AC/DC Quiz: Guess the Song & Test Your Trivia

The 1970s belong to Bon Scott, whose bluesy, sneering vocal is the first sound to learn. 'It's a Long Way to the Top' opens with bagpipes, 'T.N.T.' chants its own title, and 'Whole Lotta Rosie' and 'Let There Be Rock' set the template. Scott sang right through to 1979's 'Highway to Hell' before his death in early 1980. If the voice has that sly, higher snarl, you are in Bon Scott territory.

In 1980 Brian Johnson, recruited from the band Geordie, stepped in and recorded 'Back in Black' as a tribute to Scott, wrapped in an all-black sleeve. His raspier, higher scream powers 'You Shook Me All Night Long', the bell-tolling 'Hells Bells' and, ten years later, 'Thunderstruck'. When the vocal sounds shredded and stretched to the top of its range, you are almost certainly in the Johnson era.

Because Angus and Malcolm Young never chased a new sound, the riffs give nothing away. 'Highway to Hell' (1979) and 'Back in Black' (1980) sit barely a year apart and could pass for the same session, yet one is Bon Scott and the other is Brian Johnson. This is the single most common AC/DC quiz mistake, and learning to hear the voice under the guitar is how you beat it.

Past the radio staples, the album tracks separate the leaders. 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap', the cannon-blast 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)' and later riffs like 'Rock 'n' Roll Train' are where casual players stall. Place these by their singer, weave in the trivia about the Young brothers' Scottish roots and the 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and there is little of AC/DC left to catch you out.