3 AC/DC Tracks That Showcase the Evolution of Their Sound Over the Years

AC/DC has been around for the better part of a century. As such, many of AC/DC’s tracks, like any other band around as long as them, showcase just how much their sound has evolved over the years. Let’s look at just three points in their hard rockin’ tenure that show how much their sound changed as the years went on.

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“It’s a Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” from ‘T.N.T.’ (1975)

This party rock jam from AC/DC embodied the band’s early sound quite beautifully, perhaps more than any of their earlier releases. “It’s a Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” has that fun pub rock vibe with a little bit of blues mixed in. And, of course, those bagpipes set AC/DC apart from other hard rock acts of the time. This song marked a period when the band was a little looser, a tad bit groovier, and significantly less polished, a short while before they dived headfirst into their cleaned-up arena rock sound.

“Back In Black” from ‘Back In Black’ (1980)

Back In Black, the album, marked AC/DC’s first release without their original singer, Bon Scott. Scott had passed away in early 1980 from alcohol poisoning. Not sure if they would go on, the band eventually decided to keep this amazing thing they had going on running, and opted to release Back In Black with their new vocalist, Brian Johnson. This album and its title track marked a brand new era for AC/DC in a brand new decade.

The title track was just one of several hit singles from the record, and it was one of their first to feature some pretty noteworthy heavy metal elements.

“Hard As A Rock” from ‘Ballbreaker’ (1995)

The title of this song might have the words “hard” and “rock” in the title, but “Hard As A Rock” is a surprisingly bluesy song. Especially when you compare it to the truly hard rock songs of the band’s past. The 1980s might have been the era of glossy, almost glam-adjacent AC/DC tracks, but the 1990s saw the legacy band grappling with a new era of rock, dominated by grunge. They opted for a more stripped-back feel for Ballbreaker, resulting in this No. 1 hit on the US Album Rock Tracks chart.

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