Would anyone be interested? If so .... I only have the American releases, so .... HIGH VOLTAGE (1976) Killer album. Great riffs, great playing, great lyrics and featuring one of the most dangerously charismatic lead singers who just oozes personality and both good humor and genuine menace. The album kicks off with what is perhaps one of rocks most definitive statements of purpose, Its A Long Way To The Top (If you wanna rock n roll) ... Never have bagpipes sounded so cool!
I'm Scottish so I take great offence at this You are right, it is one of their greatest tracks. Great, great album all told. I love that sound of their early albums - the sheer adrenaline and hunger in the guitar sound. Razor sharp.
The Jack, Live Wire, High Voltage, TNT. Just classic kick ass songs. Love them. I have a first US press vinyl that sounds great I like It´s a long way to the top but not a big fan of the bagpipes . Love the album cover, but hate the alternative cover with the pink and blue.
I'll stick around for the Bon Scott years. "The Jack" and "She's Got Balls" are juvenile throwaways, but "The Jack" is a fun finger stretcher on the guitar (played like the official guitar tablature anyway). It's A Long Way, High Voltage, Rock n Roll Singer, and T.N.T. all deserve a place in the pantheon of killer AC/DC songs. Overall, a very good album. They were a very influential band for me when I became a teenager and I still love many of those songs.
High Voltage is a stellar US debut. “It’s a Long Way to the Top” does have ripping bagpipes! The Cult picked the right album to lift from for Electric.
Ha, I'd feel remiss if I didn't post here. High Voltage is obviously a great album, and for a debut, no less! As a guitar player, the guitar tones are great, and it's amazing how much it rocks with such a dry distortion on the amps - proves that you don't need tons of gain to rock hard. I remember leaving my Dad a voicemail of me playing the intro to "The Jack" (I figured I'd be able to get a good answer out of him since it was BLUES) to tell him "I want my guitar to sound like THIS - what do I need?" The answer was a distortion pedal (had one a week later. Ha!) PLUS - along with the title cut, The Jack, Live Wire and TNT are staples of the band to this day.
Exciting album. A must have obviously. "It's A Long Way To The Top" is such a perfect song for this band. A hard rock Aussie band just showed up and kicked in my front door and announced "were here!"
Speaking as an Australian, the Australian versions of the album are canon (pun intended) and the original TNT is essential, even with its idiosyncratic moments, such as the re-recording of Can I Sit Next To You Girl and the cover of School Days. Like the original UK Beatles albums, the Australian High Voltage and TNT are a product of their time and need to be listened to in their original form.
I got the UK version originally with the tatted elbow sleeve, obviously this is a compilation of the first two Oz albums with a killer tracklisting and some classics that remain in the set today. Loads and d proud with a kick like a big red roo!
Sorry, bud. I was a little off my rocker last night. U2 thread still might happen and I'd be more than happy to participate in your thread if you decide to do it.
Yes Indeed. Could we kindly request OP to include the Aussie originals perhaps simultaneously, so we can talk about them in context. I have a feeling that for many downunder SHF members over a certain age (and younger even), these first three albums as we know them, High Voltage, TNT and Dirty Deeds are part of our DNA. From Let There Be Rock on, the albums tend to shore up with UK and Europe at least. Cutting off the 'canon' albums from the Bon years to US releases alone might alienate many here from Oz and Europe from contributing as deeply as we'd probably like to such a great and overdue idea for a thread.
Thank you, I'm sure many will appreciate if we could interject them during the early parts of the thread. I could start with the original Aussie High Voltage. This will be the start of the journey for any Aussies who were around in '74/75. Although I'm sure some here would go even earlier back to the Dave Evan's version of the band. My first memories are seeing the classic Bon/Angus schoolgirl-schoolboy pantomime performance of Baby Please Don't Go on our local TV pop show Countdown. That was when AcDc as we know it first emerged out of the pubs into our living rooms. Angus was doing the tap ons for us live on TV a few years before Van Halen This is our High Voltage... notice the dog urinating on the electricity power box Track list, 1. "Baby, Please Don't Go" 4:50 2. "She's Got Balls" 4:52 3. "Little Lover" 5:40 4. "Stick Around" 4:39 Side two 1. "Soul Stripper" 6:25 2. "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" 3:31 3. "Love Song" 5:14 4. "Show Business"
As a life-long AC/DC fan, I have never gotten the "imports" in the US. I've always seen the ones my uncle has, but never tracked them down. Next record show, I'm on a mission.
High Voltage is a fantastic album. I'm most familiar with the European track list by far, but I do have an Aussie Albert original track list version too. In the late 80s, in my early teens, the 45 of It's A Long Way To The Top / Can I Sit Next To You Girl? was one of my most played records. I didn't have the LP then. It's A Long Way is still one of my favourite few AC/DC tracks. Malcolm sounds amazing on it.
I discovered AC/DC in 1981 when Dirty Deeds was reissued. Not sure how I first heard it, but Big Balls was the greatest song ever to an 8 year old! I was an instant fan and my friend’s metal head brother lent me the album along with Back & Black, For Those About To Rock, and the US issue of High Voltage. Loved them all. I still have that copy of Dirty Deeds, btw
I heard them a lot growing up. My Dad has always liked them. He gave me the single of Rock 'n' Roll Damnation / Sin City, which I still have, when I was very young and almost certainly bought me It's A Long Way aswell. The two albums I had as a kid were If You Want Blood and For Those About To Rock. I played them both a lot. We also had a lot of ZZ Top. Dirty Deeds is top notch AC/DC.
I think the first AC/DC song I ever heard was “Shot Down in Flames” on the radio. First album I bought was Highway to Hell. As to High Voltage, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the whole thing.