10 Greatest Tribute Albums In Hard Rock
8. Back In Black - AC/DC
After years of being in their niche market of Australia, AC/DC were finally starting to turn things around at the end of the '70s. Off the strength of Highway to Hell, the booze-soaked vocals of Bon Scott were in full form, becoming the blueprint for what hard rock would sound like going forward. In fact, that booze-soaked excess might have been going just a bit too well.
During the recording for what would become the followup album, Scott went out on a drinking spree only to be found dead in a car the next morning after asphyxiating on his own vomit. As much as the Young Brothers felt like they had lost a brother, they had no intention of slowing things down. Without missing a beat, Brian Johnson was brought into replace Bon on the album Back in Black, which turned into one of the most essential pieces of hard rock music.
Even though songs like You Shook Me All Night Long might not have any intrinsic connections to Scott, the entire album was written in tribute to his memory, down to the tolling funeral bell that opens the album on Hell's Bells. While Bon certainly had a lot more to give in terms of raw charisma, this is the hard rock Viking funeral if there ever was one.