Johnson

by Patrick Sills

Created on: March 08, 2010

As I was working the other day, I was listening to my favorite classic rock station in my courier vehicle. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard what the DJ had to say. Following an old AC/DC song, "The Girl's Got Rhythm" from the Bon Scott era, he made this comment: "Now That's the sign of a good band. AC/DC switched singers, and nobody can tell the difference."

In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. The DJ was right about one thing: AC/DC indeed switched vocalists, and did so some 30 years ago. Bon Scott drank himself to death at the age of 33, and when you're dead, it's difficult to continue the pursuit of a musical career. In 1980, AC/DC auditioned Brian Johnson to be Scott's replacement. Johnson had enjoyed some success in a British glam-rock band called Geordie. Needless to say, Johnson accepted AC/DC's offer and has been with the band ever since.

Not only are the vocal styles of Brian Johnson and Bon Scott as different as night and day, but the overall sound of AC/DC tranformed far for the better as well. This is not to say that the band wasn’t popular before Johnson took on the role of frontman. After all, who could forget Highway to Hell , TNT, or Whole Lotta Rosie?

But when compared to every AC/DC album since 1980’s Back in Black ; also Brian Johnson‘s debut as the band‘s lead singer, the earlier recordings with Bon Scott sounded rather amateurish. While there’s no disputing the fact that Bon Scott’s vocals were unique, I believe that they stood out in a bad way. Quite frankly, he sounded like a 9-year-old boy with chronic nasal congestion. Moreover, the instrumental mixes were tinny and lacked depth, which in turn made the band sound like a bunch of 14-year-olds jamming in a garage.

When Brian Johnson came onto the scene, the entire band’s sound improved dramatically. Whether this can be attributed to different engineers, producers, or both, it was definitely for the better. Suddenly; and seemingly out of nowhere, Angus Young’s guitar took on a fat, in-your-face powerful punch reminescent of Ted Nugent. Likewise, the bass, drums, and rhythm guitar roles came to the forefront. Johnson’s vocals could never be described as particularly melodic or technical such as those of somebody like Queen’s Freddie Mercury, but they nevertheless fit like a glove in the genre of hard rock. At 62, he likely has to sing those high notes an octave lower than he did when Ronald Reagan was President, but he can still belt out the tunes like somebody 40 years his junior. If you need further convincing of this, take a listen to AC/DC’s latest effort, Black Ice.

With all of these thoughts in mind, I greatly admire this band. In the late 1970s, AC/DC played a major part in bringing hard rock music back from the threat of extinction. While the damage done from disco is still evident in much of today’s music, veteran bands like AC/DC have chosen to ignore such influences and continue to do what they do best. And that is to produce high-energy rock and roll.

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