Fans of
AC/DC
's original singer
Bon Scott
who pick up
Livestock
expecting to hear
redux will be rather surprised with this release. These cuts, recorded in 1971 with
Scott
's previous band,
Fraternity
, reveal a drastically different sound than the bluesy
hard rock
made his name with.
veer all over the stylistic map, from the funky
"Summerville"
to the extended
prog-rock
epic
"Raglan's Folly"
(which wouldn't sound out of place on an early
Genesis
album). Only
"Race"
(both parts) and
"Livestock"
bear any resemblance to
's most famous band, and even then just barely, since they sound closer to
the Doors
or mid-'60s
Rolling Stones
. Part of the discrepancy is that, as the extensive liner notes explain,
had very little creative input in
, which was chiefly the vision of bassist
Bruce Howe
and guitarist
Mick Jurd
.
only has one writing credit here (ironically enough, on
) and several of the songs ask him to sing in keys which are far outside his range, which is why his voice is barely recognizable here. That's not to say some of the material here isn't pleasant on its own terms, but none of it is really that groundbreaking or unusual, and would probably have faded into obscurity without
's later notoriety.
serves a good historical purpose, but is of limited interest to anyone but hardcore
fanatics. ~ Victor W. Valdivia