Musical interlude. Bon Scott, AC/DC and dying ruining your legacy
I've once again begun the lengthy process of listening to my extensive music collection this week, so I naturally began with AC/DC, who make up the begining bookend of my collection. In my time, I've owned five AC/DC albums: Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Blow Up Your Video, The Razor's Edge and AC/DC Live. BUYV and TRE were bought during my musical childhood and though both contain several great songs, neither are considered essential by anyone other than diehard fans. The Live album is essential inasmuch as the band has never come out with a proper greatest hits album. As a stopgap, it does the trick though the fact that Brian Johnson sings all the Bon Scott songs illustrates its key flaw.
Which brings me to my point of discussion, Bon Scott. The unfortunate thing about Mr. Scott (other than being dead and having a song written about him that was mistaken for a pro-suicide song) is that he is essentially irrelevant for both discussions of the band and music in general for anyone who is not a completist. This may seem harsh, but if you look at the empirical evidence, you will see that AC/DC didn't mean anything in the States until Scott died, was replaced by Brian Johnson and Back in Black was released. This isn't to say that the original version of the band did nothing of note: Dirty Deeds done Dirt Cheap, TNT and other Scott era songs are essential parts of the AC/DC catalog. And Highway to Hell is the second best album the band ever released. And therein lies the key problem.
Anyone who is serious about rock music has owned or owns a copy of Back in Black. This is not debateable: it is easily one of the top ten hard rock albums ever and consistently makes any and all lists of the best albums ever. It also reinvented the band from a down on its luck blues infused rock band to a no-nonsense good time rock band. Which is ironic since it's supposed to be a tribute to Scott. In the end, it's more a reinvention and less of tribute.
Scott doesn't have a similar acheivement, though many argue that Highway to Hell is as good if not better. These people are kidding themselves. Had Scott lived, the band would have remained a niche act and never ascended to the level it did. His death let Angus Young step into the spotlight and into pop culture iconography. As for him, he's still mourned by the band's loyal base, but largely forgotten otherwise. Death certainly was not kind-or profitable-for him. Maybe he should have talked to 2Pac.
Which brings me to my point of discussion, Bon Scott. The unfortunate thing about Mr. Scott (other than being dead and having a song written about him that was mistaken for a pro-suicide song) is that he is essentially irrelevant for both discussions of the band and music in general for anyone who is not a completist. This may seem harsh, but if you look at the empirical evidence, you will see that AC/DC didn't mean anything in the States until Scott died, was replaced by Brian Johnson and Back in Black was released. This isn't to say that the original version of the band did nothing of note: Dirty Deeds done Dirt Cheap, TNT and other Scott era songs are essential parts of the AC/DC catalog. And Highway to Hell is the second best album the band ever released. And therein lies the key problem.
Anyone who is serious about rock music has owned or owns a copy of Back in Black. This is not debateable: it is easily one of the top ten hard rock albums ever and consistently makes any and all lists of the best albums ever. It also reinvented the band from a down on its luck blues infused rock band to a no-nonsense good time rock band. Which is ironic since it's supposed to be a tribute to Scott. In the end, it's more a reinvention and less of tribute.
Scott doesn't have a similar acheivement, though many argue that Highway to Hell is as good if not better. These people are kidding themselves. Had Scott lived, the band would have remained a niche act and never ascended to the level it did. His death let Angus Young step into the spotlight and into pop culture iconography. As for him, he's still mourned by the band's loyal base, but largely forgotten otherwise. Death certainly was not kind-or profitable-for him. Maybe he should have talked to 2Pac.
posted by Mike at 2:04 PM
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