Back In Black notwithstanding, all of AC/DC's early records are pretty damn good, completely worthy in their own right. Their first two records, High Voltage (1974) and T.N.T. (1975), were released only in Australia; the best tracks from both albums were combined in 1976 as High Voltage (with a new cover) for the band's first release in the rest of the world. Critics hated it with an impressive unanimity, and AC/DC's next album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976), wasn't even released outside Australia. Still, Let There Be Rock (1977) received release worldwide with one added track ("Problem Child" from Dirty Deeds) and different cover art. It squeaked onto the Billboard album charts at #154 thanks to the band's relentless, riot-inducing touring.

Powerage (1978) was the band's first album to be released simultaneously in all markets, followed closely by the inevitable live document If You Want Blood (1978). Each record sold more than the previous, and with each one the band moved closer to the jet engine roar that would soon characterize their best work.

Dirty Deeds, by the way, was finally released worldwide in 1981, and it's an excellent place to start collecting if you are watching your pennies. Like its Aussie counterpart, this edition of Dirty Deeds contains a wealth of metallic treasures: the whimsical title track; Angus Young's emblematic "Problem Child"; "Big Balls" (insert smirking comment here); and the inexorable "Ride On," which foreshadowed the elephantine arrangements that characterize AC/DC's later work. The 1981 edition of Dirty Deeds also includes the otherwise non-LP 1977 single "Love At First Feel" and the anthemic "Rocker" from T.N.T. (An EP called '74 Jailbreak was cobbled together from High Voltage and Dirty Deeds leftovers in 1984.)

Bon Scott's masterwork and swan song, then, was 1979's Highway To Hell, which broke AC/DC into Billboard's Top 20. Featuring Scott's horny masterwork "The Girl's Got Rhythm," the foreboding, prescient "If You Want Blood (You Got It)," and the fist-raising title track (a minor hit single), Highway To Hell was a fierce, defiant statement from a man about to hit the wall. When he did (dead in 1980 at age 33 from massive alcohol abuse), AC/DC seemed done for. Happily, such was not the case, and the aforementioned Back In Black - itself a tribute to Scott - became an instant and lasting hard rock classic.

The band's new vocalist, Brian Johnson, didn't have the puckish personality of Bon Scott, but he possessed a truly amazing set of pipes capable of shredding melodies with pinpoint accuracy. Johnson's singing (more like white noise with words, really) combined with the studio acumen of producer Mutt Lange pushed AC/DC over the top into heavy metal Valhalla. Back In Black became the biggest hit the band would ever have, and it established a benchmark against which hard rock bands are measured to this day. But AC/DC would (very nearly) sustain such giddy heights for just one more record, the cataclysmic For Those About To Rock. As good as the album is, you can hear the inspiration turning into formula, and subsequent releases simply repeated the formula - with diminishing returns each time out of the gate. Of course the faithful will want 'em all, but as for me and my house, we'll to stick to the hard stuff: For Those About To Rock, and no further.

As of this writing, no AC/DC "greatest hits" package has ever been released (barring the half-hearted Who Made Who soundtrack). A well-chosen anthology or exhaustive boxed set would be altogether welcome. As long as we keep scooping up the albums, however, I suspect the band will be reticent to do comply. For now, I can only give a qualified recommendation to the Bon Scott tribute Bonfire; its four CD's (two live, one with outtakes, plus Back In Black) will appeal mainly to hardcore Scott acolytes. Rather, I recommend AC/DC's first seven American full-length, studio albums - all brilliantly remastered and smartly repackaged. Buy them, and I'll salute you.

Release Notes. As mentioned, AC/DC's first four albums were issued in their native Australia by Albert Records in versions that varied - sometimes dramatically - from the later American versions on Atlantic Records. The Oz editions had different tracks, or different covers, or both. One album, TNT, was never issued in the U.S. at all - though most tracks appeared in some form somewhere. Be aware that for American fans the Australian versions can be tough and expensive to track down. Visit Albert Records' website to learn more (and check out their 17-CD boxed set), but there's an easier solution: pick up Sony's superlative 2003 remasters of the U.S. albums, and stop worrying about it. [top of page]