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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: AC/DC "Back in Black" 30th Anniversary
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 07-26-2010 10:18 AM
This past weekend, Sunday to be exact, marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Back in Black by the Australian rock group AC/DC.
Back in Black is one of my favorite hard rock albums. If I were asked to put together a top 5 or top 10 list of greatest rock albums ever released this album absolutely would have to be included in the list. The album has an enduring popularity few other rock albums can match. Roughly half of the songs on the album still remain in heavy rotation on rock oriented radio stations. You Shook Me All Night Long is a staple tune in many dance clubs. The recent Iron Man movies have given the music another popularity boost. The music from Back in Black arguably has a timeless quality in that it doesn't fit into the usual hard rock/metal genres that have become dated over the years. The music, like it or not, clearly stands on its own.
Back in Black is an album that might not have ever been made. Many expected AC/DC to break up when the band's front man, Bon Scott died. Instead, the group lucked out in hiring Brian Johnson and having legendary producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on hand to go into the studio and crank out a work dedicated to Bon Scott. The result was an ass-kicking, beer chugging, two-fisted classic.
I still have my old vinyl LP of Back in Black, purchased back in 1980 when I was just a kid. Several years later I bought a CD version of it.
The enduring popularity of Back in Black has resulted in over 49 million copies sold, making it the #2 best selling music album worldwide and best selling album ever for a rock band. Thriller by Michael Jackson is the only album to sell more copies.
AC/DC is still one of the most popular touring rock bands in terms of ticket sales. Over the last year the band ranked in the top 5 on touring grosses. U2 made the most money. This is according to report I heard on one of our local rock radio stations last week.
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 07-26-2010 12:31 PM
I agree that AC/DC's "Back In Black" is a great album! I definitely would include it if I was to be stranded on a desert island and could only bring along a few albums.
"Back In Black" is noted as a great cross-over album, appealing to many who generally dislike hard rock and heavy metal. Everyone I know who hates hard rock has "Back In Black" in their CD collection, similar to, say, Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" being the lone jazz album in collections of those who dislike or are unfamiliar with jazz, or Bob Marley's "Greatest Hits" for those dislike/don't know reggae.
All this talk about "Back In Black" reminds me of how great a year 1980 was for hard rock and heavy metal. In no particular order, I can recall the following:
Judas Priest's "British Steel"
Van Halen's "Women And Children First"
Queen's "The Game"
Black Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell"
Scorpions' "Animal Magnetism"
Rush's "Permanent Waves"
Journey's "Departure"
REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity"
Also in 1980 the first inkling of "The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" brought us the debut albums from Def Leppard and Iron Maiden, neither of which, in my opinion, are the band's best work, but certainly gave us a taste of things to come.
Some sources cite 1981 release dates for Styx's "Paradise Theatre" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Blizzard Of Ozz," though both were produced in and carry a 1980 copyright. Should these count?
And, on the opposite side of the spectrum, 1980 brought us Kiss' "Unmasked," which pretty much solidified the band's downfall.
I was in junior high school in 1980 and on the verge of discovering most of the bands I cited. I can recall many of the kids in school wearing the concert shirts and talking favorably about the music. Who would have thought that thirty years later, I would consider many of the albums mentioned among my all-time favorites and several of which I'll confess to have purchased multiple times (LP and/or cassette, then on CD, and, in many cases, re-mastered/re-issued CDs).
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Darryl Spicer
Film God
Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000
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posted 07-26-2010 01:12 PM
quote: Michael Coate
Some sources cite 1981 release dates for Styx's "Paradise Theatre" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Blizzard Of Ozz," though both were produced in and carry a 1980 copyright. Should these count?
And, on the opposite side of the spectrum, 1980 brought us Kiss' "Unmasked," which pretty much solidified the band's downfall.
I was in junior high school in 1980 and on the verge of discovering most of the bands I cited. I can recall many of the kids in school wearing the concert shirts and talking favorably about the music. Who would have thought that thirty years later, I would consider many of the albums mentioned among my all-time favorites and several of which I'll confess to have purchased multiple times (LP and/or cassette, then on CD, and, in many cases, re-mastered/re-issued CDs).
The Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Oz LP was first released in the UK in late 1980 then released in the USA in early 1981. The follow-up Diary of a Madman was recorded in 1980 some time shortly after the first albums release yet it was not released until late 1981. Both these recordings should be avoided in any remastered pressing. They do not include the original bass or drum tracks on them.
As for Kiss Unmasked it was not the worst LP but definitely on the other side of the career peak. It also did not have any drum tracks recorded by Peter Criss. They were done by Anton Figg of David Letterman's show band.
As for AC/DC's Back in Black, that's the album that almost didn't happen. After the death of Bon Scott, Angus Young was considering throwing in the towel until he stepped into an Australian Nightclub and heard the screams of Brian Johnson.
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