AC/DC, 1977 — Atco Records publicity photo for Let There Be Rock (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
AC/DC
The Young brothers built the most consistent riff machine in rock history, and everyone insists on splitting it in two: the Bon Scott era and the Brian Johnson era. Before and after. Original and replacement.
We don’t buy the split — and Bon himself is the reason why. The two eras are one wired system, connected years before anyone needed a new singer. That connection is where our AC/DC coverage started, and the band keeps rewarding the systems view: same three chords, same swing, fifty years of proof that simple is not the same as easy.
Pull a thread
Bon Scott at 80: The 1973 Geordie Gig That Secretly Connected AC/DC's Two Eras
Bon Scott would have turned 80 on July 9 — and the best way to honor him isn’t the highlight reel. It’s the night in 1973 when he watched Brian Johnson scream himself off a stage, filed it away, and accidentally wrote the ending of his own band’s story seven years early.
The myth we’re here to break
There’s a version of AC/DC history everyone carries around: two bands, cleanly split. The Bon Scott era — sweaty, sly, dangerous — and the Brian Johnson era — the stadium machine that made Back in Black. Before and after. Original and replacement.