There was a 92-decibel band, oh yes

Bibi knows you’ve been breathlessly awaiting her TDF from Let There Be Rock, but as I’m sure you understand, this presents an almost insurmountable difficulty. Just like Highway to Hell, this album is so full of the finest rock music ever heard, with the title song at the pinnacle of best of the best, how to choose just one? I made a tough choice on HTH, but had to include praise for all the tracks, right? From LTBR, I’ve already selected Bad Boy Boogie (an AC/DC credo if there ever was one) from a live album and for whatever reason, although Problem Child is very good, I don’t really like it. That leaves six to choose from and while some of them are not well known, I love them all. So, to make the TDF choice easier, this post is dedicated to the incomparable Let There Be Rock, the song. Tomorrow’s post will reveal my to-die-for selection from LTBR, as if the title song were not in the mix.

Believe it or not, Bibi didn’t own LTBR for some time after falling for AC/DC. Maybe, her kitty world being so vast, she’d heard of the song, but had definitely never heard any of the other cuts. When she attended the turning point concert in December, Bibi was unaware of so much AC/DC lore and custom, she didn’t understand a lot of what was unfolding on the stage before her, like Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be or Whole Lotta Rosie (with the de rigueur Angus chant), or incredibly enough, LTBR. In concert Angus delights us by cutting loose in this song with, not one, but two of the most stunning solos ever performed. Strange but true; I thought I had lived a very complete life up until that point in time. Oh, how little did Bibi know.

Not sure what triggered it, although now I wish I had noted the date that I bought the LTBR cd because my life changed on that day. LTBR, third on the album, is yet another of those trademark AC/DC songs that could topple the Great Wall of China with its intensely primal essence, it’s such an anthemic, rock till you drop, great, loud work. And make no mistake, the louder, the better! Focusing on the studio version (since the concert version is an experience and essay all on its own), one is immediately hit in the face with a commanding, blasting guitar riff and a throbbing rhythm section that introduce a creation myth: In the beginning, in 1955, man didn’t know about a rock n roll show and all that jive…Question: 1955 as the start date for rock? Because Angus was born in 1955? No, it's an homage to an AC/DC idol, Chuck Berry. He released his first single in 1955. The subsequent Tchaikovsky reference is a continued acknowledgement to Chuck. And the epic continues, leading us to the sublime: No one knew what they was gonna do/But Tchaikovsky had the news/He said - let there be light, there was light/let there be sound, there was sound/let there be drums, there was drums/let there be guitar, there was guitar/(Bon Scott scream) let there be rock. Then, we hear and can visualize the incandescence of the universe a-borning as Angus scorches us with a blistering, killer solo that obliterates everything that came before. Malcolm and the rhythm section jump in and Bon intones: And it came to pass/That rock 'n' roll was born. Bon continues the epistle with Angus and the guys coming in—again and again--with more, sizzling back and forth that just cooks it till tender! There was a 92-decibel rocking band/And the music was good and the music was loud. By the end, after being slammed around but good by that rocking band, you’re just exhausted from the emotion and excitement of what you’ve experienced. Not going to overwhelm you with minutiae, and my oft-repeated: Angus is soooo fantastically talented and underrated. BUT, if you haven’t heard this one, you are missing something truly significant.