15 Greatest Hard Rock Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die
12. Highway To Hell - AC/DC
Whenever rock fans start to branch out into heavier material, AC/DC is normally the first band many latch onto. The sheer bite of their guitars along with their gravelly vocals are just the thing that any teenage kid wants to hear out of a rough and tumble rock band.
Much has been said about the band's bounceback album Back in Black, but its predecessor Highway To Hell showed the band just reaching the peak of their powers. Where most bands would have tried to fill the soundstage with impressive licks, the Young brothers relied on their instinctive groove to create some of the best riffs the hard rock world had ever heard on the title track and "Walk All Over You."
The glue that holds these tracks together is Bon Scott, whose unstoppable charisma and signature snarl became a favorite among many hard rock fans. Scott isn't the greatest singer in the world, but you believe in every sleazy lyric that comes out of his mouth. With Scott dying of alcohol poisoning just a few months after its release, Highway to Hell stands as his last display of genius that the hard rock world got to see. Though their songs were far from complicated, AC/DC's groove got right to the heart of dirty rock and roll.