Forty Reasons Why AC/DC Rocks

With AC/DC’s singer Brian Johnson recently announcing that the band is ready to record new music this spring and go out on a 40-date tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary, I thought I’d give you the 40 reasons why I think AC/DC rocks like no other band.

40. No Ballads – Seriously, this band has had 40 years to give in and write a ballad that would sell more albums yet they never even gave it a thought, not even in the 80s when every hard rock and metal band recorded one. Unless you want to count “Let Me Put My Love Into You” as a love song. Go ahead, be my guest. It does bring a tear to my eye every now and then.

39. Lose A Singer, Get Even Bigger – Let’s face it, Bon Scott was the man. When he died in 1980 it seemed a given that this band would never recapture the magic of AC/DC past. What happened next? They recorded an album called Back In Black. Last time I checked it’s sold 50 million copies worldwide and it’s tied for second biggest selling album of all time.

38. Their Logo Has A Lightning Bolt In It – That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll…..

37. Only This Band Can Make Bagpipes Rock – It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll) includes Bon Scott on the bagpipes and the song wouldn’t be the same without it.

36. They Have Big Balls – Any band who has had a song called Big Balls and an album called Ballbreaker is flat out ballsy and worthy of a “we’re not worthy!”.

35. Forever Young – No matter what their age, Angus and Malcolm Young will always represent the “rebellious-youth” state of mind which is why, no matter what our age, we’ll always feel young when AC/DC is blasting through the speakers.

34. Rick Rubin Loves AC/DC – Legendary producer Rick Rubin has worked with tons of legendary musicians and bands. He told Rolling Stone magazine once that AC/DC is “the greatest rock and roll band of all time”.

33. No Makeup Allowed – Angus may wear a schoolboy outfit but you’ll never see him wear leather pants and lipstick. Not even during the height of the 80s hair band era. The band wasn’t gonna do it before, didn’t do it then and they ain’t gonna do it now.

32. The Times Change But The Sound Doesn’t – Think about it, what other band has made consistently straight-ahead kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll music through new wave, hair metal, alternative and grunge yet still stood on top of the mountain looking down at the competition.

31. AC/DC Literally Tears The Roof Off – Brian Johnson said the band once played a show in Scotland at an old play house and by the end of the set there were pieces of masonry falling on the band. It was coming from the roof.

30. Iron Men – Who better to choose for the musical match to 2008’s Iron Man than the mighty AC/DC and the song “Shoot To Thrill”. Sounds even better blasting through a movie theater speaker system.

29. Who Chose Who? The King Of Horror, That’s Who! – Speaking of AC/DC in movies, who can forget “Who Made Who”? The song used in the soundtrack for the 1986 Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive. It’s maximum cool.

28. Little Dudes, Big Sound – Angus Young is 5’ 2”. His brother Malcolm is 5’ 3”. Their music is bigger than King Kong.

27. The Cannons - Every time the band plays “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” they bring out the bad-ass cannons. FIYAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26. Brian Johnson Can Drink With One Hand, Punch You With The Other – Every interview with Brian Johnson indicates that this guy is down to Earth and can get along with anyone. I’d like to think, however, that if someone walked up to him in a bar and said he should sing more like Justin Bieber, you’d hear two sounds: One would be Brian’s fist landing on that wussy’s nose, the other would be that same wussy hitting the barroom floor with a thud.

25. They Like The Taste Of A Little Evil – “Highway To Hell”, “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be”, “Hells Bells”, “Hell Or High Water”. What the Hell, I just think that’s cool.

24. They Warm Our, Uh, Hearts Each Christmas – Nothing like sitting by a fire and listening to AC/DC’s “Mistress For Christmas” with a cup of hot chocolate and a mistress too keep you warm.

23. Cliff Williams May Not Be Human – Look at photos of AC/DC bassist when he joined the band in the late 70s and look at him now. Same hair, same outfit, same pair of jeans that are a little too small and the same bad-ass bass line. The fact that he never talks also makes me think he may not be human. He was handed to us by the rock ‘n’ roll Gods.

22. Bon Scott Loved Snakes – Bon would often be seen around town with a pet Boa Constructor around his neck. Wow.

21. Brian Johnson Loves Cars….Fast Cars - Brian Johnson enjoys racing his vintage race cars during his downtime. He owns a Royale RP-4 and a Pilbeam MP84, which he races in vintage and historic races throughout the United States.

20. Their Favorite Color Is Black – What’s more rock ‘n’ roll than the color Black?

19. The Coolest Album Names Ever – High Voltage, T.N.T., Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Powerage, Blow Up Your Video, The Razors Edge, Ballbreaker, Black Ice…..’nuff said.

18. They Honor Those Who Rock The Most, Their Fans – Forget about waiting for fans to salute the band for rocking, AC/DC knows where their bread is buttered and proudly say, “For Those About To Rock We Salute You”!

17. They Keep Our Noise Clean – How cool is it that AC/DC reminds us that Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution? Not only do they rock but they care too.

16. The Legendary Voice - If there is a Hell and Satan can sing, he sounds just like Bon Scott.

15. The Three-Chord Wonders – “Malcolm and Angus have done more with three chords than any other human being,” said Slash. Who can argue with that?

14. AC/DC + itunes = World Domination – After years of holding out the band finally put their music up on itunes in the fall of 2012. In its first week, the band sold 48,000 album downloads and 696,000 song downloads in the U.S. alone.

13. Back In Black Hawk Down – Black Hawk Down survivor Michael Durant revealed in 2012 that AC/DC kept his hopes alive while he lay critically injured as a prisoner in Somalia. Durant was a helicopter pilot in the US military’s 1993 attempt to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in Moagadishu. Durant’s helicopter was shot out of the sky during the mission and he was held in captivity. As he lay dying he heard US helicopters overhead. “Then I hear this ‘Bong’,” said Durant. “And the beginning of Hell’s Bells. They had loud speakers attached to this Black Hawk and they were flying around broadcasting. The hope was that I would hear. Immediately following the song I hear this voice: ‘Mike, we won’t leave here without you.’ It’s something I’ll never forget.”

12. AC/DC Helped Take Noriega Down – In 1989, American government officials bombarded Manuel Noriega’s embassy refuge in Panama with “Hells Bells”, “Highway To Hell” and other choice riff-rockers. The tactic worked so well with Noriega, who was known to be an opera lover, that it’s since been employed by U.S. officials in other similar situations.

11. Sharks Love AC/DC – In 2011 an Australian tour operator revealed that great white sharks love AC/DC. When played during expeditions, the giant fish will swim closer to his boat in order to get nearer to the sound. And who can blame them?

10. No Ego Trips Here – They won't be late for a show. They won't show up with an entourage. They will give their fans everything they've got....Every night.

9. Frontman/Tough Guy – Brian Johnson has said standing underneath a cannon for 30 years has had its dangerous moments. “These horrible sparks come out of them – at the end of the show I have burn marks all over my shoulders,” said Johnson. That’s a real man right there folks.

8. Who Needs To Warm Up? It’s Rock ‘n’ Roll! – When Brian Johnson was asked what he does to warm up his voice before a show. He responded, “I just go into the bathroom, make a big loud noise and then come back to the boys and say. ‘Well, that’s me ready.’”

7. Rock & Roll’s Most Familiar Little Devil – Look at all of the AC/DC albums released over the years and pretty much every one has Angus on it. He even sports a pair of devil’s horns on one of ‘em.

6. Bon Was A Real Problem Child – At the age of 15 Bon Scott spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment center and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge and stealing twelve gallons of petrol. Soon after he attempted to join the Australian Army but was rejected for being deemed "socially maladjusted”.

5. Five Million People Can’t Be Wrong – In 2010 AC/DC went out on a massive tour to support their album Black Ice. The band played 168 shows to 4.9 million people, grossing $441.6 million. Only The Rolling Stones grossed more.

4. Could They Really Be Bad Boys From Hell? – In the early days the group’s name AC/DC was said to be a hidden reference to “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Children” or “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Crusade” or, even stranger yet, “After Christ the Devil Comes”. Nothing screams rock ‘n’ roll more than an absurd rumor spreading throughout the music world.

3. Even Other Guitar Gods Were Inspired By Angus – After touring with AC/DC in 1983, Eddie Van Halen was blown away at how powerful they sounded. So much so it partly inspired him to write the Van Halen classic “Panama”.

2. Thunderstruck = Awestruck – Veteran rock ‘n’ roll producer/engineer Mike Fraser worked with AC/DC on their classic 1990 album Razors Edge. He had this to say about the recording of the song “Thunderstruck”: “Angus said, ‘Well, we have this little intro thing,’ and whipped out that little opening part, and it was only going to be on the intro. So as we start recording, Angus goes through the intro, and then as the first verse came up, he was still playing, and [producer] Bruce [Fairbairn] went, ‘Okay, let him roll, and see where it goes,’ and he wound up continuing to play it throughout the whole song in one take! By the end, he had this big long ash of cigarette hanging out of his mouth that he’d smoked throughout that one take……It’s played top to bottom, all the way through, one pass – it was awesome.”

1. Back In Black – Good Lord this album is pure rock ‘n’ roll. What else is there to say? O.K. There is more to say. It’s the biggest selling album by any Australian artist and the second biggest selling original album of all time behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Now it's time to raise your fists in the air, it's two full hours of AC/DC live in concert!