AC/DC is rock’n’roll’s greatest gold reserve
The greatest gold reserve of rock’n’roll, one might say, referring to the color chosen for the reissues: AC/DC celebrate their golden wedding by giving themselves – and giving their fans, above all – special reissues of their legendary albums. “Back in Black” to “Who made who“, the various chapters of the discography of the legendary Australian rock band that wrote some of the most iconic pages in the history of hard rock return to stores in the form of limited edition golden vinyls (pre-orders have already started, at this link).
And the anticipation is growing for the only stop in Italy of the “Power up tour”, which marks the return of Angus Young and his associates on stage: the show scheduled for next May 25th at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, where the Italian people of AC/DC will find himself singing hits like “High voltage”, “Thunderstruck”, “Back in black” and “You shook me all night long”, just to name a few, is officially sold out. Over 100 thousand spectators are expected (the official capacity including tributes is 103 thousand spectators).
It was December 31, 1973 when AC/DC performed together for the first time, on stage at Checkers Nightclub in Sydney, Australia. The recording debut would officially take place a few months later, in July 1974With the’release of the very first single “Can I Sit Next to You Girl” (Fans would have had to wait a few more months to hear the group’s first album: “High Voltage” was released in Australia in February 1975). From there, in a few years they conquered the entire continent and debuted on an international scale, becoming one of the most influential rock bands of all time, with over 200 million albums sold worldwide. Now Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings are reissuing the band’s entire catalog on gold vinyl for the occasion. Italian fans will be able to purchase them at the pop up store dedicated to AC/DC which will open in Milan, in Corso di Porta Ticinese 16, from 15 to 17 March.
The first 9 albums will be released on March 15th: I am “Back in Black”, “Highway to Hell”, “The Razors Edge”, “Powerage”, “For Those About to Rock (We Salute you)”, “High Voltage”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, “Who Made Who” and “Live”.
“High Voltage” (1975)
It represents the band’s international debut and also contains some songs that had already been released in Australia: “At the time, we were referred to as a punk band. That was wrong for us. We were never a punk band, we started with rock and roll. That’s what we play, and that’s what we do best,” he will say Angus Young twenty years after the album’s release, thinking back to his beginnings.
“Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” (1976)
“Dirty deeds done dirt cheap”. In the video for “Jailbreak” Bon Scott and Angus Young were disguised as prisoners, chased and murdered by two ruthless policemen, Malcolm Young and Mark Evans. It’s too late to stop them now: AC/DC are about to write the history of rock’n’roll.
“Powerage” (1978)
It was the album that marked the entry into the lineup of the great Cliff Williams, who replaced Mark Evans on bass. Ccontains “Rock And Roll Damnation”, the first single that conquered the European sales charts: the beginning of the group’s global climb.
“Highway to hell” (1979)
It was the first AC/DC album to conquer the American charts, thanks to singles such as the title track, “Girls got rhythm” and “Touch too much”.
“Back in Black” (1980)
It is the best-selling album of all time by a band, with more than 50 million copies sold worldwide in physical version, of which 25 million in the United States alone. Ccontains the hits “Shook Me All Night Long”, “Shoot To Thrill” and “Back In Black”, still among the workhorses of the Australian group today.
“For those about to rock (We salute you)” (1981)
The title takes up the Latin phrase that the gladiators are traditionally believed to address to the emperor before the start of the games in the arena: “Morituri te salutant“. The phrase, translated into English as “For those about to DIE we salute you” is here transformed by AC/DC into “For those about to rock – we salute you”, which in Italian sounds more or less like: “To those who they’re about to rock – we salute you.” A manifesto, practically. The album cover depicts a cannon from the 1800s, which has become an iconic symbol and also incorporated into the tour’s scenography.
“Who Made Who” (1986)
The album is the soundtrack to the 1986 film “Brivido (Maximum Overdrive)” written and directed by Stephen King: a cult.
“The razors edge” (1990)
Recorded in Vancouver, Canada, under the supervision of producer Bruce Fairbairn, the album marked AC/DC’s commercial recovery after the physiological crisis of the second half of the ’80s. It contains the hit “Thunderstruck” whose video has over 1 billion and 300 million views on YouTube alone.
“Live” (1992)
Recorded during concerts in Donnington Park & Birmingham in the UK, Edmonton in Canada and Moscow, the double disc immortalizes the grit, energy and electricity of a band who never held back on stage.
Each of these limited edition LPs will come with a different 12″x12″ print for each album featuring the new AC/DC 50 artwork, perfect for collecting and framing.
With 50 years of legendary career behind them, AC/DC continues to fill stadiums around the world, selling millions of records every year and generating billions of streams. “Back in Black”, double diamond disc, is the “bestselling album by any band ever” and “third bestselling album by any artist” with over 50 million copies sold. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2010 they won their first Grammy Award in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category for “War Machine.” Their latest album is “Power Up” (2020), their seventeenth studio album, which debuted at number one in 21 countries. An endless story.