#95) AC/DC - High Voltage (released in 1976, purchased on used vinyl at City Lights sometime in my junior year in college - half because of Chuck Eddy's rave in Stairway To Hell, half because I thought the cover would like great at the front of my record collection. It wasn't until later that I really got into the album - and started buying more AC/DC)

One of the best things that happened to me last year was discovering the collected works of Bon Scott; I am incapable of being unhappy while listening to his voice. His confidence, glee, humor and wisdom, coupled with equally authoritive guitars and groove (the first verse of "Little Lover" reveals why these guys are so determinably danceable) make second thoughts and nagging doubts seem foolish. "Well you can stick your nine to five livin'/ And your collar and your tie/ And stick your moral standards/ 'Cause it's all a dirty lie/ You can stick your golden handshake/ And you can stick your silly rules/ And all the other shit/ That they teach to kids in school /'Cause I ain't no fool." Christ, I don't think I'm EVER going to be able to get a graduate degree now.

Other highlights on High Voltage, their startlingly fully-formed debut, include Bon's bagpipe solo on "It's A Long Way To The Top," the way he announces he's "mighty unclean" on "TNT," the retro kick of the music to "Can I Sit Next To You Girl?" (reminiscent of their producers' old band, the Easybeats), the audible leer and endless card-game/STD metaphor of "The Jack" (all complaints of tastelessness are rendered humorless by the ultra-meta coda) and the astounding shriek Scott emits during the title track (would anybody pretending to be socially maladjusted let that be heard?).