Live (1992)
Disc One
1. Thunderstruck
2. Shoot to Thrill
3. Back in Black
4. Sin City
5. Who Made Who
6. Heatseeker
7. Fire Your Guns
8. Jailbreak
9. The Jack
10.The Razors Edge
11.Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
12.Moneytalks
Disc Two
1. Hells Bells
2. Are You Ready
3. That's the Way I Want to Rock 'N'Roll
4. High Voltage
5. You Shook Me All Night Long
6. Whole Lotta Rosie
7. Let There Be Rock
8. Bonnie
9. Highway to Hell
10.TNT
11.For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
The first live album of the Brian Johnson era, and just as strong as the last (their first) from 1978, If You Want Blood, You Got It. The main difference is that, by this time, AC/DC was a worldwide phenomenon, whereas the earlier record caught them when they only had a core of devote followers. They sound just as good as ever, and whereas accusations of overdubs and fixes are probably legitimate, such things don’t bother me. This album sounds just as a live album should sound.
What was somewhat unusual is that the band actually released two versions of this recording. The first was a single CD that cherry picked the more well known, straight-forward songs. They elected to also release a “collectors” version with an extra CD that basically replicated a real show. What many people don’t realize is that such treats were rare back in the 1990s before DVDs came into play. Even before compact discs, live pressings that were released as double albums never quite got the entire show. Such things are actually quite important to me. I’m to the point where I won’t even watch a live recording unless it has the whole show. I somehow feel gypped. So, needless to say, this particular review is for the “collectors” recording.
Song wise, the selection here is basically perfect. No, I’m not saying that I would have picked the exact same set list, but when one looks at how live shows are typically put together, this one gets it right in all the relevant places, and then some. Since they were touring their latest album at the time, The Razor’s Edge, it only makes sense that this one is loaded with songs from that record. Fortunately, they pick the best of the best (unlike others, I didn’t think that album was that great). To my surprise, they add a couple of prime cuts from the prior studio album, the highly underrated Blow Up Your Video along with a fair sampling from their biggest record 1980’s Back in Black. They don’t forget their earlier days either, and a healthy dose of songs from the Bon Scott era are here as well.
I’m also a big fan of live albums that feature original material only – I can do without bands that feel obligated to cover other people’s material. There is one traditional sing along (Scottish, I think) song called Bonny, but that’s just a brief homage to their homeland (Although the band always had an Australian moniker, the majority of the members were actually from Scotland). It was probably a nod to former front man Bon Scott as well. It certainly would have been appropriate. There’s a couple of extended pieces where the band show off their chops a bit, including the one song (at this point) that was not released in the U.S., Jailbreak. That song, along with Let There Be Rock run somewhere in the 10-15 minute range, but they never really feel long.
My only gripe of this album is that the majority of the songs fade out completely to silence before the next song cranks. Yes, I realize that this album was actually recorded in many different places, but I would have much rather had the engineer/producer keep the crowd going throughout the entire experience. In fact, because of this, I pondered docking a half star from my review. I reconsidered, however, since the above mentioned “collectors” package was such a rarity back then, I figured I could easily tack the half star back on.
I can’t imagine anyone that likes hard rock that wouldn’t like this album. Nor can I imagine any AC/DC fan not falling madly in love with it.
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