High Voltage (International)
by AC/DC

From CaptainPain 03/01/2026 10:16 | #313389

In 1975, the musicians had already recorded two records, "High Voltage" and "T.N.T.", but they were popular only in Australia and New Zealand, and the rest of the world was not covered by the capabilities of the Australian record company Albert Productions, which released these discs.
But it turned out that someone was still watching the Australian music market, and in early 1976, a major American, but rather international, label Atlantic Records deigned to offer its services to the coolest Australian rock band. He signed a contract with AC/DC, which, in addition to releasing records in very large numbers, allowed the band to tour all over the world.
It is clear that this was a breakthrough on the world music scene, followed by a visit to the rock Olympus, and the AC/DC musicians rushed to urgently record their new album for Atlantic. We only managed to record a couple of songs, but the new benefactors hurried us – there was no time to work on recording, they say, the album was urgently needed. And since there is no finished album, we will release a collection, since there are plenty of songs for it.
That's how the "international" version of "High Voltage" appeared, they didn't even come up with a new name for it, but simply took the latest "Australian" album of the band "T.N.T.", threw out a couple of songs from it, replacing them with two tracks from the first version of "High Voltage". That's how AC/DC's "first international album" turned out, which is included in the main discography not as a compilation, but as a full-fledged LP. And for a very long time, almost the whole world did not even suspect the real state of affairs, since information for music lovers began to appear only in the CD era, when the two "firstborn" bands began to spread around the world on a new type of media, first pirated, and then officially.

A compilation of their best material from their first two Australian-only albums, though it's essentially a debut studio album to the rest of the world. And what a debut it is—about two-thirds of this can be classified as early AC/DC's greatest hits. A couple tracks on the B-side I'm not crazy about, but I do really like most of this—It's a Long Way to the Top, Rock 'n Roll Singer, TNT, The Jack, Live Wire, title track... all classic AC/DC.

From Brandon8 07/06/2023 00:47 | #297958

A great compilation with a lot of classics like It’s A Long Way To The Top…., The Jack, T.N.T and High Voltage. If this was a proper album it would be one of their best.

Album Rating: 47.44
(427/9)


1.It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll). 67
2.Rock 'N' Roll Singer. 66
3.The Jack. 40
4.Live Wire. 58
5.T.N.T. 44
6.Can I Sit Next To You Girl. 56
7.Little Lover. 34
8.She's Got Balls. 04
9.High Voltage. 58

From VictorVale 02/25/2021 19:03 | #266690

Rock simples, mas não simplificado! Grande álbum, pé na porta do rock!

From llibnanoon 05/09/2020 02:54 | #251087

High Voltage Rock n' Roll!

From fredbarnsky 03/03/2019 22:13 | #232978

Excellent international debut for the Australian band. Songs like "It's a long way to the Top", T.N.T., "High Voltage" and "The Jack" are worth alone the 80+/100 rating.

From Sandrof1969 02/15/2018 21:34 | #208363

Prima pubblicazione americana, disco che unisce le prime due uscite australiane, "High voltage" è il mio disco preferito degli Ac/Dc: scanzonato, dinamico, allegro, un album che fin dalla copertina mostra gli stereotipi dell'hard ma giusto per prenderli ( e prendersi ) in giro, per dimostrare quanto loro fossero, in definitiva, dei burloni. Sotto l'aspetto da ragazzini, però, la struttura musicale era solida, concreta: vero rock'n'roll con la giusta dose di sudore, adrenalina, divertimento.

A compilation of their two Australian albums, high voltage, is AC/DC's first official UK release. It's obviously full of silly sexist party rock and is very enjoyable. It's a long way to the top, is a great opener, and, the Jack, and, livewire, would become AC/DC classics. Not their greatest record but a hell of a lot of fun.

The took the best of their 2 Australian releases and dropped a powerhouse album on the rest of the world.