Don't Go (on
"'74 Jailbreak" 2003 CD)
2. She's Got Balls (on
"High Voltage" 2003 CD)
3. Little Lover (on
"High Voltage" 2003 CD)
4. Stick Around (on
"Backtracks" 2009 Box Set)
Side 2:
1. Soul Stripper (on
"'74 Jailbreak" 2003 CD)
2. You Ain't Got A Hold On
Me (on "'74 Jailbreak" 2003 CD)
3. Love Song (on "Backtracks"
2009 Box Set)
4. Show Business (on
"'74 Jailbreak" 2003 CD)
While the 9-track original
of "T.N.T." (pictured above) played like this...
Side 1:
1. It's A Long Way To The
Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) (on "Backtracks" 2009 Box Set)
2. The Rock 'n' Roll Singer
(on "High Voltage" 2003 CD)
3. The Jack (on "High
Voltage" 2003 CD)
4. Live Wire (on "High
Voltage" 2003 CD)
Side 2:
1. T.N.T. (on "High
Voltage" 2003 CD)
2. Rocker (on "Dirty
Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" 2003 CD)
3. Can I Sit Next To You
Girl (on "High Voltage" 2003 CD)
4. High Voltage (on
"High Voltage" 2003 CD)
5. School Days (on
"Backtracks" 2009 Box Set)
So what do you get here?
This Epic CD 9-track reissue has what they call ConnecteD Technology which
allows you to access online content via your computer but I'm buggered if I've
ever bothered. The card digipak is the same for all of these reissues - very
tasty and tactile. There’s a picture CD to the right (the cover art of Angus)
and a 16-page booklet housed on the left in a pocket pouch (MURRAY ENGLEHEART
provides the informative and enthusiastic liner notes).
The booklet is crammed full
of period photos - a stunner of the boys up in the offices of Albert Productions
celebrating with Milk and Alcohol and a senior employee clearly having a hoot
dressed as a schoolboy. There are shots of the band beside posters for the OZ
LP on a Power Grid Fuse Box and even those infamous covers of England's Sounds
magazine that advised concerned Parents in Blighty to lock up their daughters
when the boys came touring in 1976 to support the April launch of the debut
(Bon promised them a hard of gold me dears).
There is mention of infamous
Rolling Stone magazine review that described the LP as an all-time low for Rock. And in fairness to that reviewer and his
perceived pontificating stuck-up diatribe, given what he was working with in
1976, tracks like "The Jack" and "She's Got Balls" are not
just lyrically awful but hard for me to listen to (then or now). Overall, the
booklet is sexily lid out and shows images most fans haven’t seen (the band
mooning dodgy underpants on stage) and accentuates the sense of Rock Fun AC/DC
engendered.
This new Digital Remaster
from 2-Track Original Master Tapes by GEORGE MARINO is ballsy and rocking. Each
track has renewed part – those pipes on "Long Way" and that riffage burst when
"Live Wire" kicks off – all of it great.
(1976 UK Artwork for their "High Voltage" Debut
US Artwork is used on the 2003 CD Reissue)
Despite affection fans have
for any fart in a bottle emanated by AC/DC in the 70ts – you would not describe
the UK and US variants of "High Voltage" as a debut masterpiece and
I'm always flabbergasted at all these five-star recommendations. Their
British/US starter is a launch pad to the far better 1976 set "Dirty Deeds
Done Dirt Cheap" and the all Hell breaks loose of "Let There Be
Rock" in 1977 - a truly awesome piece of Hard Rock that I think has never
been bettered.
Back to "High
Voltage" and the reason for that snarky review. Lyrics like "When I
saw the wet patch on your seat...was it Coca Cola..." inside the decidedly
leery "Little Lover" (the lead singer picking out his quarry during a
gig) are so dated and even crap. And I can understand why that US reviewer
despaired. But what he didn't get right was the other stuff. When you play
"It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" or
"Live Wire" or "High Voltage" – you know immediately why
you loved this band - and in your dotage – why you check them out on You Tube
more than possibly any other group of the Hard Rock heyday.
It was indeed a long way to
the top if you wanted to Rock 'n' Roll - but man AC/DC's climb was filled with
magnificence. I got to see the Bon Scott line-up in Dublin in October 1979 on a
cold Monday with maybe 150 people there and I've raved about it to any fool
who'll listen ever since.
Whilst "High
Voltage" isn't exactly the shock and awe that was to come, I drag it down
every now and then and let our favourite brat get his schoolbag in a tangle.
Break some rocks with the original chain gang folks and lock yourself into some
High Voltage Rock and Roll. In fact, take a tip from the mighty Boniface and
stick this saucy little bust-out in your fuse box. You know you want to (said
with a Scottish lilt emboldened with a few whiskeys)...
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