AC/DC - If You Want Blood (You Got It)
Listen to an audio version of this review by Greg
I can remember first hearing AC/DC’s music when I was 10 or 11 years old. The Stephen King horror movie Maximum Overdrive had come out. Maximum Overdrive was a horribly produced, cheesy 80s horror movie (no offense Mr. King) but, I feel, with a superior soundtrack. The film tells a story about all machines, vehicles, trucks, cars, etc. coming to life and killing people. Every song in the movie and every song in the score was an AC/DC song. The soundtrack was titled, Who Made Who.
My introduction to AC/DC was with lead singer Brian Johnson, who replaced former lead singer, Bon Scott in 1980 after Scott died of alcohol poisoning. Prior to his death, the band had already begun working on their seventh studio album, Back in Black. One night, Bon was drinking heavily with his friend, Alistair Kinnear.
Later that evening, the two jumped into a car and drove back to Kinnear’s home in the London area. When they arrived at Kinnear’s home, Kinnear could not wake Bon. After several tries to wake him, he left Bon in the backseat overnight to sober up. Gigantic mistake.
The next morning Alistair Kinnear went out to this car and found Bon unresponsive. He took Bon to the nearest hospital where he was pronounced dead, having died by essentially choking on his own vomit. Minus the car ride, this is the same way Jimi Hendrix died 10 years earlier in September 1970.
Bon Scott was AC/DC’s singer during the performance and recording of this live album, but I had become mesmerized by his replacement, Brian Johnson’s vocal range. Later in 1980, Johnson would join the band and complete the recording of Back in Black and became the band’s permanent lead singer.
I admit I had trouble getting into Bon Scott when I first heard his voice. I think it was the song, Big Balls that I first heard. It was on the radio and thought it was a joke. And as an 8- or 9-year-old boy, hearing the lyrics, “I’ve got big balls, and they’re such big balls”, made me giggle like it would any kid that age, desperate to hear what were to many, considered bad words when you were a kid.
As you’re reading this, if you are an AC/DC fan, did you ever have a preference for Scott over Johnson?
I know for years there has been this Roth vs. Hagar argument among Van Halen fans, and I’m wondering if a similar dispute exists here.
So Bon Scott had to grow on me. I was not a fan at first listen. I felt Johnson had more range and more power to his voice. But when you play this album, If You Want Blood (You Got It), you can feel Bon’s influence and authority in his vocals.
Like it or not, AC/DC is power. Actually, power is an understatement. But power is the first word that comes to mind when I hear their music. Loud, fast, consistent drumming, not a huge number of difficult changes, consistent, thumping bass lines, and screeching vocals.
I realized years later that I did not fully appreciate Bon Scott and his singing style. But hearing this album for the first time in 2023 certainly changed that. To go back a little AC/DC you might know was originally formed by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young in 1973 in Sydney, Australia.
Originally from Scotland, the Young brothers moved to Australia in 1963 after their parents grew tired of the harsh Scottish winters. Beginning in their early teens, both boys picked up musical instruments and learned to play guitar. In 1973, they formed AC/DC, adding a bass player, drummer, and lead singer. Both Young brothers decided to play guitar.
The band name originated from their sister Margaret, who took it from letters she saw on an electric adaptor for a sewing machine. AC/DC is an abbreviation of the term “alternating current/direct current”, referring to the electricity of course. The Young brothers felt the name suited their music which they described as raw, energetic, and powerful.
The band would go on to write and record six albums before releasing a live recording of a show they played at The Apollo in Glasgow, Scotland on April 30, 1978. They tiled the live album, If You Want Blood (You Got It), which according to the 2006 book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, the album title was based on Bon Scott’s response to a reporter during a concert festival in July 1978. The reporter asked Bon what could the audience expect from the band’s performance that day. Bon replied, "Blood”.
I read a different story in Rolling Stone Magazine that the album title came from a show the band performed in Oakland, CA that same year called the Day on the Green Festival on July 23rd, 1978. There were 80,000 people present that day at the Oakland Coliseum to see Aerosmith, Foreigner, Pat Travers, Van Halen and AC/DC. AC/DC went on at 10:30 in the morning, and most of the band hadn’t even been to bed. A reporter asked Angus and Bon what kind of show it was going to be. Bon replied, “You remember when the Christians went to the lions? Well, we’re the Christians”. The reporter then asked Angus the same question to which he replied, “If they want blood they’re gonna get it”.
I was excited to learn the album cover for If You Want Blood (You Got It), came from a picture the band’s photographer took during a show at the famed Boston concert venue, The Paradise. I grew up going to The Paradise and have seen over 20 concerts there. Despite a few renovations, the Paradise Rock Club is essentially the same-looking club as it was when it first opened in September 1977.
The album opens with the track, Riff Raff, which includes the sounds of an amplifier buzzing and a raucous crowd eagerly awaiting a memorable live performance. As the rhythm kicks in, you know you’re listening to AC/DC. There is nothing but power. It’s fast, it’s bluesy, and has hints of metal. Bon Scott’s vocals come in and you’re off to the races. Don’t make the mistake of listening to this on your smartphone speaker. Like any live album, this must be turned up on headphones or through your stereo. Remember those? Stereos?
The sound quality of this album is first-class. The sound was engineered by a mastering engineer at Sterling Sound named UE Nastasi. Although the rhythm section is first class, it is clear the superpower in this band is lead guitarist Angus Young. We all know him from seeing him in his classic schoolboy outfit. I am willing to bet millions of non-AC/DC fans could identify him, or at least the band he played for when seeing a picture in his famous attire.
AC/DC has been, indeed a bucket list concert for me. I had missed too many shows throughout the 90s that came through Boston. But I finally jumped at the opportunity to see them on August 22, 2015, at Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play. I managed to just randomly get the 10th row. Complete luck. After looking at the setlist from that night, I suppose I did hear several songs from “If You Want Blood” and never knew it. But it was clear that night, at least to me, that although I had always admired Angus Young, his solo that night was amongst the best I’ve ever seen. And I left the show anointing him up towards the top of my list of greatest guitar players of all time, at least for rock.
As the live album progresses, tracks such as Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be the muscle continues. As a musician, the chord progression of this song and most AC/DC songs seem basic and rather simple to play. However, I know I could likely never write a song like this, nor any of their famous tracks.
The beat, the thunderous energy, and the tempo resume with Bad Boy Boogie and Problem Child. Angus Young’s guitar just gleams over the rhythm section, leaving you dumbfounded. It’s no wonder these guys shot to the top early in their careers. It was this guy who was leading the charge. Not to take away from the rest of the band, especially Bon Scott, but the dual guitars coming from the Young brothers were supercharged.
The Jack is a familiar song. One I’ve certainly heard before. A much slowed-down tempo that shows the listener the band can ease up a bit on the heavy, just for a moment, but the song never loses its grit, especially in the lyrics.
Back to the speed. Take a Muddy Waters song or a BB King classic, speed it up significantly and you get Whole Lotta Rosie. This is a track written by Scott inspired by a one-night stand he had with an “extremely experienced plus-size woman”.
Like most AC/DC tracks, this song follows a similar formula. You’re not going to see much Prog Rock in any AC/DC songs. The recipe is about the same, just loud, fast, and screeching, but with a bluesy background in almost every track – that can make anyone dance despite their musical preference.
I think it’s important not to forget tracks such as Rock n’ Roll Damnation and High Voltage.
High Voltage was the title of the band’s first album, released only in Australia in 1975. Interestingly enough (and I did not know this), the song High Voltage was not on the original debut release. It was the eighth track on their second album, T.N.T, and would be included again on the release of an international album a year later in 1976 titled High Voltage.
The song High Voltage is once again another great representation of the band’s energy. And the version on this live album is second to none, especially with, once again, Angus’ solo at the end of the song.
The completed footage of the “If You Want Blood” concert in Glasgow has never been released. Ultimately, footage recorded from a few songs such as Riff Raff and Bad Boy Boogie were used on AC/DC DVDs released in 2005 and 2007 respectively. I wonder if this footage is sitting in a warehouse in Australia somewhere, just waiting to be plucked and released in its entirety.
After listening to If You Want Blood, You Got It several times, it’s clear the reason it’s considered one of the best live albums of all time is the power that comes across in the instruments. The frenzied atmosphere that is the Glasgow crowd, was certainly captured and added to its fire. It is an album that documented the AC/DC live experience in all its glory.
The album was listed at #2 on Classic Rock Magazine's list of "50 Greatest Live Albums Ever". I read a great quote from Blender Magazine which is no longer in publication. A writer in Blender is quoted saying "AC/DC were always a mighty live act, and this is the sound of AC/DC in Europe just prior to 1979's U.S. breakthrough. The audience's hysteria regularly cuts through the amps, as they howl along to singer Bon Scott's tale of sexually transmitted disease ("The Jack") and punctuate guitarist Angus Young's staccato riffing on "Whole Lotta Rosie." Imagine a punk-rock Chuck Berry played at nosebleed volume”.
I am grateful that Rob Kassees from the Podcast, 1001 Album Complaints recommended this album to me. I hereby encourage all rock fans, ALL ROCK FANS to listen to this album. Hell, I’ll go as far as saying you should own a copy. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
