TIMELESS!! First Time Reaction to AC/DC - "Hells Bells"

When Bon Scott passed many, many wondered how AC/DC would recover from his loss. They bring in Brian Johnson and release one of the greatest rock albums in history as a tribute to Bon Scott. Also, the ENTIRE "Back in Black" album is amazing. Every song!

They had ONE chance to keep the AC/DC train rolling under a new singer......I'd say they knocked it out of the park.

The best AC/DC Video is For those about to Rock LIVE. There are canons firing on stage in that video.

Shoot To Thrill might be a good next choice for AC/DC. "Why is that guitar so big?" Because it's a Gretsch.

For me, Hells Bells is the perfect rock song. Everything fits together so perfectly from the first second, a true masterpiece. I love this song so much. 🤘🥰🤘

Guitar looks big bc Angus and Malcolm are very small guys

They have had two of the BEST all-time singers, check out Bon Scott early ACDC. His stage presence can't be beat. RIP

Lead singer Brian Johnson is from the North East of England, and has been (for me) the band's greatest lead vocalist. Bon Scott was great and iconic too, but Brian is on a different level. If you hear him speak, believe me, it's even harder to understand how he sings the way he does! 🙋‍♂

This just takes me back to some great times in 80-81. The Back in Black album will never get old. This was an automatic at every party i was at in the 80's. I love it!!

He makes his voice like that because he ROCKS!!

The haunting intro was on purpose. This is from the album "Back In Black"; their first album after their singer Bon Scott passed away. This was their "rebirth" so to speak. The whole album is a tribute to Bon.

ACϟDC 🤘

AC⚡️DC 😮! Malcolm playing the BIG guitar. Phenomenal rhythm guitarist who wrote many of the bands bone crushing songs.

The guitars looked big on Angus and Malcolm Young because they were really short! 😂 The tallest member of AC/DC was Cliff Williams (bass) at 5'7"... Angus Young took the 'schoolboy' persona cos he was barely over 5 ft tall and he looked like a kid w/ a guitar long into adulthood. "Hells bells" was actually the first song that Brian Johnson (vocals) wrote for AC/DC in 1980 ... He was a huge fan of Little Richard and his voice was inspired by the wild & crazy iconic rock n' roll singer. Johnson was from England and started the band Geordie in Newcastle in the 70's and he did the high screams early on in their career - he said that his voice came naturally to him and he could even croon like Elvis with little effort. In fact, one of the people who saw him live was Bon Scott, who was touring the UK w/ his band Fraternity in the early 70's... When Bon Scott joined AC/DC around 1974 as the lead singer, he told Angus and Malcolm Young that he had seen this guy Brian Johnson from the band Geordie, who had this great voice and was screaming into the mic while rolling onstage (Brian Johnson later revealed that he had appendicitis that night and was screaming and rolling in pain trying to get through the gig) After the death of singer Bon Scott in 1980 from alcohol asphyxiation, a devastated AC/DC opted to carry on the band w/ a new singer and one of the candidates was Brian Johnson... However, Brian Johnson had little luck making it big w/ his band Geordie and they split up by 1976... He worked labor jobs, struggled to make a living and was attempting by 1979 to bring a new version of Geordie together. Brian Johnson got an odd call from a German publicist working for AC/DC to audition for the band in London in early 1980... The story was that he took a train to London and wound up at the building where AC/DC was rehearsing and the crew didn't know who he was... They invited him to play pool w/ them while the band was waiting upstairs thinking he was late. Malcolm Young was frustrated and about to leave when he asked one of the crew if anyone had arrived and was told that there was guy downstairs playing pool w/ them... And that was how Brian Johnson met AC/DC and they asked him to sing... Johnson chose the song 'Nutbush city limits' by Tina Turner and they were impressed. Then, they asked him to sing the AC/DC song "Whole lotta Rosie"... and that night, the 4 members decided that Brian Johnson was the guy. He had a powerful voice, a good charisma and a very humble, no-bulls+++ personality that was similar to Bon Scott's. Brian Johnson admitted that AC/DC was a loud band live and he had to match the power of the band w/ his voice and that was what inspired his vocal performances. A few days later, Brian Johnson got another call from AC/DC's managers - he was in... He was to quit his job, head down to London to sign contracts and get a paycheck... and then, make arrangements to travel to the Bahamas to record the next AC/DC album. Many conspiracy theorists allege that Bon Scott had already written the lyrics for the album before he passed away in 1980, but Brian Johnson insisted that he was given the task to write the lyrics to the new songs because Scott never got to do them. AC/DC was still mourning the loss of Bon Scott and needed to get away from the scrutiny in Europe and focus overseas on making new music. Once in the Bahamas, the band members started tracking the new music and Brian Johnson was left w/ the responsibility of writing lyrics... One of the first tracks he was given was 'Hells bells'... and he was told that the new record was to be a full-on hard rock record to honor Bon Scott but without the heavy emotions which came w/ mourning... Brian Johnson was struggling to find words for the song and miserable one dark day when the band's producer Robert John 'Mutt' Lange asked him to write the first words that came to him... And as soon as Lange said it, the thunder started and rain soon poured down... "Rolling thunder"... "Pouring rain"... and that was how the lyrics came about... It became a declaration of invincibility that started off the album 'Back in Black'. Later, as the sessions ended, Angus and Malcolm Young said they took a bathroom break and an idea came... "Let's get a big bell!" They wanted to add the sound of a bell ringing to open the song and sent a team to record a church bell in England... Unfortunately, the sound of the church bell was also corrupted by the sound of birds flapping on the tape... So, they decided to order a custom bell for AC/DC that they would use on tour... The bell maker hit the bell in the foundry which was recorded for the album and the tape was slowed down to make it sound more ominous (The bell would sound like clanging otherwise) With 'Back in Black' charting at #1 in the UK in 1980, the task was to introduce Brian Johnson on tour to their fans as the new singer of AC/DC and he had to sing Bon Scott's songs in concert as well... The fans in Europe loved him and Bon Scott's fans gave him no grief... AC/DC was determined to break big in America and booked an extensive tour there... It worked. The single 'You shook me all night long' became a top 40 hit and by 1981, the album 'Back in Black' sold over 10 million copies in the US, far more than the half million copies of the previous AC/DC album 'Highway to Hell' (which has since sold over 8 million copies in the US) Even better, AC/DC toured Asia for the first time and Australian fans demanded that the band come home (AC/DC had left Australia in 1977 and hadn't played there in years) In early 1981, AC/DC returned to play huge shows in Australia and were hailed as heroes... At one show, the late Bon Scott's parents attended and saw Brian Johnson perform w/ AC/DC and told him after the concert that Bon "would have been proud"... To date, AC/DC's 1980 album 'Back in Black' is their biggest record and sold 26 million copies in the US and counting... Other AC/DC albums retained their power and grit but none had the overall appeal that 'Back in Black' has... AC/DC always maintained that they wanted to play "good, tough rock n' roll music"... and have evolved little since their inception in Australia in 1975. Their 4th studio 'Let there be rock' in 1977 was the standard by which all AC/DC albums would be contrasted with.

Brian Johnson on vocals, Angus Young on lead guitar 🎸

This is the first track on their monumental come-back album Back In Black after Bon's death. It was (and still is to this day) a huge deal. It was Brian's introduction to all AC/DC fans. Brian was hand-picked by Bon himself to take his place should something happened to him. Fun fact: I have gotten three speeding tickets in my lifetime listening to this exact track.

I'm going to AC/DC on Sunday in Hannover😊

You have to watch this at River Plate (Argentina) 2009. Insane concert with an equally insane crowd. The whole concert is 🔥🔥🔥

And I absolutely LOVE watching someone, not just listen to ACDC, but FEEL ACDC. Can’t wait for next one!! Your energy is just awesome to see.

Legendary album opener and a perfect way to introduce Brian Johnson as their new powerhouse vocalist. Effective on every level.