AC/DC Powerage: My First Listen in 1978 and Why It's Still the Best AC/DC Album for me

AC/DC Powerage: My First Listen in 1978 and Why It's Still the Best
Join me as I take a nostalgic trip back to 1978 with AC/DC's iconic album, Powerage. In this video review, I share my personal memories of hearing the album for the first time and discuss each track in detail, explaining why Powerage remains my favorite AC/DC album to this day. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to AC/DC's music, this deep dive into their 1978 classic is sure to resonate.
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Thank you everyone for being part of my journey and supporting me. Phil :)
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine

[@HaakonOdinsson]

My favourite AC/DC album, closely followed by “If you want blood…”. Just a sublime album, every track is a balls out classic. Top stuff 💪🤘

[@bernieeggleden5016]

For those about to rock....... we salute you - different album but the most memorable on the radio.

[@rogertemple7193]

A lot of their early albums including Powerage were the best of AC/DC's records Thanks Phil. 🎤🎸🎸🎸🥁

[@davidsheppard7317]

Possibly there greatest achievement. A absolutely classic. 👍👍

[@hevihoo]

It's my absolute favourite of their cataloque also. It's just regrettable that only the original European release had the Cold Hearted Man on it. Such a good song and sits nicely in the flow. I don't understand why it was dropped off and never brought back on the later reissues. It seems that I always return to this one. It's kind of a more mature songwriting yet still quite raw sounding and not as trimmed and polished as on the next albums. It seems like I'll never grow tired of this one.

[@charleigh195]

I might add I could get quite teary eyed about this album it means so much to me .

[@jasongaylor2232]

Their best album. Musically and lyrically. Extremely consistent too.

[@petermccarthy4525]

Yep, my favourite too. I especially loved the guitar sound on Cold Hearted Man. We saw them in Bristol shortly after the release and it pretty much changed our lives. Thanks for doing this video

[@mikes210]

As much as I like the Brian Johnson era AC/DC, I always go back to the Bon Scott albums. ✌️🤘

[@thevinylorchard]

My favourite lp by them. Down payment blues. Their greatest song

[@jimalaimo8467]

My first copy was on 8 track! It was in heavy rotation on my car stereo.Powerage is my favorite, and it reminds me of freewheelin' times!😊

[@KingLizard616]

My favourite album by them too.

[@gavinsmith9016]

My favourite AC/DC album too. I had the original like you and when I switched to CDs all those years ago I gave my vinyl to my eldest son. I was in a record shop last year and saw a copy, and bought it for my youngest son for Christmas. I like the CD version but... pro - it has Rock n Roll Damnation on it, and con - I wish it still had cold hearted man on it.

[@kevincollins1060]

My favourite album saw them on that tour at Middlesbrough town hall, they were amazing especially when Bon Scott put Angus on his shoulders and ran around the auditorium 😀👍🏻

[@flarpymcknicklenutz700]

Always been my fav... i wore it out !!

[@PSN489]

It is a beast of an album and my fave to. Total classic.

[@DCToonTime]

Agreed, Phil! Their best!

[@pgreed100]

Hi Phil, Definitely get the Paul Kossoff/Angus Young connection, most noticeable for me in the solo in 'You Shook Me All Night Long'. Best wishes, Paul.

[@JCStorm76]

I honestly can’t think of a better rock frontman in history than Bon Scott. Something about him. Powerage is Keith Richards favourite album of all time by the way

[@Thirdfish]

Deffo their finest album alongside HTH.

[@timjonesvideos]

Great review! Have you heard of the Australian rock band Cold Chisel? They were good friends with AC/DC, fronted by another Scottish powerhouse, Jimmy Barnes. They had a big hit down here called 'When the War is Over', if you have never heard it you are missing out on a classic.

[@jegarajramoo3873]

Powerage is a great album. But personally, It is "highway to hell " for me. The sheer rawness and spontaneity of that album is something else. My humble opinion: That is the album that sparked a revival and renewed interest in all things metal. Feel free to argue! Anyway, England are in the Euro semi finals. Hope they can go all the way. CONGRATULATIONS 👍👍👍

[@Raypirri]

Onya Phil! Great album but easily bettered by T’n’T and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I have a connection through meeting Bon Scott when I was just 15 at a high school hall concert here in Oz. The man although incredibly pissed was a great fella and a real character. What you see in pictures was what he was like. One of my greatest moments in these 64 years.

[@shaunfulton7261]

It's the first AC/DC album I bought. I got it from Inferno Records in Brum which was on the left at the bottom of the ramp near Oasis. I think I paid £3.20 for it. My favourite of theirs too.

[@dmac17x]

Totally agree about the track listing Phil. It just doesn't seem right without Gimme A Bullet as first track, and it bothers me far more than it should 😃

[@tobyjonesmusic]

This is the perfect antidote to the 'AC/DC made the same album over and over' argument. As you allude to, the tracks are so very different here. I saw this video pop up in my feed a few days ago but I figured I'd relisten to the album before watching the video. I agree with many of your points, and although it is not my favourite AC/DC effort, definitely a great album and up there with most of their solid output. Also, agree with CD track placing irritation. I haven't got a digital version of Cold Hearted Man as a result (it's on Iron Man 2 soundtrack but I have misplaced the CD) Great video as usual Phil :)

[@andrewmaplethorpe1125]

My favourite AC/DC album too ( although followed very closely by LTBR and HTH ). Never knew about different track listing on the vinyl version compared to the cd though!

[@RKSidd]

One of my most go to AC/DC album. The vinyl track listing is better than the CD version.

[@NowSpinningMagazine]

Totally agree 👍

[@MRW64]

Agree, always been my favourite AC/DC album too. More varied, but I've never got used to the track listings on the CD either and the fact that Cold Hearted Man isn't on it. Someone may be able to correct me if I'm wrong, but my vinyl (which unfortunately I not longer have) is a different mix to that of the CD. I seem to recall years ago that the original album was rush released prior to the final mix which would explain the differences. The Cold Hearted Man omission just does not make any sense!

[@gavaxemanspins]

Love a bit of Acca Decca - Powerage is awesome - got mine from Erdington market - which many years later I found out was the US version which opens with Rock n roll damnation

[@maze2490]

I feel the same for this album. It is among the first five LP's I ever bought. I'm never tired of it! Love and peace.

[@charleigh195]

And also thank you for doing this film it neeeeeded doing for so long

[@elbib2446]

3rd fave album after let there be rock and highway to hell,saw them on the powerage tour

[@jeremiahschulz4796]

Powerage is another example of a timeless classic rock album! I never knew that the track listings were different, So I learned something new today. Thank you for your great content on all classic rock and metal! 🙏🤘

[@rocketrod1444]

My original 1978 Australian L.P has the same track listing as your CD without cold hearted man which was only available as a 12'' single which was included in the original box set which i proudly own . Cheers Phil from sunny downunder 🦘🦘🦘

[@mikeedmonds7929]

Hey Phil, I always enjoy your reviews and stories of how you got into all the great music. This has always been my favorite AC DC albums.

[@moonbananababy6870]

Love the vid Phil, a big AC/DC fan this is my favourite Bon album just love the album, so different to any other DC album a real corker

[@franciskocher200]

My favorite AC/DC album 😄👍🤘

[@frankies9465]

I agree. Its my fav album by Ac/dc . Let there be rock is 2nd. Highway to hell a close 3rd

[@julianirving9868]

Phil, a classic album; no prizes for guessing what I will be playing today. Kind regards

[@ianemery4355]

Fantastic Powerage and if you want blood! That was a proper double header! Fantastic and down the pub yes we all said Got the new ACDC album yet? Great days! 😊

[@andrehendrik]

the connoisseur's favorite -- I wasn't ready for it yet when I was a young teenager, didn't understand its brilliance and special place in the catalog until many years later.

[@kevinbrown1893]

Agreed.

[@turefromfinland3264]

Same here.

[@boboquisp]

That first UK lp release not only has a different track list, some of the mixes are also different. It was rushed out for their impending UK tour.

[@WhatHaveIMade]

That original European vinyl release wasn't even using the final mix of the songs. I've only been able to listen to the songs off of it a couple of times, but off the top of my head I remember that Down Payment Blues doesn't have the outro (after Bon's final "Down payment blues" vocal) that the later releases used. What's Next to the Moon has a very different and simpler mix than the later releases. I was never crazy about Cold Hearted Man. It doesn't fit in with the other songs on the album. I go back and forth between Powerage and Let There Be Rock as being AC/DC's best album.

[@rayhollingshad3580]

My favorite as well!

[@charleigh195]

I have every Acdc album in every collection possible lots of it some worth a few Bob this album is the best rock n roll album ever made.END

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

We used to have a "Harlequin" record store in my home town of Reading (that later became Our Price) and it was one of the numerous record stores there that "me and the boys" used to visit on a Saturday afternoon. We learned quickly that they had the cheapest singles bargain bin and we all grabbed a copy of "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult when we found several copies of it in the bin one Saturday - however, when I got home what I had was a copy of "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" by AC/DC because both singles were on Atlantic with the same label, and I hadn't read mine properly. But on playing the AC/DC single, I didn't feel disappointed in any way and that was the beginning of my AC/DC fandom that has lasted to this very day.

[@skmagson]

Been listening to this one for a long, long time now, and thanks to this video I learned something new about it today. It really twisted my head around when you made the comment that Rock N Roll Damnation wasn't on it, because that's crazy talk--of course that track is on it, it's the first track, it opens the album! ...Doesn't it? Wait, am I the crazy one? I have all their albums, wouldn't be the first time I confused a song from being out of place. PAUSE. Pulled out my LP of it: nope, it's there. First song. That was the remastered version currently on the market. Tucked inside that remaster jacket, I also have an original US Monarch pressing, which my best friend's sister threw away in the garbage (along with Def Leppard's Pyromania and Queen's Greatest Hits) when she broke up with her boyfriend (ah, youth!) I had fished it out of the trash can, cleaned it up and kept it. Anyway, I've had that tucked away in my stacks safe and sound, so I checked that one for Rock N Roll Damnation, as well, and sure enough, my memory was on point: present and accounted for. Checked the original Australian version: present, opening track. Okay! Play the video again! Didn't even get a sentence in before: PAUSE! Now it bugs me, what's up with your copy that it doesn't have Rock N Roll Damnation?? Looked it up on Discogs and, as you eluded to and I would have seen had I kept watching the video, the track listing on the original UK pressing is all kinds of bonkers. Huh. Okay, never knew that, interesting. PLAY. Not a sentence in, WAIT WAIT WAIT, PAUSE. So you have less tracks?? I compared tracks. Cold Hearted Man was the odd track out. Okay, so Beatles/Stones vibes where the track listing is just different in the UK with one song here and one song there swapped out. Okay, got it! PLAY. PAUSE. So where did Cold Hearted Man come from? As someone else points out, we (US) didn't get Cold Hearted Man until the Iron Man soundtrack (which I skipped because I hate comic book movies). Didn't know about that song, either! PS: It's also on the Backtracks compilation, which I've also never listened to, and apparently came out a year earlier than Iron Man. But I doubt that's where the story stops and ends, and lo and behold, with just a little more looking I find the original Rock N Roll Damnation A-side Australian 7" single with none other than Cold Hearted Man as the B-side. So UK has the B-Side, US/AUS has the A-side. Check. Original UK pressing now added to my list of remaining AC/DC LPs to pick up, because it's not like that list isn't long enough as it is 😅(mostly Japanese and Australian pressings). With all that straightened out in my head, I was finally able to finish watching your video! ❤‍🔥🕉🕊

[@NowSpinningMagazine]

Fantastic detective work and research! Thank you for watching :)

[@macca63]

up to my neck in you is superb!

[@DickiePanoss]

It's my fave AC/DC album, the first one to not have any boogie woogie on, which I have tired of a little over the years, and the last one before Mutt Lange got involved and changed their sound

[@MonstroMacabro]

Hard to pick between this and Highway to Hell, but I love it too. Interesting about the track listing differences. If you’ve never heard it, the Dirty Looks cover of Down Payment Blues is pretty awesome, some of the lyrics are more understandable too.

[@user-ez8wj8gi3e]

Found that album also after I just got Let there be rock, Favorite album because of Down payment blues and Gone Shooting put it over the top for me

[@michaelhasse2568]

Lighters and snakes, lighters give, snakes take. Always been my favorite

[@aaronmcmahon7462]

Rock and Roll Damnation was on the Australian version on Albert Productions. I've heard there's a difference in the mix between the original UK version, and Cold Hearted Man wasn't on the Aussie version of the album. Powerage isn't my favourite Bon era album (T.N.T. and Highway To Hell share that honour), but it has arguably Bon's best lyrics collectively.

[@shaunfulton7261]

There isn't an AC/DC album called T.N.T.

[@davidmccourt8174]

​@@shaunfulton7261Yes there is. TNT was their second album, only released here in Australia in December '75

[@shaunfulton7261]

@@davidmccourt8174 You're right. I was only thinking about international releases.

[@aaronmcmahon7462]

@@shaunfulton7261 - A good part of T.N.T. made up the international version of the High Voltage album, whereas the Aussie version is different.

[@aaronmcmahon7462]

I should mention I'm Australian, so I mainly know the albums released domestically over their international counterparts. The Aussie edition's tracklisting is Rock 'N' Roll Damnation, Down Payment Blues, Gimme A Bullet, Riff Raff, Sin City, Next To The Moon, Gone Shootin', Up To My Neck In You and Kicked In The Teeth.

[@Mikesmallfanclub]

Hi Phil, my favourite AC/DC album HTH and LTBR runs it close and Sin City as to go down as one of the greatest tracks ever recorded, cheers Phil keep up the good work 👍

[@MegaPalesz]

I love this album!Bon was a god singer!My favorite album is Highway To Hell 🤘🤘🤘

[@jonathanpearman1052]

Can't go wrong with it, despite sequencing. Faves are Dirty Deeds..., Let There Ber Rock, and Highway to Hell. I know, I'm a bit old school when it comes to AC/DC and the Bon Scott era.

[@grahamjeffries4566]

I was lucky my brother was older than me he had purple sabbath Hendrix zeppelin etc than I bought my first album guess what

[@MichaelRMarshall1]

And for us "Yanks", we didn't hear "Cold Hearted Man" until the Iron Man soundtrack. Brilliant album nonetheless and my favorite AC/DC album. Cheers!

[@jimekberg]

Let there be Rock is my favorite, all songs on it are great and the sound is great too. The Powerage album has some weaker tracks .

[@nuffsaid783]

My third favorite AC/DC album is Powerage, after Back In Black and Highway to Hell. Cold Hearted Man was not on the U.S. release if I remember correctly. Found out about that great song much later.....

[@JCStorm76]

Same top 3 as me

[@davidmccourt8174]

@@nuffsaid783 Cold Hearted Man isn't on the Aussie release either. Powerage is my favourite AC/DC album.. I just wish they would've included that song being that it was recorded when Mark Evans was still in the band

[@markanderson8739]

Nobody has made a better rock album than hth

[@Diesel65-tl3zv]

Like everybody else this is my favorite remember made the mistake of buying the 50th anniversary copy from Walmart skips What’s Next to The Moon

[@user-rm9pz4nu8f]

I love the Bon Scott era and this is my current favourite album. I started listening to it again recently after seeing Tyketto covering What's Next to the Moon at Bonfest earlier this year. A sterling job of the vocal too by recent Now Spinning Magazine interviewee, the evergreen Danny Vaughn. Worth a glance: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIDFg59vqq6oopY

[@Baz63]

For me Let There Be Rock was the band' masterpiece. Every track a winner although Powerage was a damn good follow up. After Mutt Lange got his mitts on the band with the lacklustre overtly commercial Highway To Hell album they descended into further pop / rock territory with the odd strong song.