| Highway to Hell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by AC/DC | ||||
| Released | 3 August 1979 | |||
| Recorded | February–April 1979 at Roundhouse Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, blues rock,[1] heavy metal[2] | |||
| Length | 41:42 | |||
| Label | Albert, Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Robert John "Mutt" Lange | |||
| AC/DC chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
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Australian cover
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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 25 May 2006, Highway to Hell was certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA.[3] In 2003, the album was ranked number 199 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4]
Contents |
Highway to Hell is the last AC/DC album recorded with Bon Scott before his death on 19 February 1980. The album featured such songs as "Highway to Hell", "Touch Too Much", "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)", and "Shot Down in Flames" which have become fan favourites and regular songs in their setlist during their live shows. The album became AC/DC's first to break the US Top 100, eventually reaching #17, and it propelled the band into the top ranks of hard rock acts.
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). The phrase ended the song "Night Prowler" and closed the album.
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.
Two songs from the album, "Highway to Hell" and "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" are included on the soundtrack album for Iron Man 2, with the former also being played during the final scenes of the movie. The song "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" is featured in the movie Empire Records as well as in The Longest Yard. The song "Walk All Over You" is featured in the movie Grown Ups. In October 2010, Highway to Hell was listed in the top 50 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums with Back in Black at No. 2.[5]
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.[6] 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 while her parents are asleep.[7]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [8] |
| Blender | [9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
All songs written and composed by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. Published by Edward B. Marks Music Corporation, BMI.
| Side One | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Highway to Hell" | 3:28 | |||||||
| 2. | "Girls Got Rhythm" | 3:23 | |||||||
| 3. | "Walk All Over You" | 5:10 | |||||||
| 4. | "Touch Too Much" | 4:27 | |||||||
| 5. | "Beating Around the Bush" | 3:56 | |||||||
| Side Two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Shot Down in Flames" | 3:22 | |||||||
| 2. | "Get It Hot" | 2:34 | |||||||
| 3. | "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" | 4:37 | |||||||
| 4. | "Love Hungry Man" | 4:17 | |||||||
| 5. | "Night Prowler" | 6:17 | |||||||
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart |
17
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| 2009 | Finnish Albums Chart[11] |
37
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| 1979 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart |
13
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| Year | Song | Chart (Billboard) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "Highway to Hell" | Pop Singles | 47 |
| Country | Sales | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 7,000,000 | 7x Platinum |
| Canada | 1,000,000 | 2x Platinum |
| United Kingdom | 100,000 | Gold |
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