Angus Young was born on March 31st, 1955, in Glasgow, Scotland. With his brother, Malcolm, he formed a band, which was to become one of the world's greatest hard-rock bands. The band was named AC/DC by their sister(rumour tells it had something to do with a vacuum cleaner). Their sister also suggested sometime later that Angus shoul be wearing a school uniform at stage, which became the bands unofficial trademark. The band performed couple gigs around Sydney, cutting a single called "Can I Sit Next to you" in original lineup(singer Dave Evans, drummer Larry Van Knedt and bassist Colin Burgess along with Young brothers). Then Young brothers and Evans moved to Melbourne and Mark Evans started to play bass and Phil Rudd drums. Later their chauffeur Bon Scott became singer, when Dave Evans refused to go on stage. Bon Scott had been a drummer for the Australian pop bands Fraternity and the Valentines. His history included several convictions on minor criminal offenses and he had been rejected by the Australian Army. Obviously the band's image as a brutal and insurgent group increased. They released High Voltage(1974) and TNT (1975) albums in Australia with producers George Young and Harry Vanda. These albums brought them to attention of Atlantic and after signing a deal they moved to London. Bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams. Next albums Let There Be Rock(1977) and Powerage(1978) increased their polarity in UK and their following album, Highway to Hell(1979) was a chart-success and the band's first |
million-seller. But then a tragedy hit the band: Bon Scott died by being suffocated in his own vomit. However, before his death he had anticipated his successor by describing Geordie's vocalist Brian Johnson "the best sounding singer I've ever heard". Consequently Brian stepped into Bon's shoes and AC/DC made their best selling record ever: Back in Black, which sold over ten million copies in US only. But the composition was about to change again: drummer Phil Rudd made advances towards Malcolm's wife and was forced to leave. The next album, For Those About To Rock(1981), was a huge success topping the American charts for three weeks. But with albums like Flick Of The Switch(1983) and Fly On The Wall(1985) their popularity crashed, until after The Razors Edge(1990) they were on the sharpest top again. Past disagreements long forgotten, Phil Rudd returned, and with the next album BallBreaker(1995) AC/DC gained maybe their most positive reviews since the start of the band's career. It was also another million seller worldwide. The latest album Stiff Upper Lip brought their music closer to "the roots", which is maybe result of Angus being always strongly influenced by blues("That's the music I play first when I get at home", he says). In my opinion, Stiff Upper Lip isn't a bad album: It hasn't got very big hits, but it tends to be that kind of music which keeps you listening it again and again. |
Realaudio examples of Angus Young's guitarplaying |
|
Aggressive solo |
Creepy intro in |
High Voltage |
1976 |
Let There Be Rock |
1977 |
If You Want Blood You've Got It |
1978 |
Powerage |
1978 |
Highway To Hell |
1979 |
Back In Black |
1980 |
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap |
1981 |
For Those About To Rock |
1981 |
Flick Of The Switch |
1983 |
'74 Jailbreak |
1984 |
Fly On The Wall |
1985 |
Who Made Who |
1986 |
Blow Up Your Video |
1988 |
The Razors Edge |
1990 |
Live |
1992 |
Live-Special Collector's Edition |
1992 |
Ballbreaker |
1995 |
Bonfire |
1997 |
Stiff Upper Lip |
2000 |
