I referred to what was posted before in another post. It's internet rumor, innuendo, and idle speculation, OR "he said, he said" promoted by folks who have a vested interest (selling books, website etc.) for it to be true. You come up with any real evidence or proof and I'll look at it. Until then, this is just stuff, to be polite, that you, and others, want to be true - nothing more. You may also want to explore a bit more how AC/DC goes about recording their albums too. We're not talking Axl Rose and Chinese Democracy with these guys. You new guys also seem to fixate solely on the lyrics as if that's what made BiB the album it is. Well, there's a wee bit more to it than that - there's the riffs, the sound, the actual music. Those power chords, the solos, the drums, and the stellar Mutt Lange production, along with the exceptional mastering on the LP's and early CD's. It's a stew fellas, and a damn tasty one at that. As far as them not being able to recapture or match what they did on BiB. Are u serious? Most bands NEVER achieve that level of success with an album, let alone doing it twice. We're talking about one of the greatest hard rock records of all time and the estimated 2nd biggest selling record OF ALL TIME. That AC/DC could never match it's success is somehow proof that Bon must have wrote it is simply laughable.
Not to be to flip here, but we're talkin' 'bout AC freakin' DC! What do you think they were gonna do, come out with an album with lyrics that didn't cover such fertile ground as chicks, cars, raisin' hell, drinking, rock n' roll and EVERYTHING they've sang about on every single record they've ever made? Call the academics? Seriously...
This mythological "drop off" after BIB is also grossly overstated. The what, 3!!!!! albums between For Those and Razor's Edge weren't massive sellers, yeah, but that doesn't mean much in the long run and there are many fans who swear by Flick Of The Switch and (to a lesser extent) Fly On The Wall. Even Blow Up Your Video has it's hardcore defenders.
Let's not forget the *****-puns, which pretty much started with Brian. Bon had already covered testicle puns. ;p
Well if I have achieved anything, it is to have reurected the debate on the ubject If you read my earlier post there is the theory it was originally titled Back in the Black. Apparently it was in an issue of the Australian edition of the Rolling stone and I have given you a link to the transcript. I have had a look online for back issues but no joy. Until we have an actual hard copy.........
You really think a lot of ACDC fans rate those albums? The only album I have of those three is Flick, a couple of good tracks , that's about it. Here is the set list for Manchester in June , AC/DC Setlist at Etihad Stadium, Manchester » Rock or Bust Shoot to Thrill Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be Back in Black Got some rock and roll thunder Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Rock and Roll damnation Thunderstruck High Voltage Rock ‘n’ Roll Train Hells Bells Give the dog a bone. If you want blood Sin City You shook me Shot Down in Flames Have a Drink on Me T.N.T. Whole Lotta Rosie Let There Be Rock (With Angus Young Guitar Solo) Encore: Highway to Hell Riff Raff For Those About to Rock (We Salute You More than half are credited to Bon Scott, who has been dead for 36 years. Another six could have been potentially by Bon, leaving four definitely by Brian. Four out of 23.
Well you argue that it is not absolute proof, which is true, but willing to accept that Brian Johnson came up with the lyrics to BIB in less than six weeks, a feat he has not achieved before or since and Brian's insinuation that he was visited by Bon's ghost. "Recapture what they did on BIB" , you tell me anything that has come close since? "promoted by folks who have a vested interest (selling books, website etc.) for it to be true. " Which is speculation on your part.
Further to the above how many tracks are from Flick of the switch, Danger and Blow up your video? The answer, none. Six tracks are from back in black , leaving four tracks chosen from the albums that came after BIB. Hardly a ringing endorsement to the evolution of the band. I also made a mistake on Brian's song writing credits, rock and roll train, rock or bust and rock and roll thunder are actually Young and Young. Which leaves Brian's official contribution of the BIB tracks and FATR. The bulk come from his apparent miraculous writing of BIB in six weeks.
Interesting thread OP. I do think that Bon had a significant hand in the lyrics to BIB, mainly because according to everything I've read, he was the type of artist who kept a notebook with him all the time and was constantly jotting down ideas for lyrics. I find it VERY hard to believe that he went totally dry for 12 months and left nothing behind. The question is, what happened to his 'missing' notes?
amazing.. we are to believe that AC/DC would go into the studio cut exactly 10 tracks each year and there was not one song idea/ sketch/ unfinished song/ demo tried out? so all those years with Bon Scott not one single idea leftover.. and every session they would start 100% from scratch.... OR they did have ideas/sketches/unfinished songs/ demos that they had tried out during the previous many years and album and at least a few of these may have been worked on, finalized and included on Back in Black
moreover lets look at IF you want blood... If You Want Blood You've Got It was released a mere six months after the band's previous studio album Powerage. (My note: October 1978) According to the 2006 book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, the album title was an extension of Bon's response to a journalist at the Day on the Green festival in July 1978 who asked what they could expect from the band and Scott replied, "Blood." The cover art is from a shoot done with Atlantic Records' staff photographer Jim Houghton before a show at Boston's Paradise Theater, the idea for which came from Atlantic's art director, Bob Defrin. BUT the song was recorded starting around March 1979 so NINE months AFTER the interview mention and: Recording commenced at the Roundhouse Studios in Chalk Farm, north London in March 1979. In his book Highway to Hell, Clinton Walker writes, "The band virtually moved into the Roundhouse Studios in Chalk Farm, spending the best part of three months there. That, to start with, was a shock to AC/DC, who had never previously spent more than three weeks on any one album. ... Sessions for the album—15 hours a day, day-in day-out, for over two months—were gruelling. Songs were worked and reworked." so what is my point? The idea for the song was germinating for a while... and they took a lot of time working and rearranging and reworking the album BUT we are to believe that for Back in Black which ALSO had Mutt and therefore there was carryover from Highway to Hell.. BUT we are to believe they started from scratch.. all new songs.. or at least no LYRICAL ideas at all carrying over.. no phrases attached to riffs they had been working of (if not actual lyrics sheets).. nothing.. or is it more likely there was carry over in some ideas.. some phrases at least if not outright lyrics for Back in Black from the really long grueling Highway to Hell sessions... I know what I think is far more likely... but the case is bolstered of course further by the fact that the lyrics on Back in Black in many many places to me sound like Bon.. I can easily imagine him singing..someone wrote Back in Black is far darker but I thought I saw darkness creep in on Highway to Hell.. but after Back in black to me the lyrics became far more childish and straightforward.... too straightforward to the point that they became a caricature..
You lack critical thinking. Those are not the only possibilities. In fact, the band is on record on how the writing and recording of BiB went down. Of course, that's not good enough for you and others, you'd prefer to invent your own versions of the truth.
Rolling Stones setlist from October The Rolling Stones Setlist at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas » exactly one song post-1981 McCartney setlist from October Paul McCartney Setlist at Desert Trip » two songs from this century, everything else from before 1974
Well for Rock Or Bust, Angus said pretty plainly that even though Malcolm wasn't involved with the band to write the songs because of his impending dementia, Angus was able to go back through the older things that he and Malcolm had been working on, old work tapes and so forth, and find things that had been overlooked. He and Malcolm also implied a similar thing a decade or so earlier in an interview from the time of the Ballbreaker album (paraphrasing the quote from memory here), that he and Malcolm sat around writing riffs, coming up with ideas, and THEN they sifted through the riffs they'd created, and only the very best ones got used.
I think you missed point. The inference was that, to quote " This mythological "drop off" after BIB is also grossly overstated." I think my response has put paid to that.
Yeah, I know they rate those albums highly. Go to any actual AC/DC fan message board. You'll likely be shocked.
So what you are saying is that what ever Angus and co, say that's the gospel truth and that's what actually happened? Your evidence is, it what they and their inner circle said was the case in recording BIB.
No you haven't. Bands at this stage of the game tend to play their biggest hits. How much stuff from Zooropa and Pop do U2 play these day? How much stuff from Its Hard or Face Dances do The Who play? AC/D.C heavily played Flick and Fly stuff on their respective tours until the new songs got phased out by newer songs. BIB is their biggest album ever and each gig is still a tribute to Bon in so many ways. And that's been their tradition.
I don't know Further, and his/her post is 3 years old, but it is interesting and kind of fun to note, that I heard almost the exact same story almost 25 years ago, practically verbatim, in a record store in Greenwich Village that I used to frequent and hang out in a lot in the late '80s and early '90s. In fact the person speaking was an employee of the store who was in those types of trader circles, and I know for a fact this employee was also an acquaintance of the Byrdman , aka Scorpio, one of the great collectors and unearthers of unreleased material. Not saying that Scorpio had this particular tape, but just to show that this guy was an employee/buyer/manager who definitely walked in those orbits. And here's me in the store, overhearing him telling another customer this exact same story, almost word for word -- not the whole thing like a completed album, but just a few rough songs from BiB with Bon Scott on vocals. Very interesting. (Especially to think I heard this rumor long before the internet). Again I am not saying I even believe it, or that I think or know it's true about this tape -- I would still be somewhat kinda surprised if this tape actually existed, to think that it's out there and hasn't leaked or seen daylight at some point before now....but who knows really. New things that have been hidden but known to exist in that high-level world of trading and hoarding, are still turning up all the time. And to repeat it again, I am undecided on this question and I don't think we'll ever know for sure the truth.
