The Bon Scott Years
The Young brothers Malcolm (rhythm guitar) and Angus (lead guitar) formed AC/DC in Australia in 1973. They went through a variety of personnel changes in their early years, but cemented their identity with the arrival of vocalist Ron Belford “Bon” Scott (originally the band’s chauffeur), CS in 1974. They released their first album, High Voltage, in 1975. They released five more albums in the last half of the decade, culminating with 1979’s Highway to Hell.
The band appeared “poised for worldwide breakthrough success” AM since the album became their first in the United States to reach gold status. Then tragedy struck. Scott went on a drinking spree and was found dead in the back seat of a car, having choked on his own vomit. 500
The Arrival of Brian Johnson
Bon Scott’s dad told the band at the funeral, “You can’t stop, you have to find someone else.” CM After two days of mourning, Malcolm called Angus and they went back to work. Five months later, the result was “this smoking album with the most prophetic title ever.” ZS It “is the ultimate example of a band turning a career-threatening negative into a remarkable positive.” AM It “is one of the greatest comeback stories in rock history.” CQ
New vocalist Brian Johnson “was a perfect fit” CQ “with a voice like gravel and swagger to boot.” CQ He “was as willing to shred the upper end of his voice as Scott had been” TM and “had the same bluesy edge as Scott” AM but “sang with more power and conviction.” AM The band was able to retain “their core identity as world class hard-rock riffers” CQ even as Johnson stamped “his own personality, not to mention distinctive rasp, on the record.” VH1 He “sings as if he’s being tortured – and thoroughly enjoying it.” TL
Mutt Lange
Producer Mutt Lange had worked with AC/DC on their Highway to Hell album and gave the band “a meatier sound.” CS He returned behind the boards for Back in Black. Prior to AC/DC, he’d worked with acts like Graham Parker and the Boomtown Rats. His work with AC/DC, however, cemented him as one of the most successful rock producers of all time. He would later work on blockbuster albums like Foreigner 4 as well as Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Hysteria.
Lange’s “penchant for sonic perfection and pop accessibility would keep the wheels moving.” CQ Lange “helped the group focus its high voltage rock,” AM crafting “a delicate balance of power and finesse that defined the commercial side of heavy music for years.” TM
Meat and Potatoes Rock and Roll
“It doesn’t get any simpler than this meat-and-potatoes rock and roll.” CRS Critics knocked the band for its “testosterone-laden paeans to sex, booze, and more sex and more booze,” RV but “AC/DC was never a band to bother with any niceties in their music.” CRS They charged forward with “completely straight-ahead guitar power chords, brutal beats pounded out in 4/4 time, and blistering vocals on top.” CRS
The rhythm section of bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd “fuse traditional blues with stadium rock dramatics.” CM They get “right near the boiling point and then hang there, waiting for the schoolboy-uniform–wearing Angus Young to deliver demonically twisted lead guitar that pushes things over the edge.” TM
Legacy
“Coming after years of synthesized disco and overproduced AOR, Back in Black proved once again the resilience of live, loud, and melodic rock, and listeners immediately responded.” TB Author Chris Smith goes so far as to say that AC/DC “rescued heavy metal.” CS He says in 1980, “metal dinosaurs like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath were losing their touch…and newcomers like Van Halen and Ted Nugent were hard to take seriously….AC/DC…remind[ed] everybody what heavy metal was all about: alienated teenagers bobbing their heads in unison to crunchy power chords, banshee screams, and a thundering rhythm section.” CS
It was one of “the greatest hard-rock album of the decade” RV and “one of rock’s all-time classics.” AM “For many, [it is] the essential hard-rock record of the modern era.” TB It “might be the purest distillation of hard rock ever;” 500 it “is a ten-song feast of tightly wound, enormously disciplined stomp rock” TM infused with “the relentless logic of a sledgehammer.” sup>500 ''This is the goes-to-11 playlist of men behaving badly the world over..” EW’12 Rolling Stone called it “the leanest, meanest record of all time.” CM
The Songs
Here are thoughts on the individual songs from the album.
“Hell’s Bells”
The “eerie Hells Bells” AM served as an “ominous opener.” CQ “It could be the most perfect opening to any album. For a full 20 seconds there’s nothing but the lone, eerie sonics of a giant ringing church bell. Then Malcolm Young plays an impossibly slow, circular rhythm guitar riff that is pure funeral march,” CM making for a fitting farewell to Bon Scott.
“Shoot to Thrill” and “What Do You Do for Your Money Honey”
That unforgettable opening is followed by “the melodic Shoot to Thrill,” AM which then moves on to What Do You Do for Money Honey. On the latter, Lange “made sure that every walloping rhythm guitar supporting Johnson’s tales of lasciviousness…weighed in at industrial strength – and was executed with surgical precision.” TM
“Given the Dog a Bone” and “Let Me Put My Love into You”
“Given the Dog a Bone breaks the rules of chivalry and grammar – this testosterone filled romp’s passion for bangin’ is less focused on hips than heads.” TL “Though unabashed in its misogyny – Let Me Put My Love into You would be nicer if it were a request rather than a command.” AM
“Back in Black”
The album includes “such perennial rock anthems as the stomping title track” AM with its “proud peacock strut.” TM “Few recorded riffs have proven catchier, with axeman Angus Young peppering blues runs between massive power chords. You couldn’t have chosen a better song to introduce Brian Johnson. In a gutsy move, the lyrics are eerily self-referential (‘I’m let loose/ From the noose/ That’s kept me hanging about’) and Johnson snarls ‘em with intent.” CQ
“You Shook Me All Night Long”
The “primo dance-metal banger You Shook Me All Night Long” 500 is “unabashedly sleazy.” CQ This song and “Hell’s Bells” “are arena anthems of uncorrupted hookiness and sonic quality,” TL not to mention “strutting blues-based guitar heat.” sup>500 The song gave the band their first top-40 hit.
“Have a Drink on Me” and “Shake a Leg”
“Not a single weak track is included; even the lesser-known album tracks are strong (Have a Drink on Me, Shake a Leg).” AM
“Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”
AC/DC wraps up their metal masterpiece with “the album-closing battle cry Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution,” AM an “epic…that says it all: ‘We’re just talkin’ about the future / Forget about the past / It’ll always be with us / It’s never gonna die, never gonna die.’” CM
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