AC/DC: Let There Be Rock! [Blu-ray]

I'm one of those that has sat staring at my prized VHS copy on the shelf wishing that I had a dvd copy. So finally someone gets round to giving it a 21st century treatment. The images stand up well, albeit it was shot in the late 70's, so don't expect any fancy shots. It is a real shame that there was no cutting room floor to plunder for candid moments or outtakes.
Still Bon in his prime, all the swagger, all the bare faced cheek and posturing. The real deal...the real AC/DC. It is a great record of Bons last great tour...featuring the Highway to Hell tracks. The interview stuff is just as I remember it..a bit of a distraction from the concert footage. But these days I value it more. It is an important snap shot of my favourtie band at their peak.
I do prefer the 1978 stuff at the Glasgow Apollo...not given the benefit of a remaster except for bits and pieces on the Family Jewels DVD...and really the perfect partner for a deluxe If you want blood, if they ever get round to it.
I'm glad the time has been spent giving this DVD an altogether vastly improved sound. My one real gripe..the awful re-packaging. Gone is the original sleeve and replaced by an appalling black effort. I know the original sleeve, cover art from LTBR, wasn't really a good match given that this is from the Highway to Hell tour era but the new one does nothing to evoke the spirit and energy of the concert. Corporate branding gone mad, this concert was in the 70's not part of the Black Ice tour...so what's with the rubbish graphics?
Go on though...buy it..you won't regret it.

be aware there are a couple of issues with this, the picture is not 16.9 it is a narrower 4.3 old stylee as at the time this was the norm, now the box states Dolby Digital and also this is slightly misleading as its not 5.1, it is pro logic.......but there is a DTS soundtrack which is fantastic, but not everyone has a DTS decoder. The picture is great and the sound in DTS is great too as is the content, just a shame about the misleading technical info on the box.

I saw this concert film on VHS about twenty years ago and it's stuck in my memory ever since. Over the years I've wondered if my memory has overstated how good the band were in this show, so when I saw it was being remastered and reissued on Blu Ray, I was excited and nervous in equal measure. Of course, I pre-ordered it immediately.

I am very happy to report that Let There be Rock is even better than I remember it. I won't rant about the performance itself other than to say it's AC/DC captured at their peak, the band giving it all they've got, even to the point of danger at times - Angus being carried through the crowd is just one priceless moment. Anyway, if you're an AC/DC fan, you'll already know how good this concert is. More to the point, how is the new Blu Ray reissue?

In a word: magic.

The picture quality is terrific, given the source. The concert footage (I assume 35mm stock) has been cleaned up nicely without losing the warmth and grain. It's about as good as you could possibly hope for, with plenty of crisp definition and depth of colour. The inter-cut documentary segments haven't aged quite as well, looking more like lower quality 16mm stock, but are still very watchable.

As for the audio, it's simply wonderful. Both the stereo and 5.1 mixes are tight, beefy and punchy. Angus's guitar is up close and personal, with loads of girth and grind. The kick drum and bass thump along nicely, with Malcolm's rhythm forming a solid bed for everything else. Bon Scott's vocal is clear and present, sitting well in the centre of both mixes.

I have to commend whoever created the 5.1 mix on this reissue. Too often concert DVD's have all the low end instruments routed to the woofer, meaning the warm mids and defining highs of the bass and kick drum are lost. Here, their range flows smoothly down to the deepest lows, and the bass guitar is particularly firm and strident, but retaining warmth and depth. Really, really excellent mixing. Well done.

My one disappointment with the package is the collection of documentaries. I had hoped for something much more thorough and insightful - a real documentary, in other words - but instead we simply get an assortment of people telling us how great AC/DC are. Which we already know, so that makes them kind of pointless. Surely a proper retrospective study of the band's career is long overdue by now. Even if there'd been something more in depth about this moment in the band's rise, just before the death of Bon Scott and their triumphant return with Back in Black, that would have been the icing on the cake. What we get instead seems lazy and rather cynical. Ah well, here's hoping for something better in the future.

I was tempted to knock a star off for the disappointing docs, but that would seem rather churlish given how sublimely good the main event is. So, a solid five stars from me.

On a final note, and this is directed to Amazon: Shouldn't this edition's reviews be separated off from older critiques of the VHS version? The most prominent review is eleven years old! Don't let the out-of-date reviews put you off; this is as classic as classic rock gets. Buy it and enjoy.