Rock Warrior – Highway To Hell
This month’s pick
Highway to Hell is the last AC/DC album recorded with lead vocalist Bon Scott before his death on February 19, 1980. The album featured such songs as “Highway to Hell”, “Touch Too Much”, “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” and “Shot Down in Flames” which have become fan favorites and regular songs in their setlist during their live shows.
Highway to Hell became AC/DC’s first album to break the U.S. top 100, eventually reaching No. 17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts. With Highway to Hell reaching No. 17 in the U.S. market this would be the first solid success that AC/DC would achieve in the U.S.
Highway to Hell was the first AC/DC album not produced by Harry Vanda and George Young. Pre-production of the album began in January 1979 with demos cut at Albert Studios in Sydney, Australia, where they met the intended producer, Eddie Kramer. Kramer was fired before a single track had been completed, and Robert John “Mutt” Lange was brought in to replace him. The change proved to be fortuitous, and the album was the band’s biggest yet. Lange would go on to produce the band’s next two albums and biggest sellers, Back in Black and For Those About to Rock We Salute You. The album was recorded during sessions in February 1979 at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, and March–April at Roundhouse Studios in London, England.
In Australia, Highway to Hell was released with a slightly different album cover, featuring flames and a drawing of a bass guitar neck superimposed over the same group photo used on the international cover. Also, the AC/DC logo is a darker shade of maroon, but the accents are a bit lighter. Additionally, the East German release had different and much plainer designs on the front and back, apparently because the authorities were not happy with the sleeve as released elsewhere.
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