Sure, we all know Bon Scott. He was the leader of the 70’s biggest, baddest rock’n’roll band, AC/Dc, and he met an untimely death in 1980. What most of us DON’T know is Mr.Scott had been doing oddjobs in the music business way before he joined in with Angus and Co in 1975. One such work is «Round And Round And Round».
Now one thing has to be said : even though Bon gets the title billing, this album is the brainchild of one of his backup musicians (I think he played keyboards, but unfortunately I do not have the album handy so I cannot tell you for certain.) It features three songs sung by Bon’s unmistakable vocal tone. No surprises here, then. But the surprises start when you analyze the music proper. Anyone expecting AC/DC mammoth riffs can steer well clear : they won’t find Angus anywhere on this album. Instead, the title track offers us a soft, swinging rock’n’roll that was sadly «modernized» through the inclusion of a horn section and other such studio tricks. A much rawer – and therefore much more interesting – version can be found in slot #3, with the shortened name «Round And Round». But the real jaw-dropper here is track 2. «Carey Gully» is as far from AC/DC as you can imagine, instead consisting of a campy, 50’s-crooner style track!! Bon sings it superbly, of course, but it will come as a shock to any seasoned AC/DC fan.
Bon’s voice itself is not as high-pitched as it would become after he joined AC/DC, but it is always very clear that it’s him singing. The backup musicians are no virtuosos, although the lead guitarist in the revamped version of «Round And Round» does deliver a good solo. However, the studio enhancements are corny and extremely annoying. As I always say, if it ain’t broken, why tamper with it?!
If it wasn’t for its off-the-wall musical style and the aforementioned studio enhancements, this album would get a passable 3. As is, it gets a 2/5 and is recommended solely to AC/DC completists. And even they deserved a lot better.
Tracks:
1 – Round And Round And Round – An average rock’n’roll track is made much, much worse by completely unnecessary studio enhancings. You get corny horn sections, cheesy keyboards and over-production, all of which were completely uncalled for. The redeeming feature? A great guitar solo. Not enough to save this track though (2/5)
2 – Carey Gully – WTF?! Bon goes campy-crooner style for a track nobody would ever imagine hearing him sing. Despite a good chorus and a wonderful interpretation from Bon, this is just too corny for its own good (1/5)
3 – The best track on the album, this is merely »Round and Round And Round» sans studio enhancements. This version is much morte interesting for rock and rollers, but the guitar solo is much inferior to the one on the other version. And it’s still just an average rock’n’roll track. (3/5)
