Customer Reviews

Rock Masters - AC/DC

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the one, the concert that changed my life. And I wasn't even there...

It was a Saturday evening in late 1977 and I was settling down in front of the family TV to watch the Sensational Alex Harvey Band live in concert on the BBC, only to find that Alex Harvey had died two days previously. So, instead, they put on a concert by this obscure band from Australia of all places (remember this was 25 years ago and I was a quiet 14 year old growing up in sleepy Worcestershire in England) who noone had ever heard of, let alone seen live.

And there they were: a bare torsoed Bon leering at the crowd, a manic schoolboy Angus foaming at the mouth, strutting and duckwalking and sweating and sweating and, well you know the picture so well. Then there were the back three, Malcolm, Phil and Cliff who just got on and did their jobs...and if you look at the instruments they played on the Stiff Upper Lip tour last year...yes, those are the same beaten up guitar and bass that they used in 1977. (Well OK, Cliff had just joined so I think he was playing a Fender rather than a Musicman Stingray, but Malcolm's guitar is definitely the same...you get the picture)

And what did this band do? They played songs the like of which I had never heard, with a power and intensity that I had never seen (and have never seen anyone equal since) As I write, I'm shaking just remembering it all now.

Angus didn't have a wireless rig at that time, but just marvel at how he moves around the stage...and is walked through the audience on Bon's shoulders playing an outrageous guitar solo on an incredibly long version of "Rocker".

"Problem Child", "Whole Lotta Rosie", Hell Ain't a Bad Place To Be": we're so familiar with these songs now and they still give me that shiver down the spine when I hear them today. Do you remember the first time you heard these songs?

Exactly, and then... "In the beginning, back in 1955, man didn't know 'bout the Rock 'n' Roll show, and nobody jived..." Yes, they played "Let There Be Rock"... and then they finished with "TNT" with Angus punching the air in time with the title...

This concert is my Dallas 1pm. I remember it like it was yesterday, not 25 years ago.

I haven't seen this concert since that first (and only?) showing on TV 25 years ago, but because the BBC put it out at the same time on FM radio I was able to tape it, and that is what has probably helped me remember so much about it. I played that tape to death.

The irony is that this is a Zone 1 DVD, so I can't play it on my European Zone 2 DVD player, and there don't seem to be any plans to release this DVD in the UK any time soon: You Americans are very, very lucky.

I guess I'll have to spend the $75 to get my player chipped. That's expensive, but for this DVD, it will be the best $75 I'll ever spend.

To all of you reading this review, I urge you to buy this DVD. And when you watch it for the first time, remember where you were when you first saw or heard AC/DC.

This DVD is a precious record of what was their finest hour - at the height of their abilities, at the height of their passion, and at the height of their desire to conquer the world.

The World's Greatest Band

Ride On

I have this on video and the band smokes! I think they replaced The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at the last-minute, and blew-out the doors. One guy in the crowd is dressed like Angus and gong nuts, while the rest of the audience seems in shock as Angus walks(runs) up the aisles and into women's laps as he plays. This show is AC/DC at their ... best, and a MUST for the average AC/DC fan,but a MUST HAVE for Bon Scott fanatics! Bon is in his element and his voice sounds cool as (heck)! The whole band gives the whole crowd the proverbial middle-finger,while playing for them with a passion. If you want blood, check-out this DVD!

this is the concert i have been waiting for to be put out on dvd i was at this concert in 1977 when it was a last minute change of group it was supposed to be the sensational alex harvey band but they pulled out so ac/dc got invited to play in front of the cameras and what you see and hear is exactly how it was 26 years ago raw uninterupted power rock at its best. i have owned a few copies of this on video through the years but this quality cant be beaten . i highly advise people who never got a chance to see the late great bon scott at his best.....hopefully there will be other concerts released in time on dvd.......

Could you imagine that a gig, recorded live, at a british T.V. studio, 25+ years ago, be so precious, that a bunch of legal eagles should decide when it's released.What is this, pure madness!! This rampaging performance by the boys from down-under needs to be released to the world, NOW!!! I've got this on a C.D.R., but wouldn't the factory pressing,with the added D.V.D. goodies attached, be,in Bon Scott's words,"A TOUCH TOO MUCH!!".It's a great concert, with all of the roar power that you'de expect from these guys, but recorded back in the days when AC/DC where still earning their stripes.Just look at how these guys turn a solemn, quiet crowd,expecting to see "THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND" into instant converts of wild, blistering guitar solos, and stage antics to match!.
All power to them, I say!!!

I encourage everyone to buy this new DVD because it's among the rare official video appearances of AC/DC on stage of this early period. It's good, solid rock and funny, although the audience looks rather like a classical music audience than Rock...!

The concert was aired here months ago on Swiss TV channel SF2 and still, I think I'll buy it as soon the zone 2 encoding DVDs hits the stores. I am sure that the DVD would aslo include some kind of bonus features.

AC/DC rules.

Man I would love to rate this ting 5 stars but it's really hard when it isn't scheduled for release until 2010!!! What is up with that? I could be talking face to face with Bon Scott in hell by then. It's time for the record executives and lawyers to release this baby so the world can be a better place. Other wise the terroists win.

LET THERE BE DVD!!!

This is exactly what I have been waiting for, a Bon Scott concert on DVD. From the reviews I've read, I'm a commited buyer! So please try and get this out as soon as possible (Let There Be Rock needs to come out on DVD too) Alright that's all for now.

The people who have seen it in these reviews must have seen the VHS version. Here's a recent e-mail exchange I had with Image Entertainment:

MY MESSAGE:
Many on-line DVD vendors (including Amazon) have been listing a series called "Rock Masters" from your studio for some time now, with confusing information as to release dates. Some of the titles include The Cure, AC/DC, and The Police, and the listings include such details as the song titles. Can you confirm that you have plans to release these DVDs in the future, or can you provide any information at all about these releases?


THEIR RESPONSE:
Thank you for your inquiry. At this point in time Image Entertainment does not have any plans regarding the release of any titles from the "Rock Masters" series on DVD. However, I will pass your email onto our acquisitions department which will look into the possibility of releasing these titles on DVD at some point in the future.

Thank you.

So they changed the release date from Jan 1 2010 to Jan 1 2037, interesting, wonder if dvd's will still be around let alone most of AC/DC's fans, I think a lot of us could be with Bon by then.

Unfortunately this DVD has been canceled for release, however it did get released a few years back in Japan.. until, recently I saw, on a local Australian website, a new AC/DC DVD had just been released titled "AC/DC Live '77" -- For the little price they wanted for it, I was sure to check it out.

When I first saw it with no information on the websites about it, I figured it was an unauthorized bootleg or something that had slipped its way into well known music stores. However I seen discovered it was actually Rock Masters.

It is not the same cover shown on Amazon. The cover shows the band, with Mark Evans;- even tho it is Cliff Williams on this performance.The cover reads, "AC/DC Live '77: At the hippodrome golders green London" and tho I did not recognize the cover, it does not take a genius to see on the back of the cover it was the same tracks as RockMasters, and even in small print it says "AC/DC: Rockmasters"

So the Japanese version that was released years ago is now released in Australia under the title "AC/DC Live '77"

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Review

If anyone has had a bootleg of this DVD, you will know Malcolm's guitar is hard to hear. There is no correction of this on the DVD :( There where more tracks then this played on this show, such as "Sin City" & it is not to be seen anywhere on this disc. However, on my old bootleg, credits rolled through T.N.T, on this one, it doesn't, however, I am not convinced that this is not a video edit, as it pretty much just shows familiar crowed shots and seems kind of poorly edited, too.

The quality is not much better then a VHS version. And even tho it is only written in small print on the back cover, this show does kick off with the Rock Masters logo. So I can assure this is it, and it has been done rather poorly. Sound fades in an out in certain parts, the crowed is almost zilch in sound, Malcolm can barely be heard over Angus, Bon seems to be singing to a dead room, and it's not the entire show.

It's probably just as well this DVD got canceled. As most fan's would be reviewing it like "My bootleg version is better quality then this" --

Also included is the video clips of Jailbreak, Long Way To The Top, Highway To Hell, Shot Down In Flames and Touch Too Much... which look and sound very poor too.

It even says right there on the back of the box next to region 2, Mpeg-2/NTSC ... Mpeg, thats about youtube quality.

For the fans who simply must have this DVD, check out Australian DVD sellers websites like EazyDVD or JB Hi-Fi and you should find it can be sent anywhere around the world. But take note, the quality is very bad for a DVD that so many AC/DC fans have wanted on DVD for so long.