High voltage, filthy riffs and decades of rock ’n’ roll examined one song at a time 🤘⚡
There are complicated bands.
There are mysterious bands.
There are bands whose music requires seventeen paragraphs, a university degree and a diagram to explain what the hell is happening.
And then there’s AC/DC.
Plug guitar in.
Turn amplifier up.
Play enormous riff.
Shake building.
Repeat for more than fifty years.
Job done. ⚡😂
Except…
It isn’t actually that simple.
Because underneath AC/DC’s apparently straightforward formula lies one of the most remarkably consistent catalogues in rock history.
That’s exactly what Bill Voccia gets stuck into with AC/DC Song by Song.
Rather than simply retelling the familiar story of Angus Young’s school uniform, Bon Scott’s wild years, Brian Johnson’s arrival and enough Marshall amplifiers to cause structural damage to a medium-sized Welsh village, the book gets down to the thing that matters most:
THE SONGS.
And when the band in question gave us ‘Highway to Hell’, ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, ‘Thunderstruck’, ‘Hells Bells’, ‘T.N.T.’, ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’, ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ and ‘Back in Black’…
Well…
There’s plenty to talk about.
Grab a beer.
Turn the volume up.
We’ve got riffs to investigate. ⚡🍺
🎸 THE RIFF IS KING
You can’t discuss AC/DC without discussing the riff.
The riff isn’t merely part of an AC/DC song.
The riff is the foundation.
The engine.
The bloody reason the building is shaking.
Angus and Malcolm Young understood something fundamental about rock ’n’ roll:
simple doesn’t mean easy.
Anybody can play three chords badly.
Writing three chords that millions of people instantly recognise?
That’s another matter entirely.
AC/DC built an empire from deceptively straightforward ingredients.
Guitar.
Bass.
Drums.
Vocals.
Occasional bell.
Cannon if available.
And absolutely no unnecessary nonsense.
Voccia’s song-by-song approach gives readers the opportunity to look beyond that simplicity and appreciate just how carefully constructed many of these tracks actually are.
⚡ THE BON SCOTT YEARS
And here’s where things get wonderfully filthy.
Bon Scott.
What a frontman.
There was danger in Bon.
Humour.
Swagger.
Charm.
And enough cheek to get an entire pub into trouble.
The early AC/DC catalogue is absolutely dripping with personality.
‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’
‘T.N.T.’
‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’
‘Jailbreak’
‘Let There Be Rock’
‘Whole Lotta Rosie’
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation’
Then, of course…
‘Highway to Hell’.
These aren’t simply classic rock songs.
They’re part of rock’s vocabulary.
You hear that opening riff to ‘Highway to Hell’ and your brain knows exactly what’s coming before anybody has sung a word.
That’s songwriting power.
🍺 BON SCOTT — ROCK ’N’ ROLL’S CHEEKY DEVIL
Going through these songs individually also reminds you just how important Bon Scott’s lyrics were to early AC/DC.
He could be filthy.
Funny.
Menacing.
Self-deprecating.
Occasionally all four in the same song.
Bon didn’t sound like somebody pretending to live the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.
He sounded like he’d accidentally woken up inside it and decided:
“Ah well, might as well have another pint.”
😂🍺
His personality practically crawls out of the speakers.
And revisiting those songs chronologically inevitably carries a bittersweet edge because we know where the story leads.
🖤 THEN EVERYTHING CHANGES
Bon Scott’s death in February 1980 could easily have ended AC/DC.
Nobody would have blamed them.
How do you replace a frontman like that?
How do you continue?
The answer arrived wearing a flat cap.
Brian Johnson.
And what happened next remains one of rock history’s most extraordinary comebacks.
🔔 BACK IN BLACK
Bell rings.
Guitar enters.
DOOOONG.
You know what’s coming.
‘Hells Bells’.
And suddenly AC/DC are back.
Then:
‘Shoot to Thrill’.
‘Back in Black’.
‘You Shook Me All Night Long’.
‘Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution’.
Bloody hell.
Back in Black isn’t simply a great AC/DC album.
It’s one of the defining rock albums.
Period.
The fascinating thing about looking at these songs individually is recognising just how confident the band sounds despite everything that had happened.
Brian Johnson doesn’t try to become Bon Scott.
That’s crucial.
He brings his own voice.
His own personality.
His own scream.
And what a scream.
The result isn’t AC/DC Mark II desperately recreating the past.
It’s AC/DC entering another enormous chapter.
🎤 BRIAN JOHNSON STEPS INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE JOB
Imagine getting that phone call.
“Fancy joining AC/DC?”
Sounds brilliant.
Then reality kicks in.
You’re replacing Bon Scott.
No pressure, butt. 😂
Brian Johnson managed something very few replacement singers achieve.
He became completely synonymous with the band himself.
Today you can play somebody a Bon-era AC/DC song or a Brian-era AC/DC song and both immediately sound like:
AC/DC.
Different voice.
Same DNA.
That’s remarkable.
👨🎤 ANGUS YOUNG — THE ETERNAL SCHOOLBOY
Of course, standing at the centre of the AC/DC universe is Angus Young.
School uniform.
Gibson SG.
Duckwalk.
Approximately fourteen billion volts of nervous energy.
Angus is one of rock music’s instantly recognisable figures.
But strip away the costume and stage antics and you’re left with a seriously clever guitarist.
His playing is rooted in blues and early rock ’n’ roll.
There’s restraint.
Feel.
Timing.
Space.
Angus knows when to attack.
But equally importantly, he knows when not to play.
That’s something guitarists occasionally forget while attempting to fit 938 notes into a four-second solo.
❤️ MALCOLM YOUNG — THE ENGINE ROOM
Then there’s Malcolm.
And if you’re going to understand AC/DC properly, you have to understand Malcolm Young.
Angus might be the bloke flying across the stage while dressed like he’s late for double maths…
…but Malcolm was the engine.
Rhythm guitar is absolutely fundamental to AC/DC.
Those songs breathe because of it.
The spaces matter.
The groove matters.
The attack matters.
The interaction between the guitars matters.
AC/DC’s sound isn’t simply distorted guitars playing loudly.
It’s precision disguised as chaos.
And Malcolm was the master of it.
🔥 AC/DC THROUGH THE ’80s
Following Back in Black was always going to be ridiculous.
How do you follow one of rock music’s biggest albums?
You make another record.
Then another.
AC/DC kept moving.
For Those About to Rock We Salute You
Flick of the Switch
Fly on the Wall
Blow Up Your Video
Not every record reached the impossible heights of Back in Black.
How could it?
But the band’s identity remained incredibly strong.
And when AC/DC were firing properly, nobody else sounded quite like them.
⚡ THUNDER!
Then 1990 happens.
A guitar begins.
That unmistakable picking pattern.
Then Brian Johnson screams one word.
THUNDER!
Game over.
‘Thunderstruck’ became another gigantic AC/DC anthem.
By this point, AC/DC had already existed for nearly two decades.
Most bands would be entering nostalgia territory.
Instead, AC/DC casually produced one of their most recognisable songs.
That’s taking the piss, frankly. 😂⚡
💣 BALLBREAKER, STIFF UPPER LIP AND BEYOND
One of the benefits of a song-by-song book is that it encourages you to venture beyond the obvious greatest hits.
Because AC/DC’s catalogue is enormous.
Albums such as Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip, Black Ice, Rock or Bust and Power Up prove the basic formula remained remarkably durable.
Critics occasionally joke that AC/DC have been making the same album for decades.
Angus Young would probably take that as a compliment.
Because AC/DC know exactly what AC/DC are.
They never suddenly decided:
“Right lads, this album needs a twenty-minute ambient jazz section.”
Thank God.
😂
🎧 THIS BOOK WILL ABSOLUTELY DESTROY YOUR AFTERNOON
And we mean that as a compliment.
Because AC/DC Song by Song is exactly the sort of music book that sends you down the rabbit hole.
You read about a song.
Then you play it.
Then another.
Then you think:
“Bloody hell, haven’t heard this album in ages.”
Suddenly it’s three hours later.
There’s an empty mug on the table.
The neighbours are furious.
And you’ve reached The Razors Edge.
That’s what a good song-by-song guide should do.
It should make you listen again.
📚 NOT JUST FOR AC/DC OBSESSIVES
Obviously, hardcore AC/DC fans are the natural audience.
If you know exactly which live version of ‘Let There Be Rock’ is best and have strong opinions about Malcolm’s rhythm tone, you’ll be right at home.
But the format also works brilliantly for newer listeners.
Maybe you know:
‘Thunderstruck’.
‘Back in Black’.
‘Highway to Hell’.
And that’s about it.
This gives you a route into the deeper catalogue.
And believe us…
There are riffs waiting down there.
Lots of them.
🤘 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT
AC/DC Song by Song by Bill Voccia succeeds because it understands the golden rule of writing about AC/DC:
Eventually, you’ve got to shut up and play the bloody records.
AC/DC’s story is legendary.
Bon Scott.
Brian Johnson.
Angus and Malcolm Young.
Tragedy.
Triumph.
Stadiums.
Cannons.
Bells.
Inflatable Rosie.
Approximately enough amplifiers to power Cardiff.
But none of that would matter without the songs.
And what songs.
For decades AC/DC have taken rock ’n’ roll’s basic ingredients and repeatedly discovered ways of making them sound enormous.
You don’t need 400 guitar overdubs.
You don’t need twelve-minute solos.
You don’t need concept albums about interdimensional space wizards.
Sometimes you just need:
A Gibson SG.
A Marshall stack.
A killer rhythm section.
A ridiculous voice.
And…
ONE. MASSIVE. RIFF.
⚡🤘⚡
Bill Voccia’s book provides the perfect excuse to work through those riffs again, rediscover forgotten album tracks and appreciate just how extraordinary AC/DC’s longevity really is.
Because underneath all the jokes about them making the same record repeatedly lies a simple truth:
Nobody makes an AC/DC record quite like AC/DC.
And more than fifty years later…
We’re still turning them up.
🎸🎸🎸🎸½ / 5 GUITARS
A high-voltage trip through one of rock’s most recognisable catalogues — packed with riffs, history and enough reasons to revisit AC/DC’s records to keep your neighbours annoyed for weeks.
Now stop reading.
Stick ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ on.
And turn the bloody thing up.
⚡🤘🍺🎸
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO READ…
WE SALUTE YOU!
The Riff Report — Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies.
