AC/DC kicks Brian Johnson to the curb

As a musician who did a lot of concerts in my day, I had no hearing problems from playing in an orchestra.

 

That's just your drive talking...

Spoiler

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Did y'all use Marshall Amps? That might be the difference, since other amps can't do quite the same damage.

 

Dude, he sounds really good -- new album with Axl...

 

Had to bring this back up. I understand what you are saying. Coming off the momentum of Highway to Hell makes a difference. The difference in,say, going from 5 million to, say, 10 million in sales. And yes, a lot of people rushed out to buy the new album. There are a lot of albums that went straight to #1 through a mad rush of people buying it. Like Elton John. Captain Fantastic was #1 the first week of release. Extreme mad rush to buy that.

But Captain Fantastic wound up selling 4 million. Respectable number. But it's not 44 million.

AC DC's entire catalogue with Bon Scott sold 19 million in the U.S. Back in Black sold 22 million by itself. But it's not just a U.S. phenomenon, like The Eagles Greatest Hits (32 million in the US, only about 8 million non-US sales). BIB has now sold 50 million to date.

It has sold more than any album other than Thriller. So, the casual fan of AC DC knows, by far, the Back in Black songs. The die-hard AC DC fan knows both equally.

Back in Black has sold more in the subsequent years, by far, than in the 80s. If Bon Scott was equally as popular, Highway to Hell would be that 50 million. It's not. Fact is, Brian Johnson's scream is what appealed to people. It is more exciting to them than Bon Scott's singing. And you're talking to a person whose favorite bands have average to good singers, like The Kinks and REM. I prefer Roger Daltrey's singing to Steve Perry's, but there is no doubt whose voice is more commercially appealing.

More people associate AC DC with Brian Johnson. And yes, that's mostly b/c of one album- but also b/c two other songs get played constantly in sports arenas- For Those About to Rock and Thunderstruck. Bon Scott's most popular song, by far, is Highway to Hell, then Dirty Deeds. Popularity doesn't mean best, or favorite. But popularity is the one that is measurable.

These are the 5 biggest-selling "Hard Rock" albums of all time:

1. Back in Black- 50 million
2. Led Zeppelin IV- 37 million
3. Metallica (black album)- 30 million
4. Nirvana - Nevermind- 30 million
5. Appetite for Destruction- 30 million.

Even among the greatest-selling hard rock / metal albums of all time, it's a giant.

 

I don't really have a big preference between the 2 so it's really all about the songs. Back and Black has some all time great songs and Johnson contributed to it. Could Scott make those songs even better? Sure. But he didn't.

 

The people who truly know every AC/DC album would also say that their best stuff was with Bon Scott.

 

Exactly more sales doesn't mean it's a better album - for example looking at Michael Jackson Off The Wall is arguably better than Thriller, but has sold 30 million fewer albums. You have to look at many other factors other than popularity and record sales.

 

Surprised to hear this take from you. It's all about the song, not the singer. Back in Black has great songs and that's the reason it's such a monster. There is nothing special about Brian Johnson other than he sounds really good singing those exceptional songs. I wouldn't put him in the category of Freddie Mercury, DLR, Steven Tyler, Ozzy, Axl Rose, and yes BON SCOTT.

 

AC/DC is my favorite band, as I've mentioned over the years. I love Bon Scott; hell I love pretty much everything they've done, but Angus admitted when they were writing songs, Brian Johnson liked to pick up the tempo, especially in "You Shook Me All Night Long." Nobody knows how they would've fared with Bon staying as lead man, but their discography is an par with any other band out there. Certainly beats Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and all of the new wannabe cool bands.

 

Axl Rose is still listed as their lead singer and as mentioned above I would love to see a new album with him singing. Any news/ gossip that'll happen?

 

50 million people would disagree with you. Of course there's something special about Brian Johnson- that's almost a ludicrous statement. It's a combination of things- great songs, Angus Young, Brian Johnson, and especially the production of Mutt Lange. It's a timeless sounding record.

This is merely an argument about Brian Johnson's importance to AC-DC's legacy. Die-hard AC-DC fans are probably going to favor Bon Scott. My favorite AC-DC record is High Voltage. But most people are going to associate Brian Johnson with AC-DC. You can't argue with those numbers. AC-DC's Brian Johnson songs- which includes Thunderstruck and For Those About to Rock- permeate everywhere. I've heard them at hockey arenas, supermarkets, top 40 stations AND rock stations, commercials, movie soundtracks, etc. I've heard maybe Dirty Deeds and HTH among the Bon Scott songs. They're much more relegated to a niche audience.

I live in the world of popular music and favorite music. Sometimes they intersect (Sgt. Pepper), sometimes they don't (Shania Twain's Come On Over). I'm saying that most people associate AC-DC with Brian Johnson, and his singing is a major, major reason for that. And I think that his voice is more appealing to the masses- it's a higher-pitched singing than Bon Scott, therefore it's more commercially popular.

Just like when Phil Collins took over for Peter Gabriel. I much prefer Peter Gabriel's Genesis, and his solo stuff, but Genesis with Phil Collins far exceeded either's popularity. They had essentially the same 3 guys performing the music- Collins, Rutherford and Banks- but Collins comes in as a key songwriter and singer, they write more commercially appealing songs, and maybe Phil's voice is more appealing to the masses (although I'll take Gabriel's quirkiness).

Put in the most cynical way, if Bon Scott were still alive, and I'm called on to bankroll an AC-DC tour in a fantasy situation, and I have to select the singer to tour with them, I'm picking Brian Johnson. Same with Genesis- I'm picking Phil Collins. Personally? I'd rather see Bon Scott and Peter Gabriel, respectively. There's a, for lack of a better word, quirkiness to them that I favor (Big Balls and Games Without Frontiers come to mind).

OK, I've beaten this argument to death. Luckily, I got to see AC-DC once, so I'm good.

 

Yes, but "best" is a subjective argument. Popularity really isn't. If you sell 60 million records with one singer, and 15 million with another, chances are more people are going to know, and identify with, that singer.

Take, for example, Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath. Heaven and Hell was the first Black Sabbath cassette I bought. I mean, it had a huge influence on me as a kid and it's still the one I go to the most. Die Young- I mean, listen to that song on YouTube sometime- that rocks as hard, if not harder, than anything they did with Ozzy.

But they're not in the same ballpark in terms of popularity. Ozzy by himself is legendary beyond his ability as a singer (and he's pretty good). Most people probably have no idea BS had a different lead singer for 2 albums.

 

Uhhhhh.......no.

 

Pink Floyd has exactly one song that I can still listen to. The rest get old real quick.

 

And like Ac Dac don't play the same song, over and over several different ways..

 

I LOVE AC/DC, but like any other band that I've loved for multiple decades, the magic starts to die with each "classic lineup" member that leaves the band. With Scott/Johnson gone, Malcolm gone, Cliff gone and Phil gone....it just doesn't really feel like AC/DC to me anymore.