Back in Black
is the 7th studio album (in Australia, 6th in the rest of the world) by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980. Back in Black
was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, who died on 19 February 1980 at the age of 33. The band considered disbanding following Scott's death, but they ultimately decided to continue and shortly thereafter hired Brian Johnson as their new lead singer and lyricist. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had previously worked with AC/DC on Highway to Hell
, was again brought in to produce. The recordings were done at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the album was also mixed.
The album was remastered and re-released first in late 1994, then again in the Bonfire box set in 1997, and as part of the AC/DC Remasters Series
in 2003 by George Marino. In addition, a Dualdisc version was released in 2004, featuring the album in enhanced LPCM Stereo format and the video documentary The Story of Back in Black
.
It sold an estimated 49 million copies to date, making it second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller
as the best-selling album of all-time as well as the best selling album ever released by a band. [1] [2] [3] On 13 December 2007, the RIAA certified it 22× Multi Platinum, recognising sales of 22 million in the United States. [4]
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BACK IN BLACK - A TRIBUTE TO AC/DC TICKETS
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Overview
Back in Black
contains some of AC/DC's biggest hits, including "
Hells Bells", "
You Shook Me All Night Long", and the title track "
Back in Black."
According to Angus Young the album's all-black cover was a "sign of mourning" for Scott, as black is the traditional Western colour of mourning. It is AC/DC's best selling album, the second best-selling album of all time, and the biggest selling album by any band, with more than 49 million copies sold worldwide.
[1] [2] In 2006
Back in Black
was certified by the
Recording Industry Association of America as the fifth best-selling album in the
United States, with 22 million copies sold.
[7] Despite its massive commercial success, it is not AC/DC's highest charting album in the U.S, peaking at #4; their next album,
For Those About to Rock We Salute You
, hit #1 in 1981
[8] as did the band's 2008 album
Black Ice
.
In 1989, it was ranked #26 on
Rolling Stone
magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's. In 2003, the album was ranked number 73 on
Rolling Stone
magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time.
[9]
VH1 named 'Back in Black' as one of the biggest comeback albums of all time and also rated it as #2 in VH1 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.
The song Have a Drink On Me was in the
2006 movie
Beerfest
.
American death metal band
Six Feet Under covered the album in its entirety on their album
Graveyard Classics 2
.
Track listing
- All songs written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Brian Johnson.
# "
Hells Bells" – 5:10
# "
Shoot to Thrill" – 5:17
# "What Do You Do for Money Honey" – 3:33
# "Givin the Dog a Bone" – 3:30
(titled "Given the Dog a Bone" on original release)
# "Let Me Put My Love into You" – 4:16
# "
Back in Black" – 4:15
# "
You Shook Me All Night Long" – 3:30
# "Have a Drink on Me" – 3:57
# "Shake a Leg" – 4:06
# "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" – 4:15
Personnel
- Angus Young — lead guitar
- Brian Johnson — lead vocals
- Malcolm Young — rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Cliff Williams — bass guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Rudd — drums, percussion
Production
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange — Producer
- Benji Armbrister — Assistant Engineer
- Bob Defrin — Art Direction
- Robert Ellis — Photography
- Bob Ludwig — Mastering (original LP)
- Barry Diament — Mastering (original CD releases)
- Ted Jensen — Remastering (EMI/Atco reissue)
- George Marino — Remastering (Epic reissue)
- Tony Platt — Engineer
- Brad Samuelsohn — Mixing
- Jack Newber — Assistant Engineer
Chart performance
Albums
| Year
| Chart
| Position [10] |
| 1980
| UK Albums Chart
| #1
|
| Billboard Pop Albums
| #4
|
| Ö3 Austria Top 40
| #2
|
| Norwegian Album Charts
| #11
|
| RIANZ Album Top 50
| #1
|
| 1981
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart
| #1
|
| 1990
| The Billboard 200
| #4
|
| 2008
| Billboard Top Pop Catalog
| #1
|
| 2008
| Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums
| #4
|
| 2009
| Finnish Albums Chart
| #9 [12]
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Chart
| Position [13] [14]
|
| 1980
| "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"
| UK Singles Chart
| #15
|
| "You Shook Me All Night Long"
| Billboard Hot 100
| #35
|
| "You Shook Me All Night Long"
| UK Singles Chart
| #38
|
| 1981
| "Back in Black"
| Billboard Hot 100
| #37
|
| "Hells Bells"
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
| #52
|
| "Back in Black"
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
| #51
|
| "Shoot To Thrill"
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
| #60
|
Certification
| Country
| Sales
| Certification
|
| United States
| 22,000,000
| 22x Platinum
|
| Canada
| 5,000,000
| 10x Platinum
|
See also
- List of best-selling albums worldwide
References
- Ageless and Defiant, AC/DC Stays on Top Without Going Digital
- AC/DC, fuoco alle polveri: <>
- How AC/DC Conquered the Globe
- http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS
- Ageless and Defiant, AC/DC Stays on Top Without Going Digital
- AC/DC, fuoco alle polveri: <>
- Top 100 Albums
- AC/DC discography
- 73) Back in Black
- Title Unavailable
- Number 1 Albums - 1980s
- Suomen virallinen lista
- Title Unavailable
- Every Hit