A Great Tribute to a Rock Legend
Bonfire is a fitting tribute to Bon Scott, one of rock's most enduring legends. When Bon Scott left us on February 19, 1980; so did a part of AC/DC. Sure, Bon's "replacement," Brian Johnson, has gone on to record some classic albums with AC/DC, but the fact is, there is only one Bon Scott. Bon Scott was a character, and a believable one at that. Bon sang about partying, the road, and dirty women, just like countless other rockers, but unlike so many others, Bon Scott is the real deal, and it comes through in his delivery. Nobody was wittier, nobody was more mischivous, and no one can tell a story like the great Bon Scott. 1997 brings us a LONG overdue tribute to Bon Scott, a box set called Bonfire. This 5 CD set is awesome! The CD's include: "Live From Atlantic Studios," the "Let There Be Rock" movie soundtrack,(2 CDs), a Cd of demos and other rarities called Volts, and the only questionable entry in the box set, "Back In Black." Which is AC/DC's first album without Bon, and is dedicated to him. Sure, "Back In Black" is a bona-fide classic, but what AC/DC fan who is willing to dish out $65 for a box set doesn't already own "Back In Black?" A much more suitable replacement would be a CD containing some of the Australian only tracks, such as "Crabsody In Blue" and "R.I.P.(Rock In Peace)". Fortunately, "School Days" is included in the Volts CD. Overall, this box set is a MUST HAVE for any AC/DC-Bon Scott fan. If you don't own it, what are you waiting for, buy it- NOW!
Not Perfect, But Well Worth It
STRENGTHS:LIVE FROM ATLANTIC STUDIOS (Disc 1): Long available as a bootleg, this is THE definitive live AC/DC recording. Bon and the boys in their prime.
LIVE IN PARIS (Disc 2): Nothing new here for the hardcore fan, but still essential. Even better than "If You Want Blood...".
VOLTS (Disc 3): Okay, they could have dug a little deeper for rarities, but the demo material is awesome! Louder, tougher and better than the versions on "Highway to Hell". Young and Vanda really knew how to capture the band's raw magic in the studio. Mutt Lange, on the other hand, neutered AC/DC with his overly slick production techniques.
Plus, let's not forget the bitchin' poster, sticker, guitar pick, tatoo, and (my favorite) bottle opener. Cheers!
WEAKNESSES:
BACK IN BLACK: Totally pointless to include this. BONFIRE would have worked better as a lower-priced 4-CD set. AC/DC may have been obligated to deliver a 5-CD collection, which might explain its inclusion. Still a lazy decision, in my opinion.
They could have included more Atlantic Studios material and other Australian-only rarities.
The booklet is well done, but perhaps a bit skimpy for a box set of this price. Then again, I can't think of another box set that comes with a bottle opener!
BOTTOM LINE:
A fine tribute to one of Rock 'n Roll's greatest frontmen. While not perfect, BONFIRE belongs in any self-respecting AC/DC fan's collection. Let There Be Rock!
Nothing but rehashed AC/DC tunes
I have one question about this boxed set. Why did they include "Back In Black?" The title itself - BONFIRE - indicates this to be some kind of tribute to Bon Scott. That being the case, why was Back In Black included? That album has nothing even REMOTELY RELATED to Bon Scott. Instead of Back In Black, they should have included "HIGHWAY TO HELL". Sure, every ac/dc fan already has it, but at least including it instead of Back In Black makes SOME sense. I have to agree with one of the other reviews - if i hear THE JACK or WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE or LET THERE BE ROCK JUST ONE MORE TIME - just O N E M O R E T I M E - It will make me so pig-biting mad, i'm gonna barf up my last bottle of Old Crow, by gum! "The Jack" is one song that, if i NEVER hear it again, won't be too soon for me. Actually, just about any AC/DC song that is longer than 3 minutes is TOO MUCH to me. Three-root-chord repetitions grates on my nerves after about 3 minutes. I have to hand it to them though - ANY band that can sell 80 million records just by rearranging root chords can't be all bad. I don't want to leave the impression that I don't like AC/DC though. On the contrary, I think Back In Black and Highway To Hell are 2 of the best hard rock albums ever recorded, but yeah, this BONFIRE box set is a dud. The Atlantic studio CD is worth the money but the rest is nothing but more attempts to cash in on AC/DC's popularity.
this is one of the best box sets i have
the only thing that is bad is it has Back In Black. But when I was thinking of buying this i read it's a step from one great singer to the next. So I think it was a good idea to put it in there
There is not enough on this!
This trubute to there great singer who passed away in 1980 Bon Scott was a bit of a disapointment in one area!
It is a box set containing 4 albums!
LET THERE BE ROCK (live) - Is a great live show from 1979 in Paris. Which is the famous video every AC/DC fan should have a copy of on VHS and is asking for it to be put to DVD now! Thats not the downfall, that is a great album!
ATLANTIC STUDIOS - This is a great small radio show they did in New York just after the release of Powerage, however the downfall is, there was two of these shows!....where's the other one? There was another Live at the atlantic studios recorded the next year or so? so where is that show??? for the 30 minutes this show ran, they couldve easly fit that other show onto the same disc here!
Back In Black - I know this is the tribute album they first made FOR Bon Scott... but what person doesnt already have this album???? Particuly seeing as how it would be AC/DC fans buying this box set, im sure theres not an AC/DC fan anywhere who doesent already have the album! let alone non AC/DC fans will probably have this album already in there collection somewhere! Why was this included?????
Voltz - AC/DC said they tryd to find as much rare Bon material as possible....well, they didnt seem to look very hard! Not to mention that "School Days" may not have been released world wide, but has been available on the Australian TNT album since it came out in 1975! When they released this box set in Australia, they should have swapped "school days" for "love at first feel" which was not released in Australia!
There are so many songs missing! and not just live performances!
- Carry Me Home - for some reason has not been released on an offical album, it came out as a single, and is probably one of there greatest ever drinking songs that i'm sure had to be one of Bons favorites...why was it not included?
- Cold Hearted Man - was released on POWERAGE only on certin rarer finds of an Australian Box Set of records of Bon and some parts of Europe on Powerage, but none the less, still should have been on this album instead of "long way to the top" which im sure every ac/dc fan would also have!
Plus some songs have not been released outside of Australia!
- Love Song
- Stick Around
- Rock In Peace (R.I.P)
- Crabsody In Blue
So why did we end up with another copy of Back in black? and a few songs already available that everyone would already have had anyway???? where are those extra songs that arnt there? but can be downloaded easilly? Are we gonnah see a BonFire 2? or an Unreleased tracks album? because theres ten times as many unreleased Brian songs too!
Atlantic Studios i give 5 stars
Let there be rock I give 5 stars
Back In Black is a 5 star album, but gets no stars for beeing in this box set
and volts looses stars for not beeing complete with the stuff we really wanted... 5 stars for the great un heard material! but loosing 2 stars for including songs we all have, and for not including more!
