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Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Given that Bon Scott's hard-partying, sex-booze-and-brawls lifestyle tragically caught up with him some six months after Highway to Hell was released, the album-opening title track -- one of hard rock's all-time classics -- now takes on an eerie resonance. It's not just a snotty, nihilistic party anthem, but a moment of unrepentant self-recognition from a rowdy ruffian who, for better or worse, exulted in what he was. The rest of the songs on Highway to Hell don't lend themselves to any deep readings, but of course, that's not the point. Highway to Hell distilled all the virtues of AC/DC's signature minimalism -- loud, simple, pounding riffs, and grooving backbeats -- into the tightest batch of songs the group had written to that point, barreling along at a take-no-prisoners rate and producing a handful of gems ("Girl's Got Rhythm," "If You Want Blood [You've Got It]") along the way. Highway to Hell is not only a fitting epitaph for Bon Scott, it's also a classic rock & roll album. [In February 2003, the American distribution rights to AC/DC's back catalog transferred over to Epic, the band's new label. Epic reissued the band's catalog as remastered digipacks containing lavish, expanded booklets with plenty of rare photographs, memorabilia, and notes. Although the digipacks may wear a little too easy, the sound is terrific -- clean and muscular, enhancing the raw qualities of the original record -- and the packaging is loving, making the reissues necessary for collectors.]
