"A stylus-melting red-hot riff-o-rama that demands to be played loud." AC/DC are captured in their hungry prime on If You Want Blood You've Got It

The title of AC/DC's If You Want Blood You've Got It spoke volumes. So did the cover: Angus Young impaled on his own guitar, Bon Scott beside him, eyes glazed. It was symbolic of a band that gave everything they had on stage.

If You Want Blood was recorded on 1978’s Powerage tour, much of the final cut coming from a gig in Glasgow, the Young brothers’ birthplace. “That,” said Angus, “was the magic show.”

Released on Friday 13th, If You Want Blood would include all the obvious crowd-pleasers like The Jack (its strictly live, ‘dirty’ lyrics included on record for the first time); Whole Lotta Rosie (with a new crowd chant of “Angus! Angus!” over the juddering intro recorded for the first time, thereby embedding it forever into the consciousness of all future generations of AC/DC concert-goers).

There were also lengthy, barnstorming encores of Let There Be Rock (distinguished by the very real roar of approval from the Glasgow crowd at seeing the band return to the stage wearing Scotland football shirts); and Rocker, cleverly edited down from its usual 12-minutes-plus to a more radio-accommodating three minutes dead.

The result was one of the great live albums, rivalling Thin Lizzy’s Live And Dangerous and Motörhead’s No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith. If You Want Blood finally opened the doors of the UK Top 20 for AC/DC, eventually climbing as high as No.13.

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Other albums released in October 1978

• Photo-Finish - Rory Gallagher
• Comes A Time - Neil Young
• Hot Streets - Chicago
• 25 Years On - Hawklords
• Go 2 - XTC
• Dire Straits - Dire Straits
• Dog & Butterfly - Heart
• Killing Machine - Judas Priest
• So Alone - Johnny Thunders
• Toto - Toto
• A Single Man - Elton John
• Slade Alive, Vol. 2 - Slade
• Hemispheres - Rush
• Thoroughfare Gap - Stephen Stills
• Coliseum Rock - Starz
• If You Can't Stand the Heat... - Status Quo
• Inner Secrets - Santana
• Live! Bootleg - Aerosmith
• Music for Films - Brian Eno
• Prehistoric Sounds - The Saints
• Private Practice - Dr. Feelgood
• Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) - Captain Beefheart
• Trouble - Whitesnake
• Two for the Show - Kansas

What they said...

"They were always a mighty live act, and this is the sound of AC/DC in Europe just prior to 1979’s U.S. breakthrough. The audience’s hysteria regularly cuts through the amps, as they howl along to singer Bon Scott’s tale of sexually transmitted disease (The Jack) and punctuate guitarist Angus Young’s staccato riffing on Whole Lotta Rosie. Imagine a punk-rock Chuck Berry played at nosebleed volume." (Blender)

"If You Want Blood is not only the last album by the band to be produced by long-time producers Harry Vanda and George Young, but in grand AC/DC fashion, it's simple and blunt to the point. In contrast to live albums of the period, If You Want Blood destroys with a single album's worth of killer tunes as opposed to the then-normal double or triple album format." (Sleaze Roxx)

"This is one of those live albums which could have been a double album if the band had allowed it to be. While it’s great to hear AC/DC rocking away on these songs, fans will miss other favourites like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap or T.N.T. Unlike most other live recordings, this one feels surprisingly short and could have gone on for much longer." (The Ultimate Rabbit)

What you said...

Jon Peacock: So here it is, AC/DC’s massive early career live statement. This, and seeing the concert footage of the Rock Goes To College gig, hit me right between the eyes and ears.

I was still at school in East Yorkshire, going to the school's evening club/disco when Whole Lotta Rosie hit the speakers. Oh My God, the headbanging we did to that song, but more than that, we had now discovered a wonderful, rich vein of rock and metal music: Motörhead, Judas Priest, Scorpions, and then AC/DC added to it all with Let There Be Rock and then this blistering live album. Angus in full flight, Bon at the height of his vocal powers, and the best rhythm section in rock'n'roll.

This album is one of the greatest live albums ever released; it shares such company as Strangers In The Night, Live And Dangerous, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, Unleashed In The East and Made in Japan. This was rock music at its hard-hitting, rocking finest. What a great time to be alive!

From start to finish, this album is a testament to just how bloody good Bon, Angus and the lads were. I won’t deny the Bon Scott era AC/DC is in some way my favourite place to be. Back in Black is superb, but I’ve never felt they hit that peak again with Brian Johnson, not that it is a reflection on him. He had to fill the biggest shoes and tightest jeans, but as good as he is, he is no Bon Scott.

As a live album, it feels raw and powerful, great vocals and a bunch of cracking lead guitar from Angus, the stomping, gyrating, head-banging, leaping, crashing loon, but never misses a beat, and a rhythm section that never stops delivering, it’s all glorious, thundering, entertaining stuff.

I purchased this when it hit the shelves, played it to death, still have it, will never part with it. Is it the best live album ever? Maybe it is, certainly top five at least. A 10/10 all day long.

Chris Downie: There's little more to say about this album that hasn't been said before - and probably said better - by others, but there's no doubt whatsoever it belongs in the conversation of greatest live albums of all time. Right up there with UFO's Strangers In The Night, Iron Maiden's Live After Death, Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous and many others, it captures a young band in their prime, raw and hungry, before superstardom would capture imaginations throughout the world.

While comparisons to the aforementioned are entirely appropriate, I think it's true peer is Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East, simply because it encapsulates the respective bands just as they were on the cusp of mainstream greatness; a live recording that bookends their early highlights in a neat compilation and proves beyond a shadow of doubt that, while the 'hits' that later followed are worthy of all the adulation they continue to get to this day, it was in the late 70's where they laid the foundations for what was to come... and this is arguably still the best version of Whole Lotta Rosie ever committed to tape!

Steve Ballinger: The best opening track on any live album ever.

Lyn John: Magnificent opening track! Great release and a worthy legacy for one of the great frontmen in rock.

Robby Jackson: If you want Bon Scott, you’ve got him front and centre! This album is a gem hidden in plain sight.

Listening to this album on my stereo setup (not Spotify), you get the true live experience. Except for Whole Lotta Rosie, the songs were kept authentic with minimal studio edits, thanks to Harry Vanda and George Young. Compared to the 1992 live album that had that stadium "wall of sound," If You Want Blood sounded and felt like Bon and Angus were right there in my room.

If I had been five years older when this album was released, I’m pretty sure I would have played it until the needle broke. It was a "kick back and toe-tapping in the air" experience.

Thanks for choosing this album. It sent me on a journey of listening to AC/DC on a different level, finally knowing where Bon ends, and Brian starts. AC/DC stand the test of time. They are more relatable to today’s generation than bands like The Who.

More live albums, please!

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, April 1978) - YouTube

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Brian Carr: It’s always great to jam a stone-cold classic, but this week’s selection begs the question: what needs to be said? It’s AC/DC. It’s Bon, which elevates it all the more for me. If You Want Blood didn’t break the band in the US, but that says more about the music business in my country. Pretty sure I had a cassette version of this as a preteen in the 80s, so it’s pretty ubiquitous for me. Powerage received a perfect ten from me in June of 2018; High Voltage likely did in August of 2023; AC/DC didn’t change their stuff, so why should I change my rating?

Mark Herrington: If You Want Blood is an utter sweat-drenched, raw power live album that never fails to make me grin with pleasure.

It captures you from the start, puts you right there at that moment in the crowd. and never lets go, with its rampaging hypnotic energy.

Bon’s vocals are intense, singing like the devil himself, alongside Angus Young’s manic guitar playing.

I love the fervent and messianic version of Let There Be Rock, drawing in every air-guitar wannabe, but each track is a stone-cold classic, with the crowd acting as a member of the band, with their accompaniment and zeal.

It feels like they bottled lightning with If You Want Blood, making it one of the truly great live albums of all time. 10/10

Philip Qvist: There is no doubt that AC/DC were at their peak in the late 70s after releasing Let There Be Rock and Powerage, while Highway To Hell was just around the corner, and it shows on If You Want Blood You've Got It.

Sadly, it also leaves us with a "what if" moment, as in imagine if Bon didn't die when he did, just as the 1980s had begun. That's not to belittle the contributions that Brian has since brought to the band (and it's considerable), but there is something about the Bon Scott era that appeals to me just that bit more than what the band has produced since his death.

Still, at least we have the music, including a live album that showcases AC/DC at their peak, and all recorded at Glasgow's Apollo Theatre in April 1978, just as the Scottish Football Team was gearing up for another triumphant World Cup tournament (sadly for them, Iran and Peru didn't get the memo).

We have four songs from Let There Be Rock, although technically Problem Child is also on that album, and three from TNT and two from Powerage, leaving us with just 10 songs on, unusually for the time, a single Live LP record.

Bon and Angus are on fire here, along with the rhythm section of Malcolm, Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams. And all played in front of an appreciative audience.

It's probably not on my Top 10 list of all-time favourite live albums, but it isn't that far off either. A 9 from me.

Martin Cross: Classic album. Put your headphones on and listen to the intro to Rock'n'Roll Damnation and feel the power. 9/10.

John Davidson: There are a handful of live albums, all released in the 70s, that catch the best rock bands in the world at the absolute peak of their game. Thin Lizzy, UFO, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull and Deep Purple all come immediately to mind.

If You Want Blood does exactly that. This is a snapshot of the Bon Scott era AC/DC before Mutt Lange made them megastars, but after they'd laid down the best album of their career, Powerage.

I was under 16 when this tour happened, and my pals and I lived too far from Glasgow to make the gig, but we played this album to death when it came out, and it really felt like it was ours.

Looking back, The Jack hasn't dated very well, but regardless of any lyrical niceties, this is pure hard rock'n'roll, played tight and absolutely captivating. 10/10

Chris Elliott: One of the three essential AC DC albums. The Bon Scott years' greatest hits, unlike every other live album of the period. It's not full of solos and faffing around - the raw power and rough edges make it a great album.

AC/DC - Fling Thing/Rocker (Filmed April 30, 1978) - YouTube

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Zak Browne: A 10/10 scorcher

Steve Boegel: An absolutely brilliant album with the great Bon Scott.

Hardzy Hardes: Bon and the boys at their best.

Charles John Wilson: Best Album ever.

Gary Claydon: One of the great live albums by one of the greatest live bands. If you never saw the Bon Scott-era AC/DC, then If You Want Blood is a taste of what you were missing. This is quintessential DC: dirty, mean and mighty unclean. No fucking about, this is a live album as a blunt instrument, each of the 10 tracks, all classics, delivering a knockout blow.

Brilliant audience participation, from the 'Angus!' interjection during the Rosie intro - ever after part of the show - the singalong to The Jack, which adds both comic value and a rare change of pace, to the roof-raising roar that greeted the band's return for the encore decked out in Scotland shirts.

Highlights? There are 10 of 'em, though the extended run-through of Bad Boy Boogie is a particular favourite. The whole album is a stylus-melting red-hot riff-o-rama that demands to be played loud.

Now, give this sixty-something would-be six-string slinger some room, 'cos I got me a fully loaded air guitar, and you can bet your school uniform that I ain't afraid to use it!

Nigel Welch: I saw them on this tour in Edinburgh, a night or two before this was recorded. It’s a pretty good representation of what they were like live. R.I.P. Bon.

Adam Ranger: Fond memories of this album, which I bought as a 14-year-old. A band at the top of their game, the following year they released their best album, Highway To Hell.

This album captures the spirit of the band very well. Angus keeps his noodling to the minimum (in later years, this part of the set got longer, and while it's OK if you are at the gig, it doesn't always translate well to a live recording. Bon is in great voice, too.

Song choice is solid. Mostly fast-paced rockers, but also showing the blues and rhythm roots of the band.

I love discovering new bands here, but sometimes it's best to revisit those old favourites, if only to confirm that they are favourites for a reason!

Richard Cessario: Peak AC/DC

Greg Schwepe: If You Want Blood You’ve Got It is the only live AC/DC album from the Bon Scott era. The 70s were a time of many classic sprawling double live albums spread over four sides of vinyl, with many albums having one song taking up an entire side. Well, AC/DC said “Pffffft, we only need two sides of vinyl, 52 minutes and ten songs to get our point across.” Point well made!

I liken the beginning of this album to the start of a party, where one might shake up a can of their favourite beverage (a Foster’s lager, maybe?), rip off the pull tab, let the contents spray a little, then chug down the remaining foamy beverage. Angus’s galloping intro to Riff Raff is akin to shaking the can. At 1:25 into the song, when Phil Rudd taps his hi-hat cymbal four times, that’s the pull tab coming off. Then the beverage spews and the chugging ensues. From here on out there is very little let up. You can come up for a little air at times, but then you’re chugging again.

Bombarded. Pummeled. Smacked Around. Clobbered. Yeah, kind of how you feel when listening to this. Bon’s fury, the Young brothers’ guitar interplay, and the lockstep drums and bass of Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams.

While the entire album rocks and I like every single song on the album, there are four monumental songs on If You Want Blood for me: The aforementioned Riff Raff, then Bad Boy Boogie, The Jack and Whole Lotta Rosie.

The breakdown section in the middle of Bad Boy Boogie is what keeps me coming back to that song. That long, slow segment where Angus teases the crowd, the repeating riff, then full-on mayhem when the entire band and Bon kick back in.

And you wouldn’t think you could use “slow blues” and “AC/DC” in the same sentence, but that’s why there’s The Jack. This is your chance to catch your breath a little. This is the raunchier version with the playing card references replaced. I’ll take this version over the original.

Whole Lotta Rosie rounds out my final selection of favourites. As the Glasgow crowd chants “Angus!,” we hear Bon extolling the virtues of a physical encounter with a full-figured female. Evidently size does matter, as Rosie shows she is a whole lotta woman.

And after that, there are still four songs left on the album. Whew. And I already felt rocked out. Strap in and finish this one.

I was lucky enough to see this lineup of AC/DC twice in 1979. First as the middle act of a triple bill (with Ted Nugent headlining and the Scorpions opening! Ears rang for three days!) while supporting Powerage. Then again, four months later, when they were headlining their Highway To Hell tour. This was a band on fire.

Come this July, I will venture to a football stadium near me to hear a portion of these songs played by a different AC/DC lineup, but I’ll feel the same gut punch when I hear Whole Lotta Rosie or Riff Raff. 9 out of 10 on this one for me.

Final score: 9.36 (127 votes cast, total score 1189)

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