The performances with Bon Scott
are generally harder, wilder and edgier (even if they often include
extended show-stopping closing numbers rather than capturing the
natural flow of a concert), but the consensus among serious fans that
AC/DC started going downhill after Brian Johnson signed on as lead singer (following Scott's death in 1980) gets a serious kick in the ass with the first four songs from disc two. Shot during one of Johnson's first tours with AC/DC, the footage of Johnson
and AC/DC driving a crowd of Japanese fans absolutely nuts with a
flamethrower concert in Tokyo is arguably the best stuff in this box,
tight and relentless, and while disc two hits a bit of a dip in the
middle, that has more to do with some unfortunate MTV-style editing and
the grand-scale outdoor staging of the shows than any real deficiencies
in their performances. AC/DC have always been a tough, lean, no-frills
rock band, and the sheer sweat and power of their shows is consistent
from front to back; Angus Young
is a bit less manic in the 21st century than he was in 1975, but he
still scrambles admirably well for a guy pushing 50, and the band -- Johnson, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, the same lineup that cut
Back in Black -- can still seriously shake a crowd of over 400,000 at Toronto's "SARS-Stock" in 2003. The set closes with a bonus clip of Brian Johnson and the Young brothers jamming with the Rolling Stones at a German show in 2003, and in many respects AC/DC have stood the test of time better than Mick and Keef
-- Plug Me In proves they still command the power of basic, hot-rodded
hard rock as well as anyone of their generation, and they lose precious
little muscle and intensity during the 28 years covered in this set.
The video game-influenced graphics may be a bit cheesy, but Plug Me In
is undiluted testosterone-rich rock at its finest, and it wouldn't be
at all shocking if AC/DC had another great two-disc DVD package lurking
in their tape vaults.
Subject: AC/DC DvD ! 
Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:49 pm
