Highway to Hell
is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in July 1979. It is also AC/DC's fifth international studio album. It was the last album featuring Bon Scott, who died early the following year from over-consumption of alcohol.
It was originally released by Albert Productions, who licensed the album to Atlantic Records for release outside of Australia, and was then re-released by Epic Records in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters
series. On May 25th 2006, Highway to Hell
was certified 7x platinum by the RIAA. [1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 199 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [2]
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HIGHWAY TO HELL TICKETS
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Overview
Highway to Hell
is the last AC/DC album recorded with
lead vocalist Bon Scott before his death in February 1980. The final words spoken by Scott on the album are "Shazbot, na-nu na-nu," phrases used on the then-popular
American sitcom,
Mork and Mindy
, by lead character Mork (a visiting
extraterrestrial played by
Robin Williams).
Highway to Hell
was the first AC/DC album not produced by
Harry Vanda and
George Young. Pre-production of the album began in January 1979 with demos cut at Albert Studios in
Sydney, Australia, where they met the intended producer,
Eddie Kramer. Kramer was fired before a single track had been completed, and
Robert John "Mutt" Lange was brought in to replace him. The change proved to be fortuitous, and the album was the band's biggest yet. Lange would go on to produce the band's next two albums and biggest sellers,
Back in Black
and
For Those About to Rock We Salute You
. The album was recorded during sessions in February 1979 at
Criteria Studios in
Miami,
Florida and March-April at Roundhouse Studios in
London,
England.
In Australia,
Highway to Hell
was released with a slightly different album cover, featuring flames and a drawing of a bass guitar neck superimposed over the same group photo used on the international cover. Also, the AC/DC logo is a darker shade of maroon, but the accents are a bit lighter. Additionally, the
East German release had different and much plainer designs on the front and back, apparently because the authorities were not happy with the sleeve as released elsewhere.
Controversy
In June 1985, a highly publicized murder case began revolving around
Richard Ramírez, who was responsible for several brutal killings in
Los Angeles. Nicknamed the "Night Stalker," Ramírez was a fan of AC/DC, particularly the song "Night Prowler." Police also claimed that Ramirez was wearing an AC/DC shirt and left an AC/DC hat at one of the crime scenes. During the trial, Ramírez often muttered "
Hail Satan" and showed off the
pentagram carved into his palm. This brought extremely bad publicity on AC/DC, whose concerts and albums faced protests by parents in the Los Angeles area.
[3] On
VH1's
Behind the Music
on AC/DC, the band maintained that the song had been given a murderous connotation by Ramírez, but is actually about a boy sneaking into his girlfriend's bedroom at night.
Track listing
# "
Highway to Hell" – 3:28
# "
Girls Got Rhythm" – 3:23
# "Walk All Over You" – 5:10
# "
Touch Too Much" – 4:27
# "Beating Around the Bush" – 3:56
# "Shot Down in Flames" – 3:22
# "Get It Hot" – 2:34
# "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" – 4:37
# "Love Hungry Man" – 4:17
# "
Night Prowler" – 6:27
All titles written by
Young,
Young and
Scott. Published by Edward B. Marks Music Corporation, BMI.
Personnel
- Bon Scott – lead vocals
- Angus Young – lead guitar
- Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Cliff Williams – bass, backing vocals
- Phil Rudd – drums
Production
- Producer: Robert John "Mutt" Lange
- Recording Studio: RoundHouse Studios, London, England
- Recording Engineer: Mark Dearney
- Mixing Studio: Basing Street Studios, London, England
- Mixing Engineer: Tony Platt
- Assistant Engineer: Kevin Dallimore
- Art Direction: Bob Defrin
- Photography: Jim Houghton
Chart positions
Chart (2009)
| Peak position
|
Finnish Albums Chart [4]
| 37
|
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album
#1979 Pop Albums No. 17
Billboard (North America) - singles
#1979 Highway To Hell Pop Singles No. 2
#1992 Highway To Hell (Live) Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 11
Certification
Country
| Sales
| Certification
|
United States
| 7,000,000
| 7x Platinum
|
Canada
| 1,000,000
| 2x Platinum
|
References
- http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=2&table=tblTop100&action=
- 199) Highway to Hell : Rolling Stone
- AC/DC The Case of the Night Stalker
- Suomen virallinen lista