Bonfire [Box]

Performer: AC/DC
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: BONFIRE contains rare live tracks, alternate takes, and previously unreleased material as well as a digitally remastered version of the album BACK IN BLACK. AC/DC: Bon Scott, Brian Johnson (vocals); Angus Young, Malcolm Young (guitar); Cliff Williams (bass); Phil Rudd (drums). Producers include: Harry Vanda, George Young, Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Includes liner notes by Murray Engleheart. When Bon Scott died at the age of 33, many thought this was the end of AC/DC. The band rebounded by recruiting vocalist Brian Johnson (a Scott favorite) and releasing their best-selling album ever, BACK IN BLACK. BONFIRE is a five-disc tribute to the pugnacious and raspy-voiced Scott, overflowing with the bare-fisted riffs and ribald lyrics that were the trademark of his edition of the band. Recorded live at New York's Atlantic Studios, Disc 1 was originally a promotional-only release that's been bootlegged countless times over the years. All thriller, no filler, this recording overflows with plenty of classics ranging from the band's cheeky tribute to venereal disease ("The Clap") to the tale of an over-sexed Rubenesque female fan ("Whole Lotta Rosie.") Discs Two and Three are an expanded version of the soundtrack to the 1980 concert film "Let There Be Rock." Recorded before a French audience, AC/DC's in-your-face performance transcended any cultural differences and the audience often sang along despite language barriers. Entitled VOLTS, Disc Four consists of work-in-process studio recordings of material such as "Touch Too Much" and "Get It Hot" with different lyrics than the finished versions. The inclusion of the slow blues of "Ride On" shows another side to AC/DC often lost among the lascivious offerings of "Beatin' Around The Bush" and "She's Got Balls." A re-mastered version of BACK IN BLACK completes this set marking the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Spin (2/98, p.104) - 7 (out of 10) - "...This is dance music for boys who claim they hate dance music....Ultimately, what you hear on BONFIRE is the link between mainstream metal, disco, and punk self-destruction, a formula that has obviously been studied by such beat-intensive bands as Guns N' Roses and Prodigy..." Entertainment Weekly (12/12/97, p.84) - "...Though BONFIRE could have been titled VARIATIONS ON FOUR CHORDS, it's as down and dirty as rock gets." - Rating: B Q (12/03, p.148) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[A] handsome treasure trove of novelty demos, the whole of 1980's Back In Black album, plus three live discs reprising the derailing freight train sound of the band in concert..." NME (Magazine) (12/13/97, p.38) - 8 (out of 10) - "...BONFIRE...is raw, hoarse and flawed, but it's AC/DC in flame. This box should carry a warning: `Wear protective gloves before opening.'"

AC/DC is generally regarded as a titanic force in the world of heavy rock, occupying a sphere of seminal influence right alongside Kiss. These Australian guitar gods--led by Angus Young, an axe-wielding man-boy in a school uniform--churn out songs laced with sexual double entendre and heavy riffs. Since the mid-1970s, Angus and his brother, Malcolm, have survived a stormy band history, including the death of original singer/wildman Bon Scott, all the while bashing out their simplistic, yet highly addictive, brand of bluesy riff-rock.

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