Maps of Music

Highway to Hell (1979)

Where the lyrics of Highway to Hell take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title track was almost never released under that name: Atlantic Records opposed using the song as the album title from the outset.

Key places

Recording at the Roundhouse (1979)

Recording site Roundhouse (London) — Recording of the album began at the Roundhouse Recording Studios in Chalk Farm, north London, on 24 March 1979 and ended on 14 April. The band worked long daily sessions here under producer Lange. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing at Basing Street (1979)

Recording site Sarm West Studios — The album was mixed at Basing Street Studios in London, as listed in the album's personnel credits. The mixing stage came after the recording sessions at the Roundhouse. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC
• Released 27 July 1979 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records
• First of three albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange
• Last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died on 19 February 1980

Background

• By 1978 the band had five international albums and had toured Australia and Europe extensively
• Since the 1975 debut High Voltage, every AC/DC album had been produced by George Young and Harry Vanda
• Atlantic's American branch had rejected the 1976 LP Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
• The label wanted a producer who could give the band a radio-friendly sound
• The band, especially the Young brothers, was not enthusiastic about an outside producer
• Atlantic first paired the band with Eddie Kramer at Criteria Studios in Miami, but they did not get on
• Manager Michael Browning then turned to Lange, and the band also changed management, hiring Peter Mensch

Recording

• Recording began at Roundhouse Recording Studios in Chalk Farm, north London, on 24 March 1979
• Recording ended on 14 April 1979
• The band worked fifteen hours a day, usually for days on end
• Lange refined vocals, guitar and drums, and taught Angus Young to play his solos while sitting next to him
• Mixing was done at Basing Street Studios, London

Cover

• The Australian edition used a different cover, with flames and a bass guitar neck over the same band photo as the international cover
• The East German release had much plainer front and back designs
• Art direction by Bob Defrin, photography by Jim Houghton

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in November 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young.
• The band name comes from the AC/DC symbol on the adapter of their sister Margaret's sewing machine.
• Their music has been described as hard rock, blues rock and heavy metal, though the band calls itself simply a rock and roll band.
• Their early sound was rooted in Australian pub rock.

Members

• Angus Young (lead guitar) and Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar) were the founding core of the band until Malcolm retired in 2014.
• Bon Scott was lead vocalist until his death in February 1980.
• Brian Johnson became lead vocalist in 1980.
• Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and Stevie Young have also played key roles.

Career

• Their 1980 album Back in Black became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• The band has sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide.
• They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Greg Kot wrote that the songs were more compact and the choruses were fattened by rugby-team harmonies
• Kot named the closing moment of Shot Down in Flames, where Scott ends with a cackle, as the album's prize moment
• In a 2008 Rolling Stone cover story, David Fricke noted that Lange sculpted AC/DC's rough-granite rock into chart-smart boogie on this album

Reappraisal

• The album is generally considered one of the greatest hard rock albums ever made
• AllMusic called the title track one of hard rock's all-time anthems
• Ranked number 199 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; number 200 on the 2012 revised list
• The 2010 book The 100 Best Australian Albums placed it in the top 50, with Back in Black at No. 2

Records

• First AC/DC LP to break the top 100 of the US Billboard 200, eventually reaching number 17
• Propelled the band into the top ranks of hard rock acts
• Second-highest selling AC/DC album, behind Back in Black
• Certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA on 8 July 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Atlantic Records opposed using the title track as the album title, and Angus said the name is meant to depict the touring experience
• Angus said the song Love Hungry Man was written after a night of bad pizza
• A cassette of the initial intro and beat was damaged by a child in the studio, and Bon Scott later repaired it for further use
• The final version of Touch Too Much was performed on Top of the Pops a few days before Scott's death in 1980
• In 2013, fans launched a Facebook campaign to make the title track a UK Christmas number one; it raised funds for Feel Yourself, a testicular cancer-awareness charity
• Journalist Phil Sutcliffe described the opening riff of Beating Around the Bush as almost a tribute to Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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