"
High Voltage" is a song by
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
hard rockHard rock or heavy rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music...
band
AC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered pioneers of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll".AC/DC underwent several line-up...
. It was first released in Australia as a
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
in July
1975-Events:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....
, and it is the eighth track of their 2nd Australian album
T.N.TT.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in December 1975. Seven of the album's nine songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott...
.
High Voltage was written by
Angus YoungAngus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the hard rock band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003...
,
Malcolm YoungMalcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...
, and
Bon ScottRonald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
.
"High Voltage" shares its name with the band's first Australian and international albums. It is the ninth and final track on the international version, released in May
1976-January-February:* January 5 - Bob Dylan releases Desire.* January 6 - Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive!* January 7 - Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the...
.
"
High Voltage" is a song by
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
hard rockHard rock or heavy rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music...
band
AC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered pioneers of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll".AC/DC underwent several line-up...
. It was first released in Australia as a
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
in July
1975-Events:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....
, and it is the eighth track of their 2nd Australian album
T.N.TT.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in December 1975. Seven of the album's nine songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott...
.
High Voltage was written by
Angus YoungAngus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the hard rock band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003...
,
Malcolm YoungMalcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...
, and
Bon ScottRonald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
.
"High Voltage" shares its name with the band's first Australian and international albums. It is the ninth and final track on the international version, released in May
1976-January-February:* January 5 - Bob Dylan releases Desire.* January 6 - Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive!* January 7 - Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the...
. "High Voltage" was also released as a single in the UK and various countries in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
in 1976.
In the song's lyrics, the singer answers questions from an unnamed second party, pertaining to the singer's physical appearance, interests, activities, and general existence. The singer's answer to every question is "high voltage rock 'n' roll."
"High Voltage" is one of AC/DC's most popular songs, and has been included on four of the band's five official live releases:
If You Want Blood You've Got ItIf You Want Blood You've Got It is the first live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, originally released in the U.S.A. on 21 November 1978...
(sung by Bon Scott, 1978),
Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition (sung by Scott's replacement
Brian JohnsonBrian Johnson is a English singer and songwriter who, since 1980, has been the lead singer for the Australian rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
, 1992),
Live from the Atlantic StudiosLive From the Atlantic Studios is a live album by AC/DC released on the Bonfire box set. The album was recorded live at the Atlantic Recording Studios in New York, on 7 December 1977 and all tracks were remixed by George Young. This was an official Radio Station/Promo release by Atlantic Records....
(Scott, 1977), and
Let There Be Rock: The MovieLet There Be Rock: The Movie - Live In Paris is a live double CD by the hard rock band AC/DC, released as "Disc Two" and "Disc Three" of the Bonfire box set in 1997 ....
(Scott, 1979) - the latter two being released in 1997 as part of the
BonfireBonfire is a 5 disc box set* by the Australian band AC/DC, released in 1997, and remastered with a release in Digipak format in 2003. It was created as a tribute to the band's earlier singer Bon Scott and included the two disc soundtrack to the movie Let There be Rock, some early unreleased tracks,...
box set.
In concerts, this song has evolved into sing-a-long with the crowd. In the bridge where the original singer of the song Bon Scott sings 'I said high, I said high', this has been extended where both singers Bon Scott and Brian Johnson repeat the word 'high' in ever increasing loudness and high pitch, to which the crowd responds with "high" louder also. That is followed by a discreet backing rhythm for several minutes whilst Angus Young does some improvisation on the guitar.
Personnel
- Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
- lead vocals
- Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the hard rock band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003...
- lead guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
- Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...
- rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Mark Evans
Mark Whitmore Evans is an Australian bassist best known for his membership of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from March 1975 to June 1977...
- bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
, backing vocals
- Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer, best known for his membership in rock band AC/DC. He held the position from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to present. After the 1977 departure of bassist Mark Evans, he became the only Australian-born member of the band...
- drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...