It’s been a whole 7 days since I ventured out to the ‘Land to catch ’em, and I’ve still got a bad case of AC/DC fever. Although there was never a point where Australia’s finest fell out of favor with yours truly, this past week and a half has felt like a honeymoon period. It’s as if I’ve fallen in love with the band all over again, rekindling that magic I felt when picking up High Voltage on vinyl at the tender age of 9. It’s an incredible feeling, one that I’m carrying into this week’s Top 10. When it comes to Acca Dacca, their songs usually cover one of three topics: Sex, Satan/hell, or rock n’ roll. In some cases, it’s a combination of two of the three, or all three! Today, we’re tackling the latter. Without further ado, here are our top 10 AC/DC songs with the word “Rock” in the title.
10. “There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin'”
Kicking off our list at #10 is a tune that’s rather tame and subdued by Bon Scott era standards, “There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin'”. Whereas most of the Scott fronted fare serves as a fitting soundtrack to violent brawls and all-night benders, “There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin'” is a feelgood pub rocker, simple, straightforward, and sweaty. Structurally, it closely resembles the ’50s American rock n’ roll that the Young brothers grew up worshiping, boasting blatantly Chuck Berry-esque riffing and a rowdy shout-along chorus, the latter of which will be drilled into your skull come the end of the cut.
9. “That’s the Way I Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll”
Blow Up Your Video is one of those albums whose shirt design you see at damn near every Hot Topic, Target, and Wal-Mart, but is seldom mentioned alongside the Bon Scott era or Back in Black in the pantheon of classic AC/DC albums. Admittedly, it’s a far from perfect affair, but does boast some classic cuts, such as “Heatseeker”, “Two’s Up”, and this one right here, “That’s the Way I Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll”. When this video entered MTV rotation upon its ’88 release, AC/DC probably seemed like dinosaurs compared to the hairspray-headed glam metal crop and rough and tumble thrashers who dominated Headbanger’s Ball. Yet for a band who had become *gasp* dated, AC/DC rocked n’ rolled like only they could, with confidence and power, crafting another headbanging anthem in the process.
8. “Rock the Blues Away”
Of the four albums AC/DC have released this century, I’ll be the first to admit that 2014’s Rock or Bust is likely the most underwhelming of the bunch, and yet it still sends all of the soulless AC/DC clones that have come and gone in the past 25 years home on a stretcher. Again, there was no shortage of rock radio hit singles off this one, including “Rock the Blues Away”. Now this might be more of a personal favorite than anything, but I dare you NOT to smile as it blasts out of your stereo. An uplifting AC/DC song about drinking all night, picking up chicks, and rockin’ the blues away? What more can one ask for? Forget anti-depressants! A double shot of “Rock the Blues Away” and “Back in Black” are all I need!
7. “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”
Well there’s a mouthful of a title. Surely it’s too wordy to become a classic rock radio singalong anthem, right? RIGHT? Think again. As the closer of AC/DC’s blockbuster Back in Black (1980), “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” might’ve initially intended on being a modest bluesy hard rocker, a palette cleanse on an album of one arena-shaking banger after the next. However, thanks to its earworm chorus and defiant spirit, it became equally as memorable as all the songs that proceeded it, getting played nearly as much these days as “Hells Bells”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “Shoot to Thrill”…heck, let’s cut to the chase. Back in Black is one of the few albums in history where every song is a hit, “RARANP” being no exception, and for good reason. It makes good, good sense!
6. “Rocker”
There are some songs I describe as “blink and you’ll miss it” blasts of brilliance, due to their rapid speed and in and out delivery. Lord knows Motörhead made a career out of ’em. AC/DC did as well to an extent, and “Rocker” is amongst the cream of the crop in this category. This fast, jumpy, boogie rocker embodies the sleazy danger of the Bon Scott days, while simultaneously paying homage to the ’50s American rocker culture that AC/DC did everything in their ability to emulate, from their primal music to their take no prisoners attitude. It truly is savage, teetering on the edge of disarray, but held together by a dedication to rocking your socks off. Couple this with a shot of Jack Daniel’s and a line of whatever you fancy, and you’re off to the races!
5. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation”
What do Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, and AC/DC’s own Malcolm Young all have in common? Besides all being groundbreaking guitarists in their own right, they all shared the same favorite AC/DC album, and that’s Powerage. Could you blame them? Having already set the hard rock bar with 1977’s Let There Be Rock, AC/DC decided to go one further with Powerage, walloping listeners with their rowdiest, filthiest collection of high voltage rock n’ rollers to date. The opening “Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation” does an impeccable job setting the stage for the assault, teasing the listener with riffs that could almost be mistaken for KISS or Cheap Trick, but with a nasty twist. As usual, Scott snarls away, and the chorus delivers the coup de grace, landing this here smack dab in the middle at #5.
4. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer”
If there ever was anyone in the history of rock n’ roll besides Lemmy who could be argued as the genre’s definitive figure, it’s Bon Scott. He didn’t just live the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll lifestyle; he WAS sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll personified. You could tell just from his vocals alone. This was no pretty boy, wannabe, Robert Plant imitator. Scott was as ugly as they came, tight torn jeans, denim vest, busted teeth, and all. Don’t like it? Too bad. Scott was determined to be not just a rock ‘n’ roll singer, but a rock ‘n’ roll star, and sings such on this here classic off High Voltage, which contains one of my favorite passages in rock history…
“Well you can stick your nine to five livin’
And your collar and your tie
And stick your moral standards
‘Cause it’s all a dirty lie
You can stick your golden handshake
And you can stick your silly rules
And all the other shit
That they teach to kids in school”
Make no mistake: Everyone from the Sex Pistols to Venom were paying attention to those lyrics!
3. “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)”
It doesn’t matter what genre you play. Every touring musical act, from death metal to blues, punk rock to pop rock, indie to hip hop, can relate to this song. While the chorus is plain as day, and reflective of many a young band’s desires to reach “the top”, it’s the brutally honest verses that drive this one home, making it not just one of the greatest rock songs of all time, but one of the most important. Do you really think arena headlining superstars of the era like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith would be caught dead singing about “getting robbed, getting stoned, getting beat up, broken-boned” or “getting ripped off, underpaid”? Absolutely not. This explicitness, not just musically, but lyrically, can’t help but give AC/DC some shred of punk rock credibility, as if playing CBGB’s wasn’t enough.
2. “Let There Be Rock”
Ladies and gentlemen, the gospel according to AC/DC. When the band took to the studio to record the title track of their third album (I’m going by U.S. chronology here, sorry Aussies), they had in hand not just a love letter to the music that had kept them on the road and in the studio for the better part of a couple years, but a tongue in cheek history of the genre up until that point. I’ll never not get a laugh at the lyrics, “The white man had the schmaltz. The black man had the blues.”, or “The guitar man got famous. The businessman got rich.” As cheeky as the verses may be, Bon Scott means all business when he proclaims, “Let there be light! Sound! Drums! Guitar! Let there be rock!” He was a hellfire and brimstone preacher, his pulpit the stage and congregation a throng of longhaired burnouts, and this was the good news.
- “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”
There’s only one way to close this list out, and it’s the same way AC/DC has closed every show since 1981. Armed with a new singer in tow, AC/DC wasted no time following up Back in Black, returning in ’81 with For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). While the album failed to achieve the commercial heights as its predecessor, its titular track became a staple not just of AC/DC’s canon, but hard rock as a genre. Whereas most of the songs on this list are raw, no frills, and down to earth, “FTATR” is anything but, doubling down on Mutt Lange’s mega production and boasting an atmosphere that can only be described as epic and over the top. One can’t think of AC/DC without thinking about the image of a firing cannon, and Brian Johnson’s cries of “FIYAH!”, and for good reason. “FTATR” truly is worth the hype, and as impactful today as ever, banding together rockers, headbangers, and maniacs of all walks of life with the sound of a twenty-one gun salute. To this, we pick up our balls, load up our cannons, and salute the mighty AC/DC. FIYAH!!! *boom*
Absolutely nailed it!! Haha