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AC DC: Maximum Rock and Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll...
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AC DC: Maximum Rock and Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll...
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by Murray Engleheart and Arnaud Durieux
Sales Rank: 34849
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List Price: $25.95
$17.13
At Amazon
on 12-29-2007.
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Features
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: HarperEntertainment January 2, 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061133914
ISBN-13: 978-0061133916
Product Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Five years in the making, journalist Engleheart and leading AC/DC expert Durieux have crafted the definitive biography of the wildly successful Australian rockers. Covering everything from guitarist Angus Young's first record purchase (Club A Go-Go by the Yardbirds) to the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all points in between, this book is a godsend for fans. Placing an emphasis on the formative years, Engleheart and Durieux chronicle the band's rise to the top in detail without getting bogged down-quite a feat, considering their source material includes more than 1,300 interviews with the band and more than 75 new interviews. While much of the story will be familiar to longtime fans, there is enough obscure trivia and anecdotes to keep it interesting, and the writers wisely give priority to the voices of those who were there. The authors also dispel many myths surrounding the band, including those attached to legendary frontman Bon Scott's death and the infamous cover of their Highway to Hell album. So faithful to the spirit of the band it could leave readers' ears ringing, this book is required reading for any serious fan of rock music.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Australia's AC/DC parlayed riff-driven hard rock into a long-running career despite lead singer Bon Scott's untimely death in 1980. Along with madcap guitarist Angus Young, Scott had become a rock icon embodying an ethos of hard-driving performing and living. Such a loss might have ended most bands, but AC/DC found a replacement remarkably similar to Scott in growling voice and stage persona: Brian Johnson. Pretty much the antithesis of fellow Aussie chart toppers, the falsetto-warbling Bee Gees, AC/DC didn't wear sparkly frippery, eschewed disco, and barred saccharine strings from its strident anthems. Its magnum opus, Back in Black, came after Scott's death and cemented its place in the rock pantheon. Further touring and hits rarely deviated from a hard-rock template. Clearly a devotee, Englehart tracks the band's career with aplomb, from scuffling days down under to its present lofty status, yet avoids excessive praise. Replete with discography, a regular omnibus resource on the band and great reading for rock-history buffs. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
It'd be too easy to capitalize on the alleged mentality of an AC/DC fan's inabilitiy to actually read a book. That would be a joke on the snot nosed critics who used to delight in trashing the band only to be forced to deal with the fact that they have perservered over 30 years. Unlike flavors of the month, fashion statements rather than musicians and ditzy pop divas who die quick deaths after one or two years, hard rock and metal music enjoys life spans much longer thanks to love of the music and a sharp focus. That focus is never more clear than with AC/DC, whom, as we read in "Maximum Rock And Roll" are far more complex, intelligent and talented than many folks realize or care to admit. This book is a labor of love. Detractors and enemies need not waste their time. For those who value this gutsy loud great rock and roll band (they are NOT metal), the book is a great read, giving U.S. fans particularly a first hand look at the Australian rock culture and the trials and trevails of the Young brothers as they climb to the top, lose their charismatic singer Bon Scott, and then come back even more ferociously with the legendary "Back In Black". Readers will have to accustom themselves to the British print, slang and puncuation, but that's a small point. The book is not just a definitive look into AC/DC, but one of the better books on any band or musician in quite some time. Listen to "Powerage" at migraine level while you read.
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AC DC: Maximum Rock and Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll...
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