A band I've loved non-stop since the age of 13. They can't go out of fashion, because they're utterly timeless. Christ, they're brilliant.

AC/DC were to give a seperate release of the vinyl rarities album that comes with their collector's box set I'd drop everything I'm doing to go get a copy.

I love love love this band. They were incredible when I saw them live January 2009. I watch my dvds of Family Jewels, Plug Me In and Donnington on a regular basis.

They are pure and simple. No unecessary frils, no noodling, just straight ahead rockular heaven.

In the beginning, about 1955 their seed was sown....Let There Be Rock...

only 662 to go.

double entendres do they fit into the opening sequence!!

That even Glee have to cover them

This was always the track I played most when If You want Blood You've Got It came out. I had no idea that it had been filmed in the old Glasgow Apollo and would eventually be available on DVD when Family Jewels came out. I've since watched it a thousand times and have even pasted it onto my facebook account, so I know its there. The riffing from Angus and Malcolm is tremendous and the rhythm section is tighter than a nun's chuff. Of course, only Bon could get away with wearing a sweatshirt while fronting a heavy rockn'roll band.

of music that includes...JUST THEM!

I fucking adore AC/DC!

a) smut
or
b) a simple story of running a Dance Hall?

is a great album, but not when you are driving your Mother to the shops

But aren't they terrible shite?

Retrograde, sexist, numb skulled nonsense aimed at halfwitted 14 year old virgins. Music reduced to its component parts, barre chord after barre chord with a gallumphing 4/4 rythm in every song. It's just shite. The modern equivalent of beating two stones together.

No nuance, no wit, no poetry, no harmony, no subtlety, no humour. Just duh-duh-duh-duh duh-duh for ever.

And lets have an AC/DC song title competition:

Ram It Up
Leaky Balls
Rock n Roll Is Great
She Was Fat
I'm a Rock n Rollin Virgin
Elite was a Dissapointment

In conclusion; shite.

Is the new ACDC album just a soundtrack to Iron Man 2 or are there some new songs on it? I only own one ACDC album on tape, "Back In Black". Must buy some more, I've only seen an ACDC tribute band, they were great but I imagine the real thing live is just fantastic.

has any band sold more t-shirts than AC/DC?

And Powerage is their best album I think, especially in the original UK vinyl configuration, which was:

Side One
Gimme A Bullet
Downpayment Blues
Gone Shootin
Riff Raff

Side Two
Sin City
Up To My Neck In You
What's Next To The Moon
Cold-hearted Man
Kicked In The Teeth

I saw them a couple of months ago (having not seem them since the Bon Scott era) and they were just fantastic entertainment. And don't underestimate the importance of the backline. It's Malcolm, Cliff and the much-underrated Phil Rudd, who provide the swagger that make AC/DC more than just meat and potatoes rock and roll.

This is probably my all-time favourite, from Powerage

...the greatest rock n roll lyrics in history:

I'm a rocker
I'm a roller
I'm a right out of controller
I'm a wheeler
I'm a dealer
I'm a wicked woman stealer
I'm a bruiser
I'm a cruiser
I'm a rockin' rollin' man

Got slicked black hair
Skin tight jeans
Cadillac car
And a teenage dream

I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rockin' rollin' man

Got lorex socks
Blue suede shoes
V8 car
And tattoos

I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rockin' rollin' man

I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rockin' rollin' man

I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, I'm an interior designer
I'm a rocker, I'm a basque-wearin' certified accountant
I added those two bits to make sure you were paying attention
I'm a rockin' rollin', rockin rollin man, hey

Wanna jive honey?
C'mon, spin you 'round, hey yeah

Yeah I'm a rocker, I'm a roller
I'm a rocker, makin' you roll

"Retrograde, sexist, numb skulled nonsense aimed at halfwitted 14 year old virgins. Music reduced to its component parts, barre chord after barre chord with a gallumphing 4/4 rythm in every song. It's just shite. The modern equivalent of beating two stones together."
That'll be Rock n' Roll then.
(But if you think that's all they are..cop this..

....but a little too one dimensional.

Let's face it, you really only need 'Back in Black' and one Bon Scott era album (my choice - TNT) to have as much AC DC as anyone would ever really want.

Once you've got 2 albums, you've covered all the bases, haven't you?

And anyone who doesn't hear the subtlety & nuance in this has cloth ears.

..is that, if what AC/DC did was as mindless as they attest, why can't more people actually DO it?
It's because like all great rock bands, they actually swing.

My god - are they still going?
First band I ever saw - back in '75 I think. I'd never heard of them. Pretty basic four square rock band. Very young - one of them was still at school iirc. Can't wait to hear the stuff they're doing these days.

I got to see them at the 'intimate' gig they did at Hammersmith as a thank you to fans - 10 quid ticket that went to charity.
No lights, no set list, quick sound check.

Astonishing.

in 96 (I think) I became an immediate convert. I hadn't realized they were as much a dance band as a metal band. The rhythm section blew me away.

A lengthy love in on the Word message board regarding a geriatric rock band illustrated with a clip from Top Gear.

Are we not in danger of lurching into self parody here?

Would love to have been there:

at the Birmingham Odeon back in the early 1980's on the 'For those about to rock tour.....' After a couple of songs, it became quite predictable - they do it to a formula and I became bored. Still enjoy 'Back in back' and small doses - but no more than that....

what's your favourite obscure AC/DC tracks ie the ones that never get airplay on rock radio (well hardly ever) and they never perform live anymore? Mine are

There's gonna be some rocking (from Dirty Deeds...)
Go Down (from Let There Be Rock)
Down Payment Blues (from Powerage)
Walk all over you (from Highway to Hell)
Have a drink on me (from Back in Black)
Lets get it up (from For Those About to Rock...)
Flick of the Switch
Who Made Who
Big Gun (from the Armageddon Soundtrack - see video below)
Heatseeker (from Blow up your video)
Money Talks (from Razors Edge)
Burnin Alive (from Ballbreaker)

Sure it was a Sounds sponsored affair with tickets at 60p. I spent most of the show with a record company rep, drinking the band's beer and witnessing a snot roadie coming to the rescue of Angus so he could go back on stage.

Is there a definitive tour list on t'interweb anywhere so I can confirm it was not just a dream?

I recently started going out running with a (very old) iPod shuffle for company. Despite being a fully paid up Decembrists/Go Betweens/Laura Marling fan, if you're running it's Rage against the MAchine, Gang of Four and the DC for me...

BUT If 'Stuck between Stations' by the Hold Steady doesn't get you through the 5 k mark, you shouldn't be out there....

Velvet Schoolboy outfit,perfect summer attire.

This is slow hard rock,a bit plodding, the Ramones were much better,much funnier, much faster

..that The Ramones were faster and funnier, but not better.
Aside from the fact that it's a spurious comparison (AC/DC are much more from the Little Richard/Who/Stones stream..The Ramones tried to play bubblegum music, and it was their failure to do so that gave them their charm) AC/DC would have blown the New Yorkers into Brooklyn if they'd ever dared share a stage with them..sorry, that makes them a better band.

...faux-objective evaluations?

The Ramones and AC/DC are both great. If people don't like AC/DC, I'd respectfully suggest that this ain't the right thread. Turning up purely to piss on other people's chips is a bit off, IMO.

I've come to this discussion late but am definitely a fan. If you need any further proof of the brilliance of the DC rhythm section, look no further. I love it when the camera goes to Phil Rudd, simple yet perfect. My favourite ever AC/DC song.

so what the hell, better put some more Powerage up here

Let's face it, so much received music press wisdom is lazy and lousy; classic rock is demonstrably better than indie strummers or whatever the NME's next big thing has been since about 1980; the good bits of punk were the bits that were closer to hard rock and post-punk was better; the Police made better 'reggae' than The Clash (a lumpen early 'record collection act' if there ever was one); black music has lost it's direction since landfill rap has emerged; most Americana and alt-folk is liked by the same sad bores who liked country rock in the 70s [and if that's hurting the compiler of the Word cover-disc, it's harsh but true); and snide criques of progressive rock signify somebody with no genuine critical analysis. Oh, and The Fall - Mark E Smith's great and a funny, clever guy, but the music is excrable; give the man a newspaper column and a radio interview show so he can be paid for what he's good at.

AC/DC - great stuff. Keep upsetting the right people and giving pleasure to the majority.

At an inter-school disco in the early 80's, loads of the 15-17 year old lads turned up with black arm bands on. Once everyone was nicely warmed up on a diet of warm smuggled in vodka, Chic and Donna Summer, the DJ put an AC/DC track on and all the lads got up in a giant circle and head banged in homage to the great Bon Scott. After it was over there was a minute's silence, accompanied by a few man hugs, some sniffing, and quite a lot of embarrassed foot shuffling. It was unexpectadly touching to see these inarticulate spotty lumps of adolescence respond like that. And quite a few of the lads got some extra 'attention' during the slow last dance from the girls as a result.

Today at just after 2:30 I was in the car coming back from the dentist when 'Back in Black' came on Radio 1. AC/DC are number 1 in the album charts. The 12 year old was air drumming like, well, like a 12 year old with minimal technique does, and we were all grinning like loons.

Sometimes it's about more than just the music...

in the album chart, Iron Man 2 is sure to be a huge success and Andrew Harrison loved the first movie. Surely this shows that Angus and the boys merit a Word cover and feature?!

I can't listen to anything with Brian Johnston on it. Horrible voice - and not in a good way. Bon Scott was great. I used to like High Voltage and Highway To Hell. They were certainly playing the blues, eg on The Jack ("Poker face was her name, poker face was her nature" indeed).

Am a huge DC fan and was also lucky enough to see them at the Hammersmith Apollo gig, have seem them 4 times now and have never seen them (or heard of them)doing Touch Too Much live.
As it's possibly my favourite track by them and one of the biggest chart successes does anybody know why this is?

AkkerDakker's chart stats.

http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=2957

Low initial interest in the Bon Scott days; BIB hits #1 then a gradual trundle until a sudden huge upsurge in interest in recent years. I wonder if stats on the back-catalogue sales are available? I know BIB has now shifted absolute shitloads. They are now, pretty unarguably, the biggest band in the World with a popularity which was, at one time, confined to spotty adolescent boys now transformed into one which crosses ages and genders. I saw them at Wembley last summer and you couldn't charicterise the fanbase at all. Apart from the fact that they all liked a bit of down 'n' dirty rock 'n' roll.

8 million copies sold but not available on itunes? 'Buy the whole album or fuck off!'

An old school level of success we wont see the like of again.

Keith Richards had an AC/DC track down as one of his Desert Island discs - he absolutely loved them. Can't remember which one - maybe Riff-Raff?

Also, in a Podcast Passim, Mr. H mentioned that he had never knowingly heard an AC/DC song. What's his view after this thread?

They formed in 1973.
Surely that was the time, if you hadn't done so already to make your 'last' album not your first.
Springsteen, Queen, Roxy Music, New York Dolls.....oh dear, oh dear.
They were certainly in ho-hum company but I accept that AC/DC have more about them that any in that list.

I'll stop winding you up.....
Seriously, Angus Young's brother was in a much, much better group.....The Easybeats.
Legend has it that Paul McCartney (he invented heavy metal, you know) liked a song of theirs ('Good Times' with Steve Marriott on backing vocals) so much when he heard it on U.S. radio, that he stopped his car, rang the local radio station and got them to play it again.....now that out beats AC/DC surely?
And it was 1968.

Still wasn't a hit though.

Whenever someone says the 'DC always sound the same, i think back to this review of 'Stiff Upper Lip'

http://www.nme.com/reviews/acdc/1911

Would I be correct in thinking that they are the only band never to have released any compilation, Best Of, Essential etc?

AC/DC were amongst the support for The Who at Wembley Stadium in 1979. The PA system failed during their set but apparently AC/DC didn't notice so they kept on going while no one could hear them. The sight of these Aussie muppets rocking away in silence was quite amusing.
I've never liked AC/DC very much but there's room for all sorts in what we call Rock n Roll so I don't mind if other people think they're wonderful. It's optional. But I think you'd have to admit that they are a one trick pony - they have only ever done one thing (over and over). So, to me, it gets a bit tedious after a while. And Brian Johnston's voice is awful; he could only have survived as a singer in a band like AC/DC where few technical demands are made of him. It is kind of creepy that a middle-aged balding man still dresses up as a schoolboy, but then again a lot of creepy things go on in Rock n Roll. Best not to take it too seriously, eh?

How many other musicians can we think of from Bon Scott's era who have tattoos? It struck me this morning that it would have been a very unusual thing to see in the late 1970s. Now of course any old twerp has them.

..and some geezers that make them look young.

still got to give this one an airing. Classic Bon Scott era and a great camera angle behind Phil Rudd

tea, or pint of whisky or whatever, but they always, always make me smile. My favourite band by a country mile. I really struggle to think of any rock albums greater than Highway To Hell or Back In Black.

While I can be painfully aware of PC sensitivities, this mob is just so juvenile about it, it doesn't seem to cross the line, and the stories are all about willing participants as far as I can tell, 'specially Rosie. (EDIT) Night Prowler is probably not though.

Anyway, the FPO and I share a scarily large proportion of musical tastes (one of the first things that attracted me), but she cannot abide AC/DC at all, almost to the point of violence. The minimum will be raised voices in the car if any comes on the MP3 player. She's also none too impressed that the 10 year old has a 'heavy' playlist on his iPod and can spot AC/DC tunes in a bar or two. Not that I take him into bars of course.

and they're Australian. Enough said.

Thank you and good night

..is judging people from where they're from and on-going trait with you?
(For your intolerant records, there are 2 Scotsmen, two Brits and one Australian in the band.)

For some reason (probably sheer blind prejudice) they'd always passed me by too - never considered heavy metal as being my thing - and that's where I'd mentally filed them before reading this thread. Downloaded BIB and Powerage and I suspect there's more to follow. Thrilling stuff.