Let There Be Rock Oklahoma

Let There Be Rock

AC/DC

Atco Records, 1977

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/10/2001

1977 marked the first time Atlantic Records released one ofAC/DC's albums at the same time worldwide. But Let There Be Rock still featured one main difference betweenwhat the United States heard and what the "original" version of thealbum included.

It's difficult reviewing this disc, mainly because I honestlyfeel I'd be writing the same thing for the American and theAustralian versions of Let There Be Rock rate about the same on my scale. Butbesides the cover art, there's one thing that keeps these two discsto be quite individual - and it revolves around one song, "CrabsodyIn Blue". (For the record, the Australian cover is a shot of aguitar neck in black and white, and is much plainer than the coverfeatured here.)

If you're reading this in America, chances are you've neverheard of this song. This ode to the, aah, "pets" one could catchfrom an unwise sexual encounter never has made it to these shores,even on the Bonfire box set. (Don't get me started on how poorly Ithought that was put together.) Instead, American audiences weretreated to a truncated version of "Problem Child," which was pulledfrom AC/DC's previous Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. (We'll be talking about thatone soon enough.)

In one sense, I can understand why "Problem Child" would beincluded on Let There Be Rock. It's an absolutely incredible song, andheld out the promise of being a hit for Angus Young and crew. That,unfortunately, never materialized, but it was enough to get morepeople interested in who AC/DC were. "Crabsody In Blue" was alittle more controversial, and while the PMRC had yet to rear itsugly head, some people might have thought that American audiencesweren't goint to respond well to this song - thus assuring peoplelike me would end up buying two versions of this disc down theroad.