Back In Black
	Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange
	Released on July 21, 1980
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #4 (Re-charted #126 in 1988) . . . PLATINUM (10/13/81), 21x PLATINUM (5/11/05)
	Find it at GEMM
92418-2 cover [high resolution scan]

T he title says it all: they were back and blacker (more evil) than ever. Saw it off, stitch it up, and back into battle. No apologies, no eulogies, the new guy’s name is Brian Johnson. Anyone expecting a reflection on man’s mortality was in for a shock (“Hells Bells”). Some versions (in the UK and abroad) led off with the title track, perhaps the best song never written about the death of a member. AC/DC actually seemed to draw energy from adversity, and it fueled the mythology that they were in league with the devil. (I was in a slow-pitch softball league with the devil once. I’ve never seen anyone take so many pitches. Drove us crazy.) Producer Mutt Lange deserves credit for cleaning up the band’s sound, turning them into a kind of Aerosmith for anarchists. (What is “Back In Black” if not a more menacing version of “Walk This Way?”) Lange sexed the whole thing up, and Brian Johnson’s battery-acid voice served as the perfect foil. Black delivers more classic AC/DC songs than any other album, including “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution.” The rest of the record is average material given a good spit and polish. The lyrics are sometimes lame (“Shoot to Thrill”), the spelling sometimes atrocious (“Given the Dog a Bone”), but Brian snarls them out anyway while the guitar chords crack behind him like a whip. The band built an audience with their tongue-in-cheek humor and over-the-top rockin’, but they built a mythology with Highway and Black. If there’s hell to pay for it, you can put it on their tab.

92418-2 inner sleeve

TRACK LISTING

US/CAN/COL track listing

1. HELLS BELLS    5:09
2. SHOOT TO THRILL    5:14
3. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR MONEY HONEY    3:33
4. GIVEN THE DOG A BONE    3:30
5. LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU    4:12
6. BACK IN BLACK    4:13
7. YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG    3:28
8. HAVE A DRINK ON ME    3:57
9. SHAKE A LEG    4:03
10. ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T NOISE POLLUTION    4:12
    
    UK/AUSL/BRA, etc. track listing
1. BACK IN BLACK
2. HELLS BELLS
3. SHOOT TO THRILL
4. GIVEN THE DOG A BONE
5. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR MONEY HONEY
6. ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T NOISE POLLUTION
7. LET ME PUT MY LOVE INTO YOU
8. YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG
9. SHAKE A LEG
10. HAVE A DRINK ON ME
    
    All songs written by Angus Young/Malcolm Young/Brian Johnson

CREDITS

BRIAN JOHNSON -- vocals
PHIL RUDD -- drums
ANGUS YOUNG -- guitar
MALCOLM YOUNG -- guitar
CLIFF WILLIAMS -- bass
Tony Platt -- engineer
Brad Samuelsohn -- mixing engineer
Bob Defrin -- art direction
Robert Ellis -- photos

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