AC/DC - Let There Be Rock review
| Band: | AC/DC |
| Album: | Let There Be Rock |
| Style: | Hard rock, Blues rock |
| Release date: | June 1977 |
01. Go Down
02. Dog Eat Dog
03. Let There Be Rock
04. Bad Boy Boogie
05. Problem Child
06. Overdose
07. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
08. Whole Lotta Rosie
Two (international) albums in and already blazing a trail across the rock genre, AC/DC offer up their most savage album yet in Let There Be Rock, turning up the power and going into full-on attack mode.
The band crafted this album to be their answer to the then-emerging punk rock scene; Let There Be Rock is more garage rock than punk rock, turning the guitars up to the max and allowing the volume to distort the sound. If the band felt threatened by punk, then they reply by wielding their guitars like clubs and smashing the listener over the head with them. If you are a fan of clean and precise music, then Let There Be Rock isn't for you; it revels in its primal sound that serves to drive much of the songs.
The guitar-centric focus on the album results in one hell of a classic album; it's easier to name the songs that aren't pure gold than the ones that are - how many albums can you say that about? "Go Down" and "Dog Eat Dog" are far from bad songs, but considering what follows them, you mostly forget that they are there, for you are so absorbed by the rest of the album.
Does that make the other members of the band not holding a six-string redundant? No, they perform admirably but are relegated to supporting roles for the most part (except for Bon), which explains why their contribution to the album is oft neglected. Rudd holds down a solid beat while Evans signs off his tenure with the band on a high. Bon is much his usual self, finding a place up front and humanizing the razor guitar assault with his charm.
The guitar clinic of the title track, the swagger of "Bad Boy Boogie", the straight up rocker of "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be" and the ode to larger women in "Whole Lotta Rosie" alongside "Problem Child" and "Overdose" mean there is more meat than fat on this record (sorry Rosie). When you consider the sheer volume of hits on this album alone you get a good reason why a proper greatest hits album from the band hasn't been released; it would run several disks long.
Amongst the sheer number of classics produced by the band, Let There Be Rock deserves to be in the running for the one of the top albums; hell, for many bands this would be their magnum opus with next to no second thoughts. A diamond among diamonds, Let There Be Rock makes a great case for the continued existence for such music.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by omne metallum | 30.05.2020
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 4
Visited by: 21 users
| UPDIRNS Posts: 354 |
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| Joppe Steelemeister Posts: 3304  |
Well, with AC/DC it's difficult to agree on which is best, which is worst, and what is between, everybody is saying different album for every position... I wrote in album comments that this is probably worst Bon album and it still feels like so, I used to listen to If You Want Blood live instead. So I won't rate it so high; I like title song and Whole lotta Rosie, but in overall the album doesn't sound like strongest AC/DC 
---- My vision is augmented
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| omne metallum Contributor Posts: 474  |
Written by UPDIRNS on 31.05.2020 at 16:11 When I look at the tracklisting I'd agree with you, but once the album is playing its quality shines through
---- Just because I'm not listening doesn't mean I don't care
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| JoHn Doe Posts: 4884  |
I've played this album a lot some years ago. Not my go to album when I want to hear Bon Scott. Powerage does that for me. I'd rather even listen to DDDDC before LTBR. Good album, but 9 is a bit too high.
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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