“Malcolm said, ‘I've got this riff, it's driving me nuts.’ It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm trying to sleep. I said, ‘It sounds fine to me.’ That was Back in Black”: Through 50 years of triumph and tragedy, they remain hard rock's greatest titans

(from left) AC/DC's Malcolm Young, Bon Scott, and Angus Young perform onstage in 1976.

Great rock and roll needs no explanation; it hits you so squarely in the chest that you start feeling good long before your brain has had time to figure out what happened. AC/DC know this. For 16 years they've been making powerful, masterful rock and roll – without pretense, self-analysis, or the slightest regard for the never-ending parade of fashion.

Those 16 years are summed up beautifully on AC/DC's new live album, Live – a collection of classic after classic from the quintessential live hard-rock band. Through it all, Angus Young's lead guitar rages like a forest afire.