AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band (Paperback)

by Murray Engleheart (Author), Arnaud Durieux (Author)
Key Phrases: schoolboy uniform, rock movie, Back In Black, Michael Browning, Ian Jeffery (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Five years in the making, journalist Engleheart and leading AC/DC expert Durieux have crafted the definitive biography of the wildly successful Australian rockers. Covering everything from guitarist Angus Young's first record purchase (Club A Go-Go by the Yardbirds) to the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all points in between, this book is a godsend for fans. Placing an emphasis on the formative years, Engleheart and Durieux chronicle the band's rise to the top in detail without getting bogged down-quite a feat, considering their source material includes more than 1,300 interviews with the band and more than 75 new interviews. While much of the story will be familiar to longtime fans, there is enough obscure trivia and anecdotes to keep it interesting, and the writers wisely give priority to the voices of those who were there. The authors also dispel many myths surrounding the band, including those attached to legendary frontman Bon Scott's death and the infamous cover of their Highway to Hell album. So faithful to the spirit of the band it could leave readers' ears ringing, this book is required reading for any serious fan of rock music.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Australia's AC/DC parlayed riff-driven hard rock into a long-running career despite lead singer Bon Scott's untimely death in 1980. Along with madcap guitarist Angus Young, Scott had become a rock icon embodying an ethos of hard-driving performing and living. Such a loss might have ended most bands, but AC/DC found a replacement remarkably similar to Scott in growling voice and stage persona: Brian Johnson. Pretty much the antithesis of fellow Aussie chart toppers, the falsetto-warbling Bee Gees, AC/DC didn't wear sparkly frippery, eschewed disco, and barred saccharine strings from its strident anthems. Its magnum opus, Back in Black, came after Scott's death and cemented its place in the rock pantheon. Further touring and hits rarely deviated from a hard-rock template. Clearly a devotee, Englehart tracks the band's career with aplomb, from scuffling days down under to its present lofty status, yet avoids excessive praise. Replete with discography, a regular omnibus resource on the band and great reading for rock-history buffs. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061133922
• ISBN-13: 978-0061133923
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AC/DC fans should get this!, January 14, 2007

By	Jinksyboy - See all my reviews

This review is from: AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band (Hardcover)

I have every AC/DC book ever published and this is probaly the most informative of them all. I'm a self confesed AC/DC FREAK and I 've read things in here that I never knew. One of the things I like about this book is the interviews with people that were in bands with Angus and Malcolm before they were in AC/DC. Some of the pictures in this book are rare. I like the one with Angus and Malcolm when they were kids on a rocking horse.. Also the pics of Bon and Brian when they young and the picture of Angus with Tantrum. Anyways, I would highly recomend this for every AC/DC fan out there.. Long Live AC/DC!!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story of one of rock's greatest bands ever, February 28, 2007

By	Scott Hedegard "Scott" (Fayetteville, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band (Hardcover)

It'd be too easy to capitalize on the alleged mentality of an AC/DC fan's inabilitiy to actually read a book. That would be a joke on the snot nosed critics who used to delight in trashing the band only to be forced to deal with the fact that they have perservered over 30 years. Unlike flavors of the month, fashion statements rather than musicians and ditzy pop divas who die quick deaths after one or two years, hard rock and metal music enjoys life spans much longer thanks to love of the music and a sharp focus.
That focus is never more clear than with AC/DC, whom, as we read in "Maximum Rock And Roll" are far more complex, intelligent and talented than many folks realize or care to admit.
This book is a labor of love. Detractors and enemies need not waste their time. For those who value this gutsy loud great rock and roll band (they are NOT metal), the book is a great read, giving U.S. fans particularly a first hand look at the Australian rock culture and the trials and trevails of the Young brothers as they climb to the top, lose their charismatic singer Bon Scott, and then come back even more ferociously with the legendary "Back In Black".
Readers will have to accustom themselves to the British print, slang and puncuation, but that's a small point. The book is not just a definitive look into AC/DC, but one of the better books on any band or musician in quite some time. Listen to "Powerage" at migraine level while you read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Information Without Much Insight, April 13, 2008

By	Joe Daly (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

First off, AC/DC are my favorite band and have been for years. It took me some time to get around to reading this because it's unauthorized and the band are notoriously mum about what goes on behind the scenes. Still, other reviews gave this high marks, so I gave it a shot.

It's unclear to me at whom this book is aimed. It's a bit maddening because for someone to undertake a read of this size, they would most likely already be an established fan of the band. Therefore, a book that undertakes the history of AC/DC to this level of detail should deliver some new information, impressions, stories, themes, etc., that an existing fan might appreciate. Instead, it reads like an end-to-end string of Wikipedia articles, devoid of any personality, irony, or passion. Where the book falls short therefore, is in its dry exploration of facts that are well-known to most AC/DC fans. Some AC/DC fans will pick up a few bits of new info here and there, but for the most part, this is a clinical history of the band, interspersed with harmless anecdotes that don't give any new insight into the personality of the musicians.

Every once in awhile, the authors will hint at something interesting, or some insightful behind-the-scenes info, but they never deliver. They gloss over Phil Rudd's departure by simply mentioning there was an unspecified problem between him and an unnamed person in "the Youngs circle." Or halfway through the book, a point is made that Angus and Malcolm had a fiery relationship that wasn't always civil during the creative process. But he doesn't expound on how or why that tension existed. It is implied that Bon and possibly other members of the band battled substance abuse, which might have given a new depth to appreciating some of the lyrics and/or stories behind the records. However, such information is withheld or ignored. This is not to say that the book would be improved by the inclusion of lurid and embarrassing stories about the band. Quite the opposite, a respectful examination of such themes and events could deliver a stunning new appreciation of musicians of such high caliber.

For those readers who enjoyed the likes of rock biographies such as "No One Here Gets Out Alive," (Jim Morrison and The Doors), "Hammer of the Gods" (Led Zeppelin), or "The Dirt" (Motley Crue), due to the endless tales of drugs, sex, drugs, sex, drugs, sex, drugs and rock and roll, you will be disappointed. There is none of that here.

For those readers who are looking for a more respectful consideration of the band, this book will be overkill. Find a Mojo, Uncut, or Classic Rock magazine that has done a comprehensive piece on AC/DC and you will be just as satisfied.

I left this book feeling slightly more informed, but without much additional understanding or appreciation of AC/DC.