There comes a time when all bands sell-out. I think they have to, it maintains their income and produces the goods for the record company. Metallica have done it loads and I find a lot of their stuff nauseating. AC/DC by all measures have done it too. Branded Monopoly and anything else that you want but I don’t see it as selling-out. I see it as giving the fans what they want. For some reason it’s different for AC/DC [there’s cognitive dissonance for you!].
Bonfire is a collection of music from the Bon Scott days of AC/DC [when they were at their best]. The discs are split up into the following:
- Back In Black [not Bon but it’s there]
- Atlantic Studios
- Paris I and II
- Volts
The Atlantic Studio recording is of them live in the early days. It’s great. Really raw and lovely. The Paris CDs is just the CD version of the video “Let There Be Rock”. Volts is a collection of rare recordings from the early days.
I bought the Let There Be Rock video in about 1989, over an Easter break. I remember watching it. Videos were new to me and this was AC/DC live. At the end after the concert when the screen goes black and “To Bon” is written on the screen I cried. It’s hard not to. The world lost an extreme talent the night he died. On my return to school after the break Steven, who was the other AC/DC nut in my year group, had also watched the video. He had shed a tear too. The soundtrack is lovely. It’s nice to hear slightly different versions of the songs.
Volts is good but it freaks me out hearing classic songs with different lyrics.
If you are a Bon Scott fan then this is grade A merchandise.