Tom Morello and Friends’ Highway to Hell: Old School Rock

Tom Morello is the genius behind all those amazing guitar riffs in Rage Against the Machine. Since his time in Rage, he went to Audioslave and hip hop supergroup Prophets of Rage with Chuck D from Public Enemy and B Real from Cypress Hill. Now, he is working on his second solo record and bringing in some heavy hitting friends to cover an iconic rock song.

Tom has brought in Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder to cover AC/DC’s hit Highway to Hell. You can say this, Tom is not afraid to come out strong with his lead single. Covering this song is a difficult task. Some will want a faithful rendition, while others will want Tom to stretch the form into something new. If he goes too strong one way or the other, the track has the potential to be a train wreck. So, what did Morello decide to do?

Well, he decided to have fun. Everyone on this track goes for it. The track itself is fairly faithful to the original, but there is enough personal style to give the track some life. Springsteen and Vedder really belt it out and you can feel how much fun they have channelling their inner Bon Scott. These are rock stars paying their respects to one of the original rock and roll hell-raisers. As Tom bashes on his guitar and Eddie and Bruce take their vocal cords within an inch of their lives, you can see how they grew up on AC/DC and always wanted to belt it out.

All and all, this cover of Highway to Hell doesn’t break new ground, but it is fun. It’s great hearing how Bruce would sing AC/DC or how Eddie would tackle a song like Highway to Hell. This is a fun time hearing three highly accomplished rock stars take on a mammoth track. Crank it to 11 and let loose.

Listen to Highway to Hell