For the glory of Bon Scott-era AC/DC

[Fuzzcharger]

I'm generally the first person to scream "cornball" or "cheesy", but I don't see that in early AC/DC.

Me either.

There's a real honesty and working class grit to the music that doesn't leave any room for bullshit. I think Bons irreverent sense of humour is important in distinguishing them from every other blues based rock n boogie band of their era.

[Kevin Davis]

I'll admit I don't have much interest in AC/DC, so maybe there's a complexity to their music that I just don't pick up on from my cursory understanding of their catalog. That said, pretty much every single one of those songs (and especially the videos) linked to above is, to me, the absolute epitome of everything that was tacky and corny about hard rock in the '70's and '80's, working class authenticity or not. It's not inherently bad--there's far better music than this that's way, way cheesier--but if you don't see a bunch of dudes cruising around town on a flatbed with their band name on it in big gaudy letters as cheesy, then we must be interpreting the term differently.

[Kevin Davis]

Also, Angus Young really looks like Kirk Cameron for most of the "Let There Be Rock" video.

[nyquillyn]

But if you don't see a bunch of dudes cruising around town on a flatbed with their band name on it in big gaudy letters as cheesy, then we must be interpreting the term differently.

I don't see it as any cheesier than The Beatles or U2 on the top of a building or the Sex Pistols on a boat.

[Kevin Davis]

It isn't. What's your point?

[Norah]

Team Kevin Davis.

[Birds in Hell]

But if you don't see a bunch of dudes cruising around town on a flatbed with their band name on it in big gaudy letters as cheesy, then we must be interpreting the term differently.

I don't see it as any cheesier than The Beatles or U2 on the top of a building or the Sex Pistols on a boat.

It's a lot less cheesy than any of those!

They're cruising around Melbourne on the back of a truck playing raucous rock n' roll (with bagpipes).

Loose, visceral and just plain fun.

[darth_vedder]

KD is kinda coming off as ass in this thread.

Yeah, those videos are insanely cheesy. Then again, most videos are. They guys were trying to make it and made bad videos to help get their sound out. In a way it's more juvenile than flat out cheesy (the pick-up truck one).

Early AC/DC is honest, raw, and powerful hard rock. It's also fun.

Why can't you like both jazz and AC/DC? I mean, I pretty much listen to a wide range, and some of that includes cheese rock like Van Halen, Motley Crue and AC/DC. I also like arty shit like the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth.

[nyquillyn]

It isn't. What's your point?

Thanks.

[Birds in Hell]

KD is kinda coming off as ass in this thread.

Nah, he's alright.

In a way it's more juvenile than flat out cheesy (the pick-up truck one).

AC/DC juvenile? Huh, well, now you mention it...

[Kevin Davis]

KD is kinda coming off as ass in this thread.

Yeah, those videos are insanely cheesy. Then again, most videos are. They guys were trying to make it and made bad videos to help get their sound out. In a way it's more juvenile than flat out cheesy (the pick-up truck one).

Early AC/DC is honest, raw, and powerful hard rock. It's also fun.

Why can't you like both jazz and AC/DC? I mean, I pretty much listen to a wide range, and some of that includes cheese rock like Van Halen, Motley Crue and AC/DC. I also like arty shit like the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth.

Hey, don't let my pretentious fondness for jazz mislead you, my friend. I have Def Leppard's Greatest Hits. I have the last three Taylor Swift albums. I have a collection of KISS hits remixed in 1978 to sound less like rock and roll and more like disco. I have every U2 album from "War" onward. Not only do I have a 4CD box set of Bruce Springsteen rarities, I actually made it a point to buy, in addition, the 1CD redux version of said box set since it included two songs not featured in the box. Obviously, I don't dislike cheese. But I do have some inkling of what it is.

[Jorge]

you can't like both jazz and AC/DC

File this under: Things No One In This Thread Ever Said

[darth_vedder]

KD is kinda coming off as ass in this thread.

Yeah, those videos are insanely cheesy. Then again, most videos are. They guys were trying to make it and made bad videos to help get their sound out. In a way it's more juvenile than flat out cheesy (the pick-up truck one).

Early AC/DC is honest, raw, and powerful hard rock. It's also fun.

Why can't you like both jazz and AC/DC? I mean, I pretty much listen to a wide range, and some of that includes cheese rock like Van Halen, Motley Crue and AC/DC. I also like arty shit like the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth.

Hey, don't let my pretentious fondness for jazz mislead you, my friend. I have Def Leppard's Greatest Hits. I have the last three Taylor Swift albums. I have a collection of KISS hits remixed in 1978 to sound less like rock and roll and more like disco. I have every U2 album from "War" onward. Not only do I have a 4CD box set of Bruce Springsteen rarities, I actually made it a point to buy, in addition, the 1CD redux version of said box set since it included two songs not featured in the box. Obviously, I don't dislike cheese. But I do have some inkling of what it is.

I feel bad. I get defensive of AC/DC because I feel a lot of people shit on them, yet don't really know the Bon Scott era. Normally I don't resort to names, and for that I apologize.

[Birds in Hell]

I get defensive of AC/DC because I feel a lot of people shit on them, yet don't really know the Bon Scott era.

We don't have this problem in Australia.

[darth_vedder]

you can't like both jazz and AC/DC

File this under: Things No One In This Thread Ever Said

I know. I

[darth_vedder]

I get defensive of AC/DC because I feel a lot of people shit on them, yet don't really know the Bon Scott era.

We don't have this problem in Australia.

My first real intro to them was the Fly On the Wall stuff, then Back In Black. I didn't know what to think of Bon initially, but it didn't take me long to fall in love with Powerage (their best album), then really get into the early material.

[nyquillyn]

To me, a big part of "cheese" is whether something is authentic or not. I don't see that video as blatantly inauthentic. Seems representative of the band at the time.

[bada]

Cheese is a mandatory ingredient to all good rock.

[Jorge]

Cheese is a mandatory ingredient to all good rock.

Also lasagna

[Kevin Davis]

I had a friend growing up who was big into AC/DC, both singers. I couldn't say how exhaustive his collection was, but I was around it a lot. Like a lot of people, I think the thing that puts me off of them is that it's just too much repetition of a musical formula that's only marginally interesting to me to begin with. I think "variety" is a pretty poor yardstick by which to judge a band but I just never really find anything to latch onto with AC/DC. I do agree that there are clear differences between Scott and Johnson, but I also think they share enough aesthetic characteristics for one to be reasonably put off by (or won over by) them for the same general reasons. Oh well.