Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have AC/DC collectors item, 7 Nov 2003
Any AC/DC that features the vocals of the legend that is Bon Scott has got to be viewed by AC/DC fans with a large amount of interest. And so it is, with this lavishly packaged collection from the archives of Epic.So what do you get with ‘Bonfire’? The box-set comprises of a ‘slightly larger than a paperback’ gatefold cover, that unfolds rather pleasantly to reveal the disc holding area. I was most impressed when I ripped off the Amazon.co.uk packaging; this is a nicely put together collectors item. Included along with the five discs is a 47-page booklet that takes the reader from the band's inception up until around the release of ‘Back In Black’. Quite nice. So on to the music. Disc One is the ‘Live From Atlantic Studios’ in New York which manages to be highly atmospheric from the beginning where the compare introduces the band and Bon Scott takes over and kicks-off into 6 mins of ‘Live Wire’. Hair on the back of the neck stuff for any early AC/DC fan. All through this disc can be heard the small number of privileged invitees, intermittently clapping and cheering. Then we are straight into (“..this is all about Angus!”) ‘Problem Child’. Its cool to hear Bon Scott chatting to the audience between the tracks. Disc Two and Three are the extracted audio from the previously available VHS video footage of the band’s Paris leg of the ‘Let There Be Rock’ tour. On the opening track, ‘Live Wire’ the audiences anticipation is palpable. Its enough to make the younger listener sad that they never saw the original line-up live. How many rock bands owe their success to what AC/DC were doing at this time? Some of the audio quality is a tad ropey in spots. The 13 minute version of ‘Bad Boy Boogie’ stands out here. Disc Four is titled ‘Volts’ and is a collection of tracks the band put down prior to recording ‘Highway To Hell’. Some of these tracks were re-recorded for inclusion on 'Highway To Hell’ and some were reworked. Disc Five is a remastered ‘Back In Black’. This is the band’s biggest seller to date and, baring a resurgence of interest in earlier releases, I imagine will remain so. With Brian Johnson now on vocals, the wit and what made the band special has ebbed away. ‘Back In Black’ is still a good fun album though. So, with the release of ‘Bonfire’ (geddit?), Epic have unleashed a great early AC/DC collectors item. All we need now is a DVD, please. Pretty please. Buy.
|
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tribute to a legend, 12 May 2004
There is no better way to honour one of the greatest singers of all time than with one of the greatest box sets of all time.Bon once said that he would one day call an album 'Bonfire' but unfortunately he died before he was given the chance so fittingly the AC/DC lads named his tribute 'Bonfire'. And what a tribute! This box set has three of the best live albums ever produced from back in the days when bands just recorded their gigs and released the CD's (well, vinyl's then) without changing bits. The quality of each is superb but 'Live from Atlantic Studios' is in the same league as 'If you want blood'(A seperate AC/DC live album) and 'Rock in Rio' (Iron Maidens best live album) although on a much smaller crowd scale. Coupled with this is 'Volts', a collection of very early stuff including snippets of Bon talking stuck on the end of 'Ride on'. Not only do you get these great Bon tribute CD's but you get AC/DC's next album, the monsterous, 'Back in Black' with their new singer Brian Johnson (How they managed to find a Geordie that sounds like a Scotsman brought up in Australia I don't know) who remained faithful to Bon's original sound. All in all this is one of the greatest boxsets around and a must buy for all fans of AC/DC. Ride On Bon The fans
|
|
|
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A find for fans, 21 Nov 2004
This large, handsomely packaged box set includes two live albums, a remastered digipack issue of AC/DC's 1980 LP "Back In Black", and a disc of outtakes and previously unissued songs in addition to the well-illustrated and (reasonably) well-written booklet.
Casual listeners won't really need this set...they will be happy with just "Highway To Hell" and "Back In Black". But more serious fans should delight in the rarities and the live material in particular. Those fans probably own "Back In Black" already, but I suppose it's alright to include it in a box set which is essentially a tribute to AC/DC's original lead singer Ronald "Bon" Scott. That's what "Back In Black" was, after all.
The outtakes (on the disc titled "Volts") are generally very good. All of them are from the Bon Scott-era, and the highlights include an unusually tough eight-minute "She's Got Balls", a live "Sin City", a terrific studio rendition of "If You Want Blood You Got It", and very different versions of the "Highway To Hell"-tracks "Touch Too Much" and "Get It Hot".
The last few minutes of the rarities disc are devoted to an unlisted collection of interview snippets, and AC/DC also perform Chuck Berry's "School Days", although not with quite as much power as you might have expected.
"Live From The Atlantic Studios" is an eight-song radio broadcast from 1978, and it includes spirited performances of "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be", the rarely heard "Dog Eat Dog", and the classic "Whole Lotta Rosie". The sound is good without being magnificent, and Angus Young plays some sizzling lead guitar.
But the biggest highlight of this set is the double-disc soundtrack to the movie "Let There Be Rock", a 1979 Paris, France concert from the "Highway To Hell" tour. "Let There Be Rock - Live In Paris" includes numerous songs which weren't on AC/DC's only official live release of the Bon Scott-era, 1978's "If You Want Blood"...like the menacing "Walk All Over You", "Girls Got Rhythm", and of course "Highway To Hell". It is some of the finest live AC/DC available
And then there's "Back In Black", of course, the group's finest album and one of the greatest hard rock records of all time (as well as the best-selling hard rock-slash-heavy metal record ever). But I suppose you know that one already since you're considering whether or not to invest in a four-disc AC/DC box set.
Again, this is a too much for casual listeners, but diehard fans of AC/DC (and Bon Scott in particular) will want to pick up "Bonfire" right away. And for those of us who fall somewhere in between...well, I like it a lot, but I don't take it out that often. It's great fun, though, and at this price it's a really good purchase.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![AC/DC - Plug Me In [DVD] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/314HSF2dCcL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
See all 8 tracks on this disc
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home