Brian Johnson over Bon Scott

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Anthony is mostly OTM here. "Night Prowler" is definitely an exception for a Bon performance, solely. And the whole album, minus a few songs, is musically solid through and through (probably due to Mutt Lange behind the helm, but also the boys putting together some really great tjoons...). It's why I call Highway To Hell my favorite AC/DC album. But (and this is more whining about a shortcoming than marking a major criticism here) this is the first album where Bon started to sound a little more bored than usual. I fear had he lived on through Back In Black, he may have sounded even more bored, and given that I think, minus three songs, Back In Black is a far more musically boring album than the previous ones, it might have been damned with faint praised and been seen as a decline.

But I stress the word "may" in all of the above, of course. Perhaps, Bon could have possibly been recharged and made Back In Black an album 10 times more amazing than it stands now...(which is really not much to me)

donut bitch (donut), Friday, 7 May 2004 22:18 (nineteen years ago) link

ten months pass...
Bon was more expressive... had more wit, inflections, and presence in his voice and lyrics. Just listen to Let There Be Rock, and compare.

Brian Johnson was more of a rock machine... which is cool for the material they were doing at that point. Back In Black is a miracle for a post-Bon effort.

But what am I gonna flip in on a road trip and rock the fuck out to at top-volume for hours extended? That would be Bon Scott...

Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Bobby OTM.

That said, since The Razor's Edge, when AC/DC pretty much changed their sound significantly for the first time, Johnson obviously fits better.. and doesn't need to sing as loud and high.

Stiff Upper Lip is actually my favorite Johnson-era AC/DC album under For Those About To Rock, We Salute You...

I'm quite curious what the next AC/DC record will sound like. Aren't they due for one right around now? It's been half a decade.

donut debonair (donut), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Brian Johnson over Bon Scott
Do you mean hunched over him giving him the high hard one?

Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:47 (nineteen years ago) link

ewwwww....

Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:49 (nineteen years ago) link

dude, no.

donut debonair (donut), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Brian Johnson unfairly maligned for not being capable of hipness in the manner of Bon Scott. Find Geordie's "Geordie's Lost His Liggie." Man, even if you don't know what Johnson's going on about, it's hysterical. There's a lot of low-rent nuance on the Geordie albums, much of which got left behind apparently for the move to AC/DC. Ah well, progress.

George Smith, Friday, 25 March 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

But anyhow, being serious for a moment...
Defend Brian Johnson as a better lead singer than Bon Scott.
Sorry. I can't. I prefer Bon Scott's voice. Brian Johnson is just shrill...and that hat he always wears annoys me for some reason. I keep wanting to shoot it off his head with a slingshot.

Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Saturday, 26 March 2005 06:39 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...

On the Efficiency of AC/DC: Bon Scott versus Brian Johnson, by Dr. Robert J. Oxoby, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Calgary (pdf)

mookieproof, Thursday, 23 August 2007 04:31 (sixteen years ago) link

The premise of that paper is faulty. There is no debate: Scott runs rampant over Johnson, First round KO.

And to the guys a couple years ago saying Scott sounded"bored" on Highway to Hell: I hope your hearing has returned.

Bill Magill, Thursday, 23 August 2007 14:01 (sixteen years ago) link

The paper shies away from an obvious conclusion. The experiment shows that Bon Scott makes people act crazier than Brian Johnson. Therefore Bon Scott rocks harder.

Brian Johnson fans can cry all they want about inadequate sample size. And then they can go off and listen to a version of AC/DC that makes them act in an economically efficient manner. Science has spoken.

dad a, Thursday, 23 August 2007 17:55 (sixteen years ago) link

three years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5rLSyT_hVE&feature=related

one of the few recordings I've ever found where he sounded good live on this, though on the second verse it sounds like he realizes midway through that he used verse 1's vocal pattern....

my downeaster ilxor (Neanderthal), Saturday, 11 June 2011 22:45 (twelve years ago) link

The real question is...Brian Johnson vs. Dan McCafferty of Nazareth.

that's not funny. (unperson), Saturday, 11 June 2011 23:45 (twelve years ago) link

nine years pass...

Listening to AC/DC right now - which, I can assure you, is something of a novelty for me - and, boy, does Bon Scott ever sound like Alex Harvey!

Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Thursday, 7 January 2021 18:53 (three years ago) link

Yes! I have always audibly thought Alex Harvey was a huge influence on Bon. He was very open that Alex was his hero and for sure borrowed some of his inflections. Two Scottish titans.

stirmonster, Thursday, 7 January 2021 20:57 (three years ago) link

I knew SAHB were especially popular in Aus, Nick Cave's another big fan, so I'm not surprised that Bon Scott was a fan too. Bon's voice is slightly higher and more of a conventional rock voice but his phrasing is so similar.

Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Thursday, 7 January 2021 21:45 (three years ago) link

I misread this title as BORIS Johnson vs Bon Scott. Which would be no contest, obv.

did we ever get this sorted

shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 7 January 2021 21:47 (three years ago) link

i just found out Bon was in a prog rock band called Fraternity and it kinda blows my mind, on some Procol Harum, Moody Blues shit crazy to hear/see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZY2nl2CwLc

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 7 January 2021 21:53 (three years ago) link

I knew SAHB were especially popular in Aus

Not sure this is true btw; I first heard of them reading a Cure bio in 1989, never encountered 'em in second-hand record shops after that, and have never heard a note of them in the wild.

Wikipedia says they had one top 30 single, and their best-selling album peaked at #78.

shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 7 January 2021 21:58 (three years ago) link

I knew SAHB were especially popular in Aus

Not sure about the broad truth of this statement, but Foetus covered "Faith Healer" live in '88-'89.

but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 7 January 2021 22:07 (three years ago) link

Seems like musicians in Australia like them at least!

Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Thursday, 7 January 2021 22:16 (three years ago) link

... liked them, that is.

Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Thursday, 7 January 2021 22:17 (three years ago) link

Foetus probably heard it off Cave’s cassettes in NYC or London or Berlin.

shivers me timber (sic), Friday, 8 January 2021 00:00 (three years ago) link

"Faith Healer" is a pretty well known song though. Even if people didn't know any SAHB there is a good chance they'd know it plus JG Thirwell had been living in UK for many years.

stirmonster, Friday, 8 January 2021 00:53 (three years ago) link


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