Ac/Dc: The World's Heaviest Rock
For Huxley, as for the rest of AC/DC's fandom, the wordheavyin the subtitle is by no means negative. Trends and critical acclaim, Huxley shows, mean less than nothing to the Australian rockers, and the fact thatheavyas a term of approval for music, experience, or phenomena has died out in general parlance alters the band's commitment to the sound of old-fashioned (i.e., 1970s) bludgeon rock not a whit. Like its musical antithesis, the Grateful Dead, AC/DC deserves respect and even homage for single-minded persistence and endurance. Having survived the death by misadventure of frontman Bon Scot (who was originally suspected by his bandmates of being too old for the sound), AC/DC has continued to sell records and pack concert venues. Huxley's examination of the band's career is never boring or indulgent. Like the best AC/DC music, it's short, fast, and fraught with salacious appeal. Turn it up.Mike Tribby