Anthony Bozza was a young writer for Rolling Stone when he first learned about a young rapper named Eminem. He was the first one to write about him in the magazine and, eventually, penned a biography about the white rapper. This was Anthony’s big break.

Bozza has since left Rolling Stone and went on to write many books, including the autobiographies of rockers Slash, and Tommy Lee, and entertainment personalities Artie Lange, and Tracy Morgan. Bozza also penned the book Why AC/DC Matters leading him to get the assignment to create the booklet for the new limited edition box set Let There Be Rock.

In the interview below, we discuss AC/DC’s latest release in detail, including how the company that filmed the event pulled a fast one over management to get the gig.

The concert film is very important, historically, as this proved to be one of the last gigs Bon Scott performed before his untimely death.

Bozza is making a huge name for himself, as he continues to write bestseller after bestseller; however, he remembers who he is, and where he came from. He is a music fan’; an AC/DC fan and he is grateful for all he has been allowed to do in his short, but successful career.

Read on to learn how he flew the flag for AC/DC at Rolling Stone and why he thinks the critics are all wrong when talking about the bands’ musicianship. Anthony, after much grimacing, even picked his AC/DC Desert Island Disc.

Anthony: The band knew about the book, which they actually licensed their logo for the cover, which never happens. They are very tight when it comes to licensing their stuff.

I have wanted to write a book about them since I first had some success as a writer; I have always wanted to do an AC/DC book. I have been on them for a couple of years and my agent has been asking them as well. They finally said, “Look, we don’t think we are ever going to do that book. If we ever do then we will give you a call.”

I have a feeling that this might be their last tour. I don’t have any inside information, it is just a feeling that I have. My publisher wanted to do a series called Why Certain Bands Matter. I jumped on that opportunity and I got to write that book. Because of that, when Warner was putting out the Let There Be Rock package, they got a hold of me and asked if I would write a special thing just for that release. I said, “And you’re going to pay me?” It was an absolute pleasure to write it.

Anthony: He really should be an icon. His voice is perfect for hard rock and he was one hell of a front man. I was too young to be able to see him when he was alive.

The box set is great for younger fans that never got to see Bon with the band. There are a lot of people who may not even realize that AC/DC had two singers because Brian Johnson performs a lot of Bon’s material.

I am really glad that Bon is getting his due because critics never put him on their Greatest Rock Singers of All Time lists. I have never seen him on one of those.

He really has amazing range. Just look at the song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” He has this creepy style and then he jumps into this super high stuff and then goes into this whispering. He really comes alive, almost like an actor. It is just all part of the performance.

He was on Highway to Hell, which is arguably one of the bands’ best records; it’s not like he died before they got popular.

Anthony: I do too. I love Brian Johnson but I like the Bon era songs better. Bon has more of a range. Brian has this “oh my God” quality to his voice but Bon has more going on. I find myself listening to the Bon Scott records more.

Anthony: I had written the book so I had already done all of my research.

I have a whole chapter where I break the band down into the various musical parts. I have always had a problem with the way critics talk about AC/DC. Critics say, “They are very popular but they just do the same thing over and over.” They never really break it down and discuss what they actually are doing. They don’t ever break down the songs.

I tried to learn as much as I could about the performance but there is not a ton out there to learn about it. The most interesting thing I learned was that the filmmakers who did it bluffed their way into the gig. They had never done a full feature before. They had done some shorter things but they claimed that they had done all of these other things that would make them seem more suitable. They told the management that they had done the other productions for foreign markets so they could not get them a copy. Management went for it. That made it even cooler for me. You have this document from the filmmakers, who admitted afterwards that they knew nothing about the band. They had never seen a show. They may have heard a few songs before but they were really naïve and were taking in AC/DC for the first time. There is this real honesty to the movie that I think really comes across. I would say that is what I learned the most in the process. I think people should look for that and realize that when they watch it.

There is a part at the beginning where they are showing the crew putting together the stage – it is a classic ‘70’s looking stage. I just love watching how much work goes into a rock show. These filmmakers looked at them through fresh eyes whereas a more seasoned crew may have overlooked that aspect of the performance.

Anthony: I did. The sound had been remastered when I saw it. I think they did a couple more layers of remastering on the video after I saw it. I was given the first pass of the digital remastering process.

The sound was awesome when I first saw it. When I saw the finished version I was amazed at the clarity of the video. I love the Blu-ray version; get it on Blu-ray.

Anthony: I had a copy of the VHS version that came out years ago. It was actually the only reason that I had a VCR for the last several years. I still have the tape, so I have seen the movie a bunch and I loved it. But hearing it sound like it did when I heard the remastered sound was great. I was totally nerding out. I was watching it and halfway through I had to stop and go back and watch it again because I had not taken a note on it. It was awesome.

I am also on the bonus features; they interviewed me for it. That stuff never gets old, no matter who I have written about or who I have interviewed. It is never lost on me. I appreciate it every single day.

Anthony: The book is short. It really stems from a simple thing…I was a staffer at Rolling Stone from 1994 to 2002. I was a staff writer there from 1997.

I was years younger than all the other senior writers. I was the guy in the room that was putting his hand up in the air when they would do the Best Albums of All Time and all the special types of issues they do at Rolling Stone.

I was always like, “What about AC/DC? Why aren’t Angus and Malcolm Young in the Guitar issue?” It got to the point where I was like the burnout in the back of the room. They were like, “You just don’t understand, little guy.” I was like, “You know what, you guys are ridiculous. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The impression I got was that they didn’t think the band had enough musicianship to be taken seriously.

If you look around at other critical outlets, it was always the same. The only people who have ever given them their due are places like Guitar Player, where they really understand the mechanics of what is really going on.

Rolling Stone is pretty much the All American institution for Rock n’ Roll criticism and to have all of these editors going, “Oh, AC/DC is just gross biker music that talks about chicks with big boobs and outlaws.” I was like, “Yeah, okay, what did Chuck Berry sing about?”

I always had a chip on my shoulder about it. I never understood why they would not talk about how great AC/DC is when the same magazine would give ten pages to Yes or one of these noodley bands that were out, back in the day. Emerson, Lake & Palmer are a very self-indulgent band but Rolling Stone, back in the day, would give them a huge review but they wouldn’t even cover AC/DC. There was no mention when Bon Scott died and there was no tribute in Rolling Stone. Even the times AC/DC has gotten on the cover has been begrudgingly. They were like, “Oh look at this gross band.” Back in Black was such a huge hit that they finally decided that they should write something about it. I never understood that.

They were just as powerful as Punk Rock but they would rather write about Punk because there was a kind of quasi-political and social aspect to it.

Chuck Berry wrote about woman doing him wrong, drinking and getting in trouble. It was no different than AC/DC. I am sorry to rant but I have wanted to get that off of my chest for a long time.

Every musician always talks about what great influences Angus and Malcolm Young are but the critics never mention them at all.

Anthony: There is a subtle timing thing with Phil Rudd. It is harder to play like that. Phil is a human machine. He holds down the 4/4 perfectly.

Malcolm is a great writer too. There is an unknown language that happens between Angus and Malcolm and they have this special timing when one hits a chord or a note. I think that happens when you have siblings in bands. Either you have to play with that person forever or there is something genetic between the brothers.

People will say, “They have written the same songs, using the same chords, over and over.” I tell them this, “They have written about 150 songs with those chords and some of them are the greatest rock anthems of all time.”

Anthony: Oh man, that is tough. It is either going to be High Voltage, Powerage or Highway to Hell. I will have to go with… I don’t know! Damn, that is hard. Probably Highway to Hell… no, I’m going to go with High Voltage.

Anthony: It is ridiculously good. Powerage is a very underrated album as it has a lot of great songs on it as well.

Anthony: I could not agree with you more. Malcolm is the most underrated person in that band. The way he puts the songs together, and the way he chooses to play rhythm almost makes it like another bass line. If you think of the song “Back in Black” then just the way he comes in makes you want to dance and a lot of hard rock does not make a person react that way.

Anthony: I have never seen anybody move that much while playing guitar. His hands never move. He is amazing. I don’t know how the hell he does that.