More bad news for AC/DC

[Dave W]

Donnie Baker is unhappy about the whole situation.

Warning: NSFW language

[nofi]

this is hard to watch. johnson is done and doner.

[uwe]

Maybe tuning down a half step would have helped, Brian is at the end of his range on most songs and sounds flat (though his bad hearing might be an additional factor). He served well and long for AC/DC - and their huge mass appeal was built on his vocal chords, never mind the Bon Scott myth. AC/DC only became a household item (and left the rock fans gated community) with Back in Black and that was his voice. He screamed over the Young riffs in A and E for 35 years, I hope he can enjoy his health and the remainders of his hearing for a long time still.

Brian is 68, Axl is 54 - that is a difference in vocal years, especially with the type of strains their vocals took. While the Axl haters have a point with his prima donna'ness and his tendency for off-(key-)nights compared to the ever-consistent Brian, there is no denying that Axl's voice still has more agility and will be less ultimate-range-tested on that AC/DC tour than Brian's obviously was. I also have a hunch that Axl's singing voice is less removed from his talking voice than Brian's is (who had to limit his work with AC/DC to, say, the upper quarter of his natural range). Whether Axl will still be able to sing like Brian did until recently in 14 years from now is another question though. His hearing though will probably be better - he is fortunate enough to have more gigs with in-ear monitoring already under his belt, call it the grace of later birth: Axl only began walking the stage when lead singers in hard rock bands could hear themselves properly, either with late 80ies state of the art conventional monitoring or those ear plugs.

[66Atlas]

Donnie Baker is unhappy about the whole situation.

"This is why your sposed to get 3 estimates - state law!"   

[66Atlas]

I like the comparison to Ian Gillan joining Sabbath...

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/scorpions-guitarist-rudolf-schenker-calls-axl-rose-acdc-pairing-strange-feels-sorry-for-brian-johnson/

[uwe]

Well, AC/DC and Guns N' Roses have in common that they both dug the Scorpions and got along well with them, Johnson has performed with ze Scörps on stage, Axl has sung Scorpions songs with GnR and the latter were openers for the Scorpions at one point (my countrymen have an industry reputation of being very good, even maternal to their opening acts).

If Klaus Meine had permanent voice issues today, I'm sure the Scorpions would call it a day and not even remotely consider continuing with another singer. They didn't even do that when Klaus had his vocal chords operation in the early 80ies and they were at (almost) the height of their fame. They duly waited (and bit their lips) and recorded the Blackout milestone album with him after his return.

[Granny Gremlin]

Donnie Baker is unhappy about the whole situation.

Warning: NSFW language

LOL, I love this guy.

"the news which has rocked the music... rock world... of ages."

[TBird1958]

We all knew this was coming.......................

[gearHed289]

The funniest thing about watching people freak out over this is - isn't Axl just there to finish out 10 shows of the current tour?

[uwe]

 Yes, and those will be highly bootlegged and collectors' items someday.

But of course AC/DC und der Führer haben etwas gemeinsam: They didn't know when it was better to stop.

[drbassman]

Egad, is she Yoko's aunt?  Ugh!     It does have comedic value, though.

[TBird1958]

Yes, and those will be highly bootlegged and collectors' items someday.

But of course AC/DC und der Führer haben etwas gemeinsam: They didn't know when it was better to stop.

So very true Uwe 

Honestly, I wish they would have just bowed out gracefully at the point Malcom had to leave - That would have been a respectful, proper exit. Plugging in other musicians and still calling yourselves ACDC at this late point is just crass. I've always liked them - up until now.

[uwe]

Maybe Angus knows nothing else but ploughing on, hoping to escape death that way. When I saw the above recent live show I wondered: Hasn't someone in his organisation the guts to tell him how that school boy uniform thing is way past its sell-by-date? Can't he wear age-befitting clothes and still be Angus Young just by his playing and moves?

But then AC/DC's whole concept and charm is arrested development. Maybe that is what always bothered me the most about them. Compared to AC/DC, the Ramones were experimental.

[Basvarken]

When he started with the school-boy uniform he was already too old for it. That was the whole point.

But, yes the same thought struck me too when I watched some live vids from the latest tour. Too old for that cabaret.
Just like Slash with his high top hat, Kiss with their platform shoes, Steve Harris with his shorts, Yngwie with his leather tights, etc etc   

[uwe]

When I saw Angus Young for the first time on 6 Oct 1976 (you note how going to Rainbow concerts makes you see the world!)



(yup, AC/DC were the otherwise uncredited "opening act")

he was 20 or 21, looked like a spastic 16-year-old (papers in Germany actually wrote he was still a minor back then) and could still get away with that school uniform (not yet in garish red), at least perhaps in a school for the mentally challenged! 



I still shake my head at how utterly unimpressed I was by them back then (not because I disliked opening acts in general, far from it) and they were even the first professional rock band I ever saw live (Rainbow only followed later - after the break for the main act - after all!), I was myself only 15 at the time, but to me AC/DC seemed incredibly raw, abrasive and unrefined even back then (they had a good sound, so it wasn't that), I also found the music quite stiff, not really rolling at all. Perhaps I missed the keyboards in their sound, back then hard rock was pretty much defined by a singer, a lead guitarist, an organ player, a bassist and a drummer for me (I guess you see from what school of listening I was coming from!).