AC/DC might be one of the biggest rock bands of the world today, but this doesn’t change the fact that Yngwie Malmsteen thinks Angus Young is underrated.
In a new interview with Guitar World, the guitarist named 11 guitarists he thinks are great. Among those guitarists, there was the AC/DC guitarist. But as opposed to the others that Malmsteen named, Young stood out as the underrated one.
Malmsteen mentioned the sound difference among the two and said:
“We might sound very different, but I love this guy with a passion. When it comes to straight-up rock ’n’ roll where you mean every note you play, Angus is the man.”
He added:
“I’d even go as far as saying he’s kinda underrated as a guitar player. He’s super-tasty and always sounds good. He’s a dear friend of mine, too. And so is Brian Johnson, who doesn’t live far from me, either!”
Malmsteen and Young’s friendship dates back to the ’80s. Back in the mid-’80s, when Malmsteen was 22, he opened for AC/DC during their ‘Fly On The Wall’ tour in the US. By that time, he had already released two studio albums: ‘Rising Force’ and ‘Marching Out.’
Their friendship and AC/DC’s fame didn’t change Malmsteen’s mind. In another interview in 2019, the guitarist once again named the AC/DC rocker as one of the underrated guitarists. This time, he explained why too:
“Angus is a very underrated player. He’s super-tasty and always good! It’s still blues, though, even when he does his big solo. Classical isn’t just little triplets here and there; it’s your entire mind being released from the pentatonic box – a linear kind of playing. And no-one really does that…”
These are only the two of many times Malmsteen praised Young. If you’re wondering Malmsteen’s thoughts about his tour with AC/DC, you can watch the 1986 interview below.