Released

25 July 1980

Recorded

April - May 1980 at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas andElectric Lady Studios in New York

Genre

Hard rock, heavy metal

Length

42:11

Label

Albert/Atlantic Records

Producer

Robert John "Mutt" Lange

Professional reviews

AC/DC chronology

Highway To Hell
(1979)

Back in Black
(1980)

For Those About to Rock We Salute You
(1981)

ACDC - Back in Black

Back in Black is the seventh Australian and sixth internationally released studio album 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. ProducerRobert 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, aDualdisc 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 Thrilleras the best-selling album of all-time as well as the best selling album ever released by a band. On 13 December 2007, the RIAA certified it 22× Multi Platinum, recognising sales of 22 million in the United States

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 45 million copies sold worldwide. 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. 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 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. 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

Brian Johnson — lead vocals
Angus Young — lead guitar
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
1980	UK Albums Chart	1
	US Billboard 200	4
	Ö3 Austria Top 40	2
	Norwegian Album Charts	11
	RIANZ Album Top 50	24
1981	Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	1
1991	US Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums	1
2008	US Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums	1
2009	Finnish Albums Chart	9

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1980	"You Shook Me All Night Long"	UK Singles Chart	38
	"You Shook Me All Night Long"	US Billboard Hot 100	35
	"Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"	UK Singles Chart	15
1981	"Back in Black"	US Billboard Hot 100	37
	"Hells Bells"	US Billboard Top Tracks	52
	"Back in Black"	US Billboard Top Tracks	51
	"Shoot To Thrill"	US Billboard Top Tracks	60

Certification

Country	Sales	Certification
United States	22,000,000	22x Platinum
Canada	5,000,000	10x Platinum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_in_Black

Artist	Album	Released	Genre	Sales (millions)

AC/DC	Back in Black	1980	Rock	49

list of the world's best-selling albums

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_worldwide#cite_note-Back_In_Black_sold_49_million_copies-4

Shakira Live Concert --Back in Black-- AC/DC

Back in Black (song)

"Back in Black" is a song by AC/DC, appearing as the first track on side two of their 1980 album,Back in Black. Known for its opening guitar riff, the song was AC/DC's tribute to their former singerBon Scott. It peaked in the U.S. at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1981 and was #51 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart, which debuted in March 1981. "Back in Black" received the RIAA's Master Ringtone Sales Award (Gold and Platinum) in 2006 and reached 2x Platinum status in 2007.

The song was ranked #4 by VH1 on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs, and in 2009, it was named the second greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was also ranked #187 onRolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.. The same magazine has also ranked "Back in Black" number 29 on "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" .

Sampling

A number of artists have sampled "Back in Black" without permission from the copyright holders.

In 1984 the Beastie Boys sampled "Back in Black" without permission for their song "Rock Hard". In 1999, when they wished to include it on an upcoming CD compilation release, they sought permission but AC/DC refused. Mike D of the Beastie Boys quoted Malcolm Young's reason for refusing as: "'Nothing against you guys, but we just don't endorse sampling.'" Back In Black was also sampled in the 2003 song "Work It" by Nelly.

Art Brut usually begin their song "Formed a Band" with the intro to "Back In Black" when they play it live. A recorded version of this can be found on their 2006 "Nag Nag Nag Nag" EP. Eminemreleased a version of his hit, "My Name Is", with "Back In Black" as the bassline. The song was also heavily sampled to by the Evolution Control Committee in creating the song "Rocked by Rape".

Covers and other versions

Two live versions of the song later appeared on both versions of the album Live, as well as the Australian tour edition of Stiff Upper Lip. It has been covered by bands such as The Hives, Steriogram, Living Colour, Foo Fighters with Jack Black, Travis and Colombian pop singer Shakira. Other versions include:

1984 Beastie Boys, sampled without permission on "Rock Hard"
1986 Boogie Down Productions, sampled without permission on "Dope Beat"
1995 Kid Rock, demo with no vocals he scratch over the riff and added a hip hop beat to it, he also covers it in concert usually just the riff in the middle of Devil Without A Cause but he will cover it fully occasionally.
2001 Hayseed Dixie, on A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC
2003 Living Colour, on Collideøscope
2003 Back in Baroque... The String Tribute to AC/DC
2004 Shakira, on Live & Off the Record
2004 Six Feet Under, on Graveyard Classics 2
2005 Wing, on Wing sings AC/DC
2006 Art Brut, sampled without permission on a live recording of "Formed A Band"
???? Jackyl

In the media

Several sports teams use the song during games, including the Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes and athletic teams for theUniversity of Georgia, University of Iowa and University of Nebraska.
The London Wasps (UK) rugby team also use it as their entrance theme.
The slogan "Back in Black" was used to promote the debut of new black uniforms for the Oklahoma State University football team in 1993, including promotional black t-shirts, patterned after the single's album cover, with the letters "OSU" in the style of the AC/DC logo.
In September 2006, "Back in Black" was used in a US Gap TV commercial featuring footage of Audrey Hepburn.
The song was used for advertising of the Black Motorola Razr.
It was used during the trailer for Men in Black II.
ECW star Chris Candido used the theme as his entrance music.
It was used during the trailer for Lilo and Stitch.
It was used during the one of spots for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Lewis Black uses a re-recording of the opening riff on his segment on The Daily Show.
The song is used in the beginning of the 2008 film Iron Man as was also used in one of its trailers. In the movie, it is said this is because it is one of the main character Tony Stark's favorite songs (when one of the soldiers riding in the Jeep with him with the song playing reaches over to turn it off, he tells the man "Nobody turns off my music.")
Jay-Z often uses this song's instrumental when performing 99 Problems live most famously at Glastonbury 2008
The opening riff is used to introduce the "Million Dollar Riff" round on the Australian music program RocKwiz, which airs on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
"Back in Black" is one of the most played songs on the CW show Supernatural, as AC/DC is known to be character Dean Winchester's favorite band. Also an ad for Supernatural first aired on FOX8 in July 2009 plays the opening riff
Back in Black was used to help promote the Ottawa Senators' new alternate jersey.
The song is used in a Brazilian television ad for Ford Fusion.
The song was used in the advert for the 3rd series of the TV show Heroes on BBC2.
The song was used on the Alias (TV series) 2nd Series episode Phase One.
The song is used in the 2009 film Brüno in the cage-fight scene when the main character under the alias "Straight Dave" enters the arena.
The Glasgow Warriors rugby team play this song at their home games while the team takes to the field.
The opening guitar riff is played on Back in Black on the show the daily show (TV series)