Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Today, we go back in time 40 years and a day to the release of AC/DC’s eighth studio album, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). After years of hard touring and harder partying, the band had finally hit the big time with the arrival of new singer Brian Johnson. Their first album with Johnson, Back in Black, catapulted them from rock n’ roll underdogs to global superstars overnight. Never ones to rest on their laurels, AC/DC retreated back to the studio after the Back in Black tour to work on their follow up attack. In this week’s essay, we explore what led up to this album, where it stands in the scope of AC/DC’s discography, and most importantly, why it rules. “FIRE!!!”
Before we can talk about FTATR, we have to talk about Back in Black. And before we can talk about Back in Black, we have to talk about the events that transpired on the evening of February 19, 1980. It had been a busy week for frontman Bon Scott. It began with a visit with French metal pioneers, Trust. Scott watched the band record songs for their second album, Répression, and helped translate their lyrics into English for the American release. A few days later, he’d join AC/DC guitarists/brothers Angus and Malcolm Young for a jam session, in which they demoed two songs for their upcoming seventh studio album. Those songs were “Have a Drink on Me” and “Let Me Put My Love into You”. After that, details get a bit fuzzy.
Scott and a group of friends would go out on the town for a night of heavy drinking. Some have claimed it was in “celebration” of finishing lyrics for AC/DC’s next album, but this has been widely disputed. Of those who were with Scott that fateful evening: UFO’s Pete Way and Paul “Tonka” Chapman. The infamous heavy metal hellraisers would make it home alive that night. Scott wouldn’t. He was found dead in a friend’s car the next morning of alcohol poisoning.
In the months following Scott’s passing, AC/DC would soldier on with former Geordie singer Brian Johnson, finish writing the follow up to 1979’s Highway to Hell, and recorded it in the Bahamas with producer Mutt Lange. That album was Back in Black. As we all know, Back in Black would go on to become one of the biggest selling albums of all time, transcending hard rock and heavy metal altogether. Damn near every song became a rock radio hit, with two songs crossing over onto Top 40 radio: “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long”. To this day, no classic rock station in the country can go a 24 hour period without playing at least half of this album.
The subsequent Back in Black tour saw AC/DC headlining the biggest venues of their career thus far, playing such famed arenas as Cobo Hall, Rosemont Horizon, and the Cow Palace. Before they knew it, they were back in the studio with Lange again to record the follow up to Back in Black, For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). How would AC/DC adjust to their newfound superstar status? Should fans have expected a drastic musical detour à la Black Sabbath or KISS when they found money (and drugs)? Of course not! This is AC/DC we’re talking about. If their straightforward rock n’ roll formula worked on Back in Black and prior releases, surely it would work on FTATR. And it did.
The album opens with the unforgettable title track, which has since gone on to become one of the biggest songs in the AC/DC catalog. Though it may sound odd to describe an AC/DC song as “epic”, there’s no other adjective I can use to describe this song. The lyrics, riffs, and atmosphere are absolutely tremendous. If past AC/DC songs were meant for sweaty, seedy pub brawls, “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” was meant for the biggest stadium known to man, its chorus being sung by legions of faithful fans, reverberating throughout this universe and beyond for all eternity.
“Put the Finger on You” sees AC/DC unleashing their no frills rock n’ roll all guns blazing. We’ve got energetic riffing, steady drumming, and powerhouse vocals, all wrapped up in a package of Australian excellence. “Let’s Get It Up” keeps this formula going, albeit played a bit slower and with an innuendo laden chorus. Released as the album’s first single, Brian Johnson described it in an interview with Kerrang! as “Filth, pure filth. We’re a filthy band.” That they were and it shows throughout this entire album.
“Inject the Venom” is the first of a few slower, heavier cuts on FTATR. The verses are notable for their utilization of the “riff-vocals-riff” approach heard on “Whole Lotta Rosie” a few years earlier. Much like venom itself, “Inject the Venom” boasts a chorus that’s downright lethal. Closing side A is my favorite cut on the album, “Snowballed”. This song is played with such bite and aggression, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was one of AC/DC’s heavy metal proteges like Krokus or Accept. Angus Young can shoot down the “heavy metal” tag all he wants. “Snowballed” says otherwise.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by “Evil Walks”, whose riffs and arrangements recall a striking similarity to Back in Black‘s “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”. No complaints there. If you’re gonna rip off anyone, rip off yourself! “C.O.D.” (or “Care of the Devil”) continues the band’s lyrical flirtation with pseudo-Satanism (see “Hells Bells”, “Highway to Hell”, “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”, etc.). Ironically enough, the song was written as a response to claims that AC/DC were devil worshippers. Turns out these claims were hogwash (surprise), but Angus and the boys had fun writing this song about said claims.
“Breaking the Rules” features a chord progression during the verses that I always thought was uncommon for AC/DC. Matter of fact, I hear more Cheap Trick in this riff than AC/DC. Perhaps Rick Nielsen did have some influence on the Young brothers. After all, both bands shared the stage on multiple occasions. If “Breaking the Rules” bears resemblance to Cheap Trick, the groove laden “Night of the Long Knives” lies somewhere between prime Aerosmith and mk. III Deep Purple. Can we also talk about how Mötley Crüe blatantly lifted the lead riff for “Dr. Feelgood”? Closing it all out is the menacing “Spellbound”: a sly, ominous rocker that demands your attention from beginning to end.
Although FTATR‘s commercial success paled in comparison to Back in Black, to call it a failure would be flat out inaccurate. The album shot to #1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 4 million copies here in America alone. Yet oddly enough, for an album that performed this well, the only song that continues to get regular airplay on classic rock radio is the title track. This has always perplexed me. Not only was this album a mega seller, but the songs are just as good as those on Back in Black, if not better. That said, maybe it’s for the better these songs remain un-played. If terrestrial radio ever played “Snowballed”, I’m afraid I’d drive off the road out of sheer shock! Yes, 40 years on and the sky’s still alight with the guitar fight. AC/DC, we salute you.
My favorite Brian Johnson album, the lyrics to “Spellbound” are just so damn relatable and haunting!