Английская Википедия:Highway to Hell (song)

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"Highway to Hell" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the opening track of their 1979 album Highway to Hell, initially released as a single on 27 July 1979, the same day the album was released.

The song was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott, with Angus Young credited for writing the guitar riff.[1] AC/DC had made several studio albums before and were constantly promoting them via a grueling tour schedule, referred to by Angus Young as being on a highway to hell, hence the name.

Background

The song is in the key of A Major.[2] The title and lyrics reflect the arduous nature of touring constantly and life on the road.[1] The highway that inspired the title, Canning Highway, connects the Perth Kwinana freeway to its port Fremantle and was home to many of Bon Scott's favourite pubs and hotels, including the Raffles Hotel.[3][4]

"There were hundreds of riffs going down every day," recalled Malcolm Young. "But this one, we thought, 'That's good.' It just stuck out like a dog's balls."[5]

Cashbox called it a "bone crunching, gut-wrenching exercise in primal guitar rock" with "simple yet effective riffing" and "ballsy vocals."[6] Record World said that "Growling vocals join a raunchy guitar Шаблон:Sic for simple, high voltage, rock'n'roll abandon."[7]

The single spent 45 weeks on the German Singles Chart, peaked at #30 in its 19th week on the chart.[8] Bon Scott was found dead in the back of a friend's car, just over six months after the song was released.[1]

Production

"Highway to Hell" was produced by Mutt Lange as part of the album by the same name, and his work is regarded as a significant factor in delivering one of the classic AC/DC albums, the emergence of the double-guitar sound, which was later perfected on Back in Black, and improved backing vocals with Malcolm Young, joined by Cliff Williams for the first time.[1]

Legacy

"Highway to Hell" won the 'Most Played Australian Work Overseas' category at the 2009 APRA Awards.[9] In 2013, an internet campaign attempted to get it to number one in the UK Christmas singles chart.[10]

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Highway to Hell" was ranked number 40.[11]

It was the namesake for the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stand in the manga Stone Ocean.[12]

In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number seven on their list of the 40 greatest AC/DC songs,[13] and in 2021, Kerrang ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest AC/DC songs.[14]

List of accolades

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1979/80) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[16] 24
Austrian Singles Chart 52
Belgian Singles Chart 14
Dutch Singles Chart 17
French Singles Chart 23
German Singles Chart 30
Spanish Singles Chart 24
Swedish Singles Chart 36
UK Singles Chart[17] 56
US Billboard 100[18] 47
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Chart (1992) Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart[19] 69
Swiss Singles Chart[19] 37
US Billboard Mainstream Rock 1
Chart (2012) Peak
position
Scottish Singles Chart 36
UK Singles Chart[17] 40
Billboard Hot Digital Songs 1
Chart (2013) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[10] 4
Irish Singles Chart 23
Scottish Singles Chart 36
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Chart (2022) Peak
position

Certifications

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Live recordings

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"Highway to Hell" has been performed multiple times in live concert. Including:

References

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Шаблон:AC/DC singles

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