What is the greatest comeback in rock ‘n’ roll history?
Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s that simple, isn’t it? Three rules to live by. Three pillars that hold up your career. Well, these three fundamentals are a lot harder to follow than we mere mortals might think.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’ve all dreamed of being a rock star at some point in our lives. There is something deeply alluring about seeing a band stand on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, playing great music and receiving acclaim for it. At a good gig, rock stars don’t just perform, they ascend to somewhere beyond our earthly plane, accessing a sense of euphoria that is difficult to put into words.
Not to mention, as well as the inevitable high that comes with performing, there are also all of the perks that come with being a rock star, which make the lifestyle tempting. Those three pillars that make up the culture surrounding rock music all sound pretty nice, so why wouldn’t people want to engage with them a bit more?
However, while being a rockstar might look like the perfect life, it’s actually a lot more difficult than you think. The sex, drugs, and music is all well and good, but with them come health risks, creative and personal tension, fragile egos and heated arguments. There’s a reason why so many rock bands end up breaking up, and that’s because the life of a rockstar takes its toll on the soundest of minds. If you start throwing various substances, relationships and creative shunning into the mix, it’s all akin to shaking a can of Red Bull and opening that sucker up!
Of course, while rock bands are prone to parting ways, that also means that they have a tendency to find their way back. A large number of rock bands who have parted ways have eventually gotten back together to put on some more shows for the adoring fans they managed to win over the first time around. There are plenty of examples of great rock ‘n’ roll comebacks out there, but the question remains: which one was the best?
A lot of you are probably expecting me to vote Oasis, and I’ll be honest, I did think about it. There was a lot of speculation about their reunion gigs when they were announced, as people worried that they wouldn’t be good enough to live up to the hype and were just doing the gigs as a cash grab. Well, cash grab or not, it’s hard to deny that those gigs have been anything other than spectacular, seeing crowds young and old, united in their devotion to some lads from Manchester, is truly what rock music is all about. While this will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in rock history, it doesn’t take the top spot for me; that goes to AC/DC.
Here’s my rationale: AC/DC had a lot more to come back from than Oasis did. Brothers Gallagher had to get over their silly bickering ways; meanwhile, AC/DC had to rewrite their band. The passing of Bon Scott was something that shocked the rock world to its core, and given his sweet-sounding and scratchy voice was such an integral part of the outfit, many thought they were done for after his death. However, that didn’t end up being the case.
The band weren’t out of the picture for too long after Scott’s death before they made their comeback. They didn’t see the point in waiting around and mourning, as that’s not what their fallen brethren would have wanted. Instead, they started writing music again and put out the feelers for who might be their next lead singer. Naturally, fans were pessimistic about this new age for the band, especially given they opted to use Brian Johnson, who had a totally different singing style from Bon Scott, but the band’s return to the spotlight was triumphant.
Their first album with the new lineup, Back in Black, tripled up as a tribute to Scott himself, a source of comfort to mourning AC/DC fans, and a reassurance that the hard rock band the world had grown to know and love weren’t going anywhere. The record wound up being their most successful offering, and it contains songs which are still considered their very best to this day, such as the title track, ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ and ‘Hell’s Bells’.
AC/DC was dealing with a lot of pressure at the time of their comeback as they were mourning the loss of a friend and staring down criticisms that the band would never be the same without that friend. The fact that they managed to create something that proved they still had what made them special, while also honouring the memory of who they’d lost, is truly momentous. Out of all the comebacks in rock history, none have had it harder than AC/DC, and none have dealt with it as well as them either.
