Although Queen are best known by mainstream audiences as a band with beautiful ballads and more commercial singles, they also have many heavy songs that were on the same level as the Hard Rock music being made at the time, especially in the 1970s. The guitarist Brian May has always been a very versatile musician and enjoys many different kinds of music, including Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.
Over the decades, he has talked about many famous bands from those genres, giving his opinion on AC/DC and their legendary guitarists Malcolm Young and Angus Young.
Brian May’s opinion on AC/DC’s Malcolm and Angus Young
Brian May is a big fan of AC/DC and the band’s original guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young, he even said once he would like to have been part of the group. When Malcolm passed away in 2017, he shared a message calling him one of the greatest rhythm guitarists in the world. “Feeling very sad about Malcolm Young. Without a doubt one of Rock’s greatest ever rhythm guitarists, and also pivotal writer, creator, icon. Condolences to his family and his friends. What a loss to the world. God Bless,” Brian May said.
On the day following Malcolm’s passing, Queen+Adam Lambert performed a show in Helsinki, Finland. During the section of the setlist traditionally reserved for Brian May’s guitar solo, the guitarist played the riff from “Highway to Hell.”
When asked which other band he would have liked to be part of if he wasn’t in Queen, Brian said: “I’d have probably liked to be in AC/DC. But I’m the wrong sort of size and shape unfortunately. Because it’s different from Queen. Queen were very eclectic – that’s the word isn’t it? We just trampled over every boundary that there was but AC/DC are in a sense the opposite. They know their style and it’s incredibly pure and I have a great respect for that. And every single note they play is AC/DC completely. Maybe that would be it,” he told NME back in 2012.
Queen is only three years older than AC/DC. Musicians from both bands were inspired by the same generation of artists, even though Angus and Malcolm Young were more strongly driven by Blues musicians, while Brian May drew from a wider range of influences.
Brian May picked “Highway to Hell” as one of the songs he would take to a desert island
Brian May didn’t play “Highway to Hell” to pay tribute to Malcolm Young only because it is one of AC/DC’s most famous tracks. It is actually one of his favorite songs by the band, and he even picked it as one of the tracks he would take to a desert island.
“Well I figure on this island there’s moments when I just need to get up and let it all explode out of me and do some Air Guitar. So I’ll go to the highest point in the island and scream and shout and wave the fist in the air. This will be the record which I need to have with me.”
Then he was asked why he needed to play air guitar since he is a guitarist. “Oh, it, it’s fun really, I suppose. So it’s just a body thing (laughs). AC/DC to me are the purest form. There’s nothing like an AC/DC concert to sort of clear you out and bring you back to basics. I love it,” Brian May said in an interview with BBC in 2002.
Brian May said that AC/DC is like a therapy to him
Although Queen recorded many heavy songs, the band is more widely remembered for its ballads and chart-topping hits. Brian May, however, has always had a strong appreciation for heavier music. One of his closest friends is Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, whose playing he has often praised. In a 1998 interview with Guitar World, May even described AC/DC as a kind of therapy.
“AC/DC is complete therapy. You go to the show and you’re deaf for a week. It’s wonderful. I’m desperately sad that I had to miss a Black Sabbath reunion show recently. It was Black Sabbath and the Foo Fighters, who I love. And Pantera, who I also love. But unfortunately, I had to be someplace else,” Brian May said.
Both bands are among the best selling of all time and have left their mark in Rock music. The Australian group has sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide, while the British band has surpassed 300 million. Both are also inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly, each band lost its iconic vocalist far too soon. Unlike AC/DC, however, Queen chose never to replace Freddie Mercury. While the band has toured with singers such as Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert, neither has ever been considered a full time member of the group.