The one song AC/DC will always regret releasing: “Very soft music”
Despite being one of the biggest rock bands of all time, AC/DC frequently find themselves on the end of criticism. A lot of people don’t give the band the credit that they’re due, as people say that their songs are repetitive and lack any kind of variety. While it is true that AC/DC have a very particular style that they stick to, that shouldn’t be seen as a weakness on their part.
AC/DC’s style wasn’t something that they came to easily. Growing up, Angus and Malcolm Young loved the blues and R&B, so it was always the case that they wanted to make good guitar music. However, when they initially started making music, the charts were leaning away from that sort of style, beginning to champion the ballad instead of rock songs.
This was the antithesis of the kind of music the Young brothers wanted to make, but their record label pressured them into making more chart-friendly music. Subsequently, for their debut album High Voltage, they opted to write a song that complemented this kind of charting music. It was called ‘Love Song’ (yes, this was an AC/DC track), and it is quite simply one of the worst pieces of music that they ever made.
“On our first album, High Voltage, we did a love song called ‘Love Song’,” admitted Young. “That was very different for us. I didn’t know if we were trying to parody love songs of the time, because Bon [Scott] wrote the lyrics. I don’t even remember what the words are.”
Young continued, saying that the only reason the band had entertained the song in the first place was because their label was telling them to release it. “I remember that song because the guy who worked for us at our record label told us that’s what was on the local radio at the time: ‘Very soft music’,” said Young. “[He] thought we should release that song because it’ll probably get some airplay. I remember thinking, ‘Who in their right mind would want this to go out?’”
AC/DC released the song with the B-side ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’, a heavier cover of the blues classic. While their A-side completely flopped, a few Australian radio stations liked the B-side and so played that. It was a lifeline for AC/DC, as their label realised that even though they might not be making the same music as other bands on the radio, they were still marketable.
Young has admitted that while their earlier music leaned more toward hard rock, it wasn’t until their album Let There Be Rock that the band fully embraced the fact that they just wanted to make great-sounding guitar music. From then on, they decided to focus specifically on guitar music, hard-hitting riffs, and good guitar solos.
While people might think their sound is repetitive, the fact that they have maintained their popularity after all these decades is a testament to their talent. In the face of different genres climbing the charts, there has always been an appetite for AC/DC, and that’s because when it comes to great guitar music, there is nobody doing it as well as them.
