is the ninth
studio album
by Australian
hard rock band
The album was deemed
a commercial disappointment
after it failed to
match the sales figures
of the band's
two previous releases,
1980's
Back in Black
and 1981's
For Those About to Rock,
and its release
represented the beginning
of the band's
commercial decline.
The third
AC/DC album
to feature
lead vocalist
the album is also
the last to feature
drummer
Phil Rudd
before his return on
Ballbreaker
(1995).
The album is
notable for its
"dry"
sound,
with very little
of the polish
that is evident
on their previous effort
For Those About to Rock
We Salute You.
In a 1984 interview,
Angus Young said
of the LP,
"We wanted this one
as raw as possible.
We wanted a natural,
but big,
sound for the guitars.
We didn't want echoes
and reverb
going everywhere
and noise eliminators
and noise extractors."
However,
the album's birth
was a troubled one;
after having problems
with Malcolm
as well as drugs
and alcohol,
drummer
Phil Rudd
was fired midway through
the album's
recording sessions,
although he had completed
his drum parts.
According to
Murray Engleheart's
band memoir
AC/DC:
Maximum Rock & Roll,
Rudd had been struggling
for some time;
tour manager
Ian Jeffrey
recalls getting a
phone call from
a strung-out Rudd
at four in the morning
when the band
was playing in
Nebraska
on the
Back in Black tour
and finding the drummer
in his hotel room
in a state of
disorientated agitation.
Eventually
Rudd broke down crying
and begged Jeffrey,
"Don't tell Malcolm."
Jeffrey also reveals
that Malcolm
punched the drummer
after he showed up
two hours late
for the band's show
at Long Island's
Nassau Coliseum
and was unable
to play
the last song
of the encore.
"It was an absolutely
stupid thing that finished it,
but it had been
brewing for a long, long time,"
Jeffrey remembers.
"He got into drugs
and got burned out,"
Malcolm later explained to
KNAC.com
in August 2000.
Former
Procol Harum
drummer
B.J. Wilson
was hired to
help complete
the recording if needed,
but his contributions
were not used.
Platt later recalled
to band biographer
Jesse Fink,
"It wasn't a
happiest of albums.
There were all sorts of
tensions within the band
. They were all pretty
knackered by that point.
It was the album
that copped
the backlash, really."
The drum position
was eventually filled
by future
Dio drummer
Simon Wright
after more than
700 auditions
were held in
the US and UK.
Simon Kirke
of Free
and
Bad Company fame,
and
Paul Thompson
of
Roxy Music
were two
of the drummers
auditioned.
Wright appeared
in the videos for
"Flick of the Switch",
"Nervous Shakedown",
and
"Guns for Hire".
A second video
for
"Nervous Shakedown"
was also shot
at a pre-show
rehearsal at
Joe Louis Arena
in Detroit.
He also toured for the album,
and is seen in
the pro-shot video
recordings from
that period.
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