AC/DC: Live at Donington

There weren't many well filmed gigs in the late 80s/early 90s, and this one does manage to capture a lot of the feeling of being there.

This is good snapshot of the band in that era, but definitely not the best example of ACDC live.

It's entertaining and the band still had plenty of energy, with Brian becoming more of a stage performer - later on of course he became even more comfortable up there.

Slade was a fine drummer but regularly played the songs too fast, spoiling the stomping feel somewhat.

On that tour Angus deviated strangely to a more distorted sound which was not typical of his previous sound. Subsequently the twin guitars are not quite the classic sound which you can hear on Youtube before or after this era.

Brian sounds great, even though his voice sounded quite churned up and ragged in that era, it suited the raw power of the music, and in reality it was his last tour as a real balls-out power singer, though he has certainly showed flashes of that here and there in each tour since. His best live work and quality of voice can be found in the 80s stuff - there's no shame in admitting that.

Overall it's great stuff, but the most representative Brian-eras are with Rudd on drums. It's a '7' by their standards but an '8' or '9' compared to what else is out there.

Comparisons can be dangerous, however in this case I think justified. Comparing this to No Bull 1996, this is far and away superior sound mixing and recording. As for the show itself, a brilliant reproduction of the band and for best results, viewed on large widescreen and LOUD 5.1 surround sound. Angus at the front of the stage keeps the audience spellbound with his own unique blend of riffs and lead breaks. Cliff and Malcolm add solid metal rock by just being there. Brian continues to pick up where Bon Scott left off and Chris Slade holds it all together on the skins. That's the closest to a live show without being there. Simply superb. Onya' Angus.

Although nearly half a million fans turned out at Downsview in Toronto in 2003 to see the headlining act -- The Rolling Stones -- all anyone talked about after the show was AC/DC, and how they pretty much blew all the other acts off the stage. That's got to tell you SOMETHING, and this DVD goes a long way toward explaining why that was so: it certainly shows the Thunder From Down Under at their hard-rocking best. Angus Young is (as always) a treat to watch. Not only is his guitar technique almost supernaturally skillful, his whole "slightly whacko" schick (e.g. his "seizure" during that extended guitar solo) is just so entertaining! And the sound... ohmygoodness. You crank up the Dolby 5.1 on a good sound system and you'll FEEL it in your gut, that's a personal guarantee. Oh yes, this is the way concerts SHOULD be recorded. (And isn't it great they performed Jailbreak? That's a kick-ass AC/DC classic that doesn't get anywhere NEAR enough air-play, in my opinion.) I think my only complaint about this concert is that a lot of Brian Johnson's between-song banter seems to me to be awfully forced and insincere. But hey, a guy that can sing like that doesn't NEED to do a lot of talking...

This is a great portrayal of what a good rock concert should be like. Full of energy, lots of good tunes, and filmed on 35mm film, it is truly inspiring. I wish all shows could be this good. Long live AC/DC!