A-XL/DC and the Highway To Hell

A-XL/DC and the Highway To Hell 

By: Erreh Svaia

“Im more in love with Rock n Roll today than other things. It grows, you know?”

Bon Scott

As I was posting pics and video of Bon Scott, the late singer of legendary Aussie rock n roll band AC/DC, in his anniversary, I was told by some guy that Axl Rose, the Guns n Roses singer, was a better replacement, closer to Scott, than Brian Johnson, well, I couldn't disagree more with him, for me Rose and this Axl/DC thing is nothing more than a big embarrassment for a once great band in full decadence, Johnson was a GREAT singer who already had a decent career as singer of the great rock n roll band Geordie, so great that Scott was a fan of him, Johnson even made solo records and Scott compared him with no other than Little Richard.

If I would have looked up for a worthy Johnson's replacement, I would have looked up for someone like Steve Whitman, Jason McMaster or Vicky James Wright, Whitman, the most seasoned veteran of the three is the singer of then great Baltimore hard rock band Kix, a bunch of bad guys making loud boogie which m unfortunately became world famous with a mediocre ballad titled Don't Close Your Eyes, it was good it gave then exposure, but it wasn't really representative of a band who richest just as hard and nasty as Angus and company, on the other side, there was another great singer named Jason McMaster, a guy who sang with Texas prog thrash legends Watchtower, who was requested by Pantera before Phil Anselmo joined them, who became famous with Dangerous Toys and after their dissolution became the singer of a little known band named Broken Teeth, we could match McMaster intensity, but there was also another guy when just like Scott sounded like he swallowed a azor blades for breakfast, Vicky James Wright, the singer of Johnny Crash (how's that for a great band name?), a little known hard rock band from the 90s who later followed a career as a writer.

I feel choosing to Rose was shameless opportunistic, guess Angus wanted to make some big commercial move and get some back bucks for retirement, after all, without main guitarist Malcolm Young out of the band, I really don't think AC/DC could go anywhere, if AC/DC truly means something, that's the hard, unparalleled riff marathon of Malcolm, yes, Angus might look nice on his school boy uniform thing, but that doesn't make great music, he is just a show man, like Rose, and they need great music guys as bottom for their show, Axl Rose knows this well, how far his former band went after Izzy Stradlin's departure? Yes, Axl was a magnetic singer, and Slash solos are flashy and amusing, but is guys like Stradlin and Malcolm who make truly long lasting classic music, are you trying to tell me that Angus and Axl could make something better than Back in Black or Appetite for Destruction, two of the best hard rock records ever made? I seriously doubt it, and if you are going to tell me that Rose is better that Johnson, you just haven't heard Johnson's show stealing performance with the Hollywood Vampires, the best performances in Johnson's career.