ONE of Springsteen’s biggest appearances this fall is on Tom Morello’s new album, The Atlas Underground Fire, where he and the Rage Against The Machine guitarist cover AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder (below). Played with the same rip-roaring momentum as the original, that unkillable anthem of self-destruction becomes something like a protest song, warning the world of the path we’re all going down. Nearly 10 years in the making, their daring cover has its roots in the E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball Tour in 2013, when Morello tagged along on guitar. When the band hit Australia, he made a pilgrimage to see one of his rock heroes. “I went to Bon Scott’s grave the night before the show,” recalls Morello, “and we were sitting in the hotel bar afterwards and I said to Bruce, ‘Do you think there is an overlapping territory between the E Street Band and AC/DC?’ Without hesitating he said, ‘I’m sure there is.’
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