Besides great guitar playing, two things come to mind when Angus Young is mentioned: Gibson SGs and his iconic school uniform.

The Australian riff machine has stayed loyal to the Gibson double-cut across his career. He’s bought many, and played them all across his prolific career. But one holds dominion over all the rest.

“I’ve lost count of how many SGs I have,” Angus Young admitted to Guitar World in 2009. “But none of them match up to that one guitar.”

His late brother and rhythm master, Malcolm, favored a heavily modded 1963 Gretsch Firebird. Angus, by comparison, has never been able to look past his red 1968 SG. And it’s not for a lack of trying.

“I’ve tried getting copies of it, but no, they’re not even close,” he said. “You might get the feel, but you don’t get that same kind of sound out of it. I don’t know why. I wish I did.”

The '68 SG in question is one of Young's most iconic instruments. It was used for most major AC/DC recordings and taken across the globe on numerous world tours. It was also the source material for an Angus Young signature SG in 2009. Noted for its unusually slim neck, it became the bedrock of the AC/DC lead sound.

Young's 2009 GW interview charted the creation of their 15th studio album, Black Ice. Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden) was tasked with producing the 15-track barnstormer, and he wanted to change things up a little by prizing Young away from his tried-and-trusted workhorse.

“I’ve got a couple of other guitars that I use onstage and as spares,” Angus relayed at the time. “I’ve got an early Sixties black SG, and we’d try that one. I’ll try anything and, if it works, use it.”

So, what fans are hearing on Black Ice isn’t always that guitar – Young is happy to experiment.

“Another guitar that I’ve got, a ’68 SG, dates from the Highway to Hell days, and I’ve used it for backing tracks and stuff,” he continued. “It’s a factory reject, I think – it has the number ‘2’ on it. I got it for 70 or 75 bucks when I first came to America. It was quite beat up.”

The Aussies played their first US shows in July 1977, meaning the $75 price tag is roughly $650 in today’s money. That alone makes it sound like a steal, but given its provenance, it's probably added a couple of zeros by now.

Today, the SG is finding plenty of love in the hands of Derek Trucks, Samantha Fish, Grace Bowers, and Yungblud as new generations take to the iconic axe. That said, a new signature Angus Young SG from Gibson wouldn't go amiss...

In a 2020 interview with Bass Player, AC/DC low-end legend Cliff Williams explained how he got the AC/DC gig in 1977, and charted the gear that defined his sound.

Since its initial release in 1979, the Steinberger headless bass has enjoyed a special place in the world of instrument design. While its widespread popularity was fairly short-lived and mostly confined to the ’80s, some prominent players helped to put it on the map: Geddy Lee, Sting, and even Cliff Williams of AC/DC all showed some love for the Steinberger bass somewhere in that decade.

“I played a Fender Precision for a little while, when I originally joined the band,” Williams told Bass Player back in 2020. “Then – what is that little headless graphite bass that looks like a toothpick? Steinberger. Those were the first active pickups I ever used, and I really liked the sound, but I hated the bass.

“I played it on the road for a while, but I just couldn't stand the shape, so I pulled the guts out of it and dropped them into my P-Bass, which wasn't bad.

“I've also fiddled around with a Fender Jazz over the years and a Gibson Thunderbird as well, but not for very long. I always seem to go back to the Music Man. They're really good workhorses, and they just seem to fit the bill.”

Williams made the switch to Music Man in 1979, on the tour that followed the band’s Highway To Hell album.

He went on to favour a selection of late '70s pre-Ernie Ball StingRays, mainly in sunburst, and wearing quite heavy gauge (50 – 105) D'Addario flatwound strings. Those strings were set high, to allow maximum downstroke attack.

“For decades, I've used flatwounds everywhere – studio and live. I prefer the punch and the fatness of a flatwound string. I played wires when I was younger, but they have too much clatter for what I want.

“I play mostly downstrokes until my hand feels like it’s going to fall off! Again, with the flatwounds, the pick gives me a really nice solid punch.”

Williams joined AC/DC in 1977, having been invited to fly to Australia to record the band’s next album, Powerage.

Some claim that original bassist Mark Evans played on some of that record, and in The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC, author Jesse Fink writes that producer George Young played bass.

“Not at all, and Mark was long gone at that point,” said Williams. “The Australian embassy in London was crapping me around something cruel. I had an interview, I would go along, and they would put me off. This happened four or five times, and the guys were already in the studio in Australia.

“I said to the guy behind the embassy desk, ‘Look, I'm going to lose this job.’ He said, ‘Well, I don't see why an Australian shouldn't have it anyway.’ They just wanted to be bastards. I finally got my visa, and we did the album.”

The twin-guitar fueled riffs soon started to gel with the crunching new rhythm section of Williams with native Aussie drummer, Phil Rudd, underlined by Highway To Hell's propulsion of AC/DC to the heights of hard rock.

Frontman Bon Scott's drink-related death stalled their momentum, though Brian Johnson's addition continued the success, and indeed took it to unprecedented heights with the multi-platinum Back In Black, recorded in the Bahamas by studio übermeister, Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, who would later utilise AC/DC's sonic imprint with Def Leppard and Bryan Adams.

“The first album we did with Mutt was Highway to Hell. We did two more: Back in Black and For Those, About to Rock. During that time, he was working with a lot of other bands, like Def Leppard, and he was starting to develop his sound.

“I think part of the reason why Mal and Angus eventually moved on from Mutt is he did have a signature sound that was becoming more prevalent than the band's sound. But we had tremendous success with him.”

Having anchored AC/DC for four decades, Williams is often dismissed as too conservative to be considered among the bass greats, but his role in one of the biggest rock bands in the world provided quite possibly the loftiest example of what all rock bass players should aspire to.

“Too often, it seems younger players are just blasting away on their own. Be part of a unit and listen to your other players and what's going on around you. And persistence is a wonderful thing.”

AC/DC rhythm guitarist Steve Young has been admitted to a hospital in Argentina “out of an abundance of caution.”

The band are in the middle of a South American tour, and currently in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires ahead of a show at the Estadio River Plate stadium on Monday, March 23.

Young, who succeeded Malcolm Young in the group in 2014, is said to be in “good spirits,” according to a statement from the band to the Reuters news agency.

“Out of an abundance of caution, he [Steve Young] was admitted to a local hospital where he is undergoing ​a full battery of tests,” the statement reads. “Stevie is doing well and ​is in good spirits. He is looking forward to getting on stage on Monday.”

The band and doctors will no doubt monitor the situation, but at the time of writing, the situation doesn’t look like it will impact the tour.

The powerhouse Australians have already played dates in São Paulo, Brazil, and a doubleheader at the Parque Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, as part of a run of dates to support their 2020 album, Power Up. Despite having passed three years prior to its release, Malcolm has a co-writing credit on every track.

The band took a while to start touring the record, with their first dates in 2024 also marking the debut of new bassist Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction, who has stepped in for Cliff Williams.

Stevie, who is Malcolm’s nephew, had previously played on the Blow Up Your Video World Tour in 1988, made his recording debut on 2014’s Rock or Bust amid Malcolm’s ailing health. The rhythm guitar legend sadly passed away in 2017.

Five years after his passing, Malcolm ‘the pick shredder’ Young was honored by Gretsch with a limited-edition “Red Beast” Signature Jet, the guitar that, alongside the likes of George Harrison and Jeff Beck, helped the Gretsch Jet line take off.

What is Wolfgang Van Halen’s go-to track to test out a new electric guitar? Does he riff through Another Celebration at the End of the World? Tap up Eruption? Or is his new harmonic slap workout from The End the ultimate fretboard tester?

Turns out, it’s none of the above. Instead, the Mammoth multi-instrumentalist dives into the repertoire of another classic rock ’n’ roll group whenever he needs to test out a new six-string. And, no, he doesn’t play any of the Forbidden Riffs.

Having developed the game-changing EVH SA-126 – a versatile semi-hollow that’s suitable for metal and rock – Wolfgang knows a thing or two about gauging the behaviour of a guitar.

“I think it would be something by AC/DC,” he says when asked in the new issue of Guitarist about his guitar-testing tracklist. “I’ll usually do Night Prowler because it has those big chords, which can tell you a lot about guitar.

“And then for single notes I might do Beating Around the Bush or something like that. I think those classic open chords can show you what a guitar is about right away. You can hear how the acoustics resonate together.”

Wolfgang defaults to AC/DC songs to test out his guitars for good reason. In that same conversation with Guitarist, he highlighted Angus Young as a key blues-based rock influence – and drew similarities with the playing approach of his father, the late Eddie Van Halen.

He continues, “I wasn’t much of a blues guy to begin with. But I think out of all the blues-based players, I really love Angus Young from AC/DC. He sticks to what is generally pentatonic stuff but has this anarchistic way of attacking it.

“That’s what makes it so attractive to me. It’s almost like he doesn’t know what he’s doing and it’s all about the way he does it, rather than the notes he’s playing. When you listen to him, it’s incredibly blues-based, but it’s the aggression he plays with that makes me enjoy it. I guess it was the same kind of thing with my dad.”

For Wolfgang, Young’s ability to get more out of less is a key trait of his playing. That’s probably why his riffs make such good material for testing out a guitar: it doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to work.

“It doesn’t need to be complicated,” he concludes. “You can hit one note with attitude and that’s all that matters.”

Elsewhere in his Guitarist interview, Wolfgang discussed what sets his favorite modern metal hero apart from his peers, and looked back on how he’d have to keep Eddie in check during early Van Halen gigs.

Pick up the new issue of Guitarist at Magazines Direct for further interviews with Kiki Wong, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Jared James Nichols.

Wolfgang Van Halen's advice is timely. With Black Friday fast approaching, now is the best time to pick up a new electric guitar for a bargain. It might be wise to brush up on Night Prowler and Beating Around the Bush for when you take delivery of a new guitar...

Visit our guide to the best Black Friday guitar deals to see what savings are about.

AC/DC will finally bring their Power Up tour to Australia later this month, and to celebrate, we've printed a new run of the Classic Rock AC/DC Special Edition bookazine. Dubbed the Aussie Power Up Tour Edition, it features 132 pages of high quality, in-depth material spanning the group's 1973 formation in Australia, through to the present. It comes wrapped in a premium high-gloss cover.

How did AC/DC's first ever concert go? What's the story behind Bon Scott's music career pre-Acca Dacca? How the hell did the group bounce back so powerfully after Bon Scott's death, and what is the magic behind the success of Back In Black? All this is covered (and much more) as well as interviews with Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Brian Johnson. Check out the full table of contents at the bottom of this page.

Classic Rock AC/DC Special Edition: Aussie Power Up Tour Edition is out now for AU$22.95 at all good newsagents. Go and grab yours before the Power Up Tour hits proper: it'll get you in the mood and then some.

Contents

The Ballad Of Bon Scott
Bon’s brief tenure in folksters Mount Lofty Rangers prior to joining AC/DC and a near-fatal premature ending…

The First Gig!
The original line-up recall seeing in the new year of ’74 with a bang.

TNT
The Australia-only release of their second album.

First Steps
Growing up down under: aggro in the arvo.

Let There Be Rock!
The band’s first proper album release confirms their status as a definitive force in rock’n’roll.

Riff Raff
Laying waste to the UK: on tour in ’77 with Bon leading the charge.

Bad Boy Boogie
The last few years of the 70s, AC/DC consolidated their name as the ultimate good time rock’n’roll band – both on record and on stage.

Shot Down
Working towards the peak career of the band’s Bon Scott era, AC/DC recruited new album producer Mutt Lange.

Highway To Hell
The full story behind the making of the band’s most well-known and enduring album.

A Touch Too Much
The tragic passing of the AC/DC frontman and how his death passed into legend – and conspiracy.

The 80s
The exit of Bon and the entrance of Brian ‘Beano’ Johnson: how AC/DC rose again to reach even greater success.

Back In Black
Beano’s debut: the iconic album that saw AC/DC break new ground whilst remaining true to their roots.

Hell’s Bells
Exactly how did Back In Black become such a classic album? Geoff Barton of Classic Rock explores its longevity.

For Whom The Bell Tolls
How the band fared with new guy Beano out front.

Every Home Should Have One
Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd on why Back In Black was such an important album for him – and his career.

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You
The stress and strain of following up Back In Black as new era of rock approached.

Bring Out The Big Guns
The pitfalls of playing on stage with firing cannons.

Rock’N’Roll Damnation
Dealing with inter-band conflict, surviving the vagaries of music fashion, censorship in the USA… and a serial killer.

In The Badlands
How Flick Of The Switch and Fly On The Wall saw AC/DC falter in the decade that saw pop overcome rock.

Going Into Overdrive
Drawing inspiration from an unlikely source, AC/DC revitalise their career with Who Made Who and Blow Up Your Video.

High Voltage
The resurgence and the cleaning-up of their act.

Malcolm Young
The older brother interviewed in 1992, following the release of The Razor’s Edge and Ballbreaker albums.

Rock Your Heart Out
Back to basics: the making of Razor’s Edge, Ballbreaker and into the new millennium with Stiff Upper Lip.

Can’t Stop Rock’N’Roll
The renaissance of AC/DC: how the band thrived in the new millennium by outliving their peers from the 70s.

Black Ice
For almost a decade with no new music, the band exploded back onto the scene with a “comeback” …then went supernova.

Train Kept A-Rollin’
Revisiting Black Ice and Rock Or Bust – the band’s latest (or final?) – two albums that brought the band’s career full circle.

It’s A Long Way To The Top…
He’s not bitter: Brian Johnson’s career in full and how he successfully filled the big shoes of Bon Scott, when no one though that was possible.

Let There Be Rock. Again
Angus Young and Brian Johnson on ressurecting the one of the greatest hard rock bands ever and unleashing Power Up.

The 30 Greatest Songs
The all-time classic cuts. From Lemmy to Aerosmith, from Clutch to Kiss, the great and the good choose their favourites.

Have you ever found yourself in the audience at a concert, mindlessly strumming along, pretending that you're the band's lead guitarist? Heck, ever do that while listening to music at home?

Well, if you fancy yourself as something of an air guitar pro, you'd be pleased to know that there's an actual, bona fide Air Guitar World Championships .

As the current air guitar world champion, Aapo Rautio, recounts in The Guardian, his crown has been a long time coming, as he's been practicing his craft since he was a kid.

“I was always ‘playing’ air guitar, miming along to the biggest rock tunes with my imaginary instrument,” he relates. “My parents were music fans – my dad loved Bruce Springsteen and U2. AC/DC was the first band I discovered on my own. Angus Young, the lead guitarist, was my hero.”

As Rautio relays, stepping on stage for the first time gave him a taste of what it feels like to be a rock star – and he was officially hooked.

He continues, “When I stepped on stage, I did my routine to AC/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie. The crowd started chanting ‘Angus,’ just like on the live recording, and it hit me: this is what it feels like to be a rock star. I made it to the finals, playing to hundreds of people in Oulu’s market square, and I was hooked. I got the nickname ‘Little Angus’ that day.”

And if you're wondering what the competition actually involves, Rautio describes it as “intense but joyful” experience.

“Contestants have 60 seconds to give everything – explosive energy, perfect mime, rock star charisma – on an invisible guitar,” he explains. “Judges score you on a scale from 4.0 to 6.0. In the case of a tie, there’s an ‘air-off’ between the final two contestants: a song plays and you improvise.”

Preparation is everything. For this year's championship, Rautio chose an Avenged Sevenfold song. He listened to it on loop for weeks and, akin to a world-class athlete or performer, made sure his body was well up to the task: “By the time competition day came, I could feel the song in my bones,” he recalls.

Fast forward to the actual show day, and when the scores came in, Rautio had tied with Japanese champion Yuta “Sudo-chan” Sudo. And, like every other battle of the bands (or, in this case, air guitar battle), it was time for a tie breaker – appropriately labelled, in air guitar circles, as an “air-off”.

“We went head-to-head to Sweet Child o’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses. When I heard the song, I felt relieved because it was one that I knew, and more than anything I was so excited to perform one more time. When they announced I’d won, the square erupted.

“The moment is hazy. I think I blacked out from shock,” he recollects. “Then everyone started singing Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World and lifted me on to their shoulders. Justin Howard – AKA Nordic Thunder – a former champion and one of my closest friends, was hugging me. I cried.

“I was Finland’s first air guitar world champion in 25 years. The previous Finnish champion, Markus ‘Black Raven’ Vainionpää, was there, too. He gave me the biggest hug and said it was ‘about damn time.’”

Despite being a guitarist and a drummer in an actual band, Rautio asserts that the air guitar community is truly one-of-a-kind, a family with the ethos of “make air, not war” summing up the spirit that permeates the championships.

“Before you go on stage, every competitor comes and hugs you. Then, for 60 seconds, you’re allowed to be free, silly, the biggest rock star in the world,” the air guitar champion concludes.

And, like every other niche, air guitar enjoys a contested history – with Woodstock ’69 largely cited as one of the documented events where air guitar originated.

Lauded as one of the modern-day heroes of the electric bass, Toby Peterson-Stewart has enjoyed burning sessions with fellow bass guitarists Jacob Umansky and Clay Gober, and a string of bass-intensive performances with Australian three-piece, The Omnific – composed of Peterson-Stewart, fellow bassist Matt Fackrell, and drummer Jerome Lematua.

“Usually the bass is hidden, but in The Omnific everyone can hear every single thing you play,” Peterson-Stewart told Bass Player. “So my recent focus has been on developing better articulation on the bass, which is an inspiration that I got from certain guitar players. I think a lot of bass players could learn from that.”

Channelling his inner Angus Young, Peterson-Stewart recently released an outrageous take of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. “The main motif was a really small idea, but I soon realised it was really similar to Thunderstruck – I actually thought it sounded like a djent version of that song! So I made a quick video clip that same day with the title If Thunderstruck Was Written in 2025.”

With a fanned-fret Dingwall NG in tow, Peterson-Stewart went on to give his version of Thunderstruck the full treatment, with slapping and tapping galore. “When the first video started getting noticed on Instagram and TikTok, I knew I had to try and turn it into a complete song.

“First I tried a version that resembled the original, but it just didn’t sit right with me. I’d previously come up with another riff that was in the same vein, so I slowed it down, changed the tuning, and started to combine the two.

“The fanned-frets of the Dingwall helped make some shapes a bit easier to obtain in certain positions. That bass also has a really clear sound for tapping.”

Asked about the recording process, he told Bass Player: “It's actually a combination of multiple takes. I also used a lot of parallel processing to split each track. For example, ‘Bass Left’ is a mix of different distortion styles spread over 4 tracks, which are then mixed back into 1 bus called ‘Bass Left Bus.’”

Was this approach one that he consciously pursued? “Honestly? No. I just went nuts and added lots of parallel distortion! I usually pick and choose how many different layers are happening in sections where there's automation, just to ensure the slaps are still heavy without sounding too distorted.

“I have breakdown videos available on my Patreon page for more insight into all of the plugins and routing that I used.”

Asked who his bass heroes are, Peterson-Stewart cites Evan Brewer as an influence from the outset of his love affair with tapping. “Evan has a song called Currency, which is really melodic, expressive and super clean. Everyone should check out this video where he plays the song with two basses at once.”

Having served up a mind-boggling display of fretboard explorations with The Omnific, Peterson-Stewart is the ideal man to ask for advice to any bass player wanting to hone a similar technique.

“Work on tapping octaves with your left hand, and then match it an octave higher with your right hand. That’s your biggest connection across the whole fretboard. Octaves are also a great harmonic anchor point and a good way to introduce tapping into any riff.

“Also, try tapping on the highest part of the fret, which will give you the strongest possible sound with minimal fret buzz.”

After wildly successful European and North American tours, AC/DC has announced five Australian shows—their first since 2015. The 2025 Power Up tour will hit most Australian state capitals in November and December, with Stevie Young once again joining as rhythm guitarist, and former Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney playing bass.

The tour is named after the group's 2020 album Power Up, which featured songwriting contributions from co-founder Malcolm Young, who passed away in November 2017 (Young's nephew Stevie Young has played with AC/DC since the former retired from the group in 2014).

Power Up shot to number 1 in 21 countries around the world, but by all reports AC/DC's 2024 shows were heavy on the classics. Footage from their 2024 Germany show bears this out: "wall-to-wall bangers" is apparently the order of the day.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 26, with all shows supported by Amyl and the Sniffers.

Here are the tour dates:

• MELBOURNE: Wednesday 12 November, Melbourne Cricket Ground, on sale 1pm local TICKETEK
• SYDNEY: Friday 21 November, Sydney Accor Stadium, on sale 9am local TICKETEK
• ADELAIDE: Sunday 30 November, Adelaide bp Adelaide Grand Final, on sale 10am local TICKETMASTER
• PERTH: Thursday 4 December, Perth Optus Stadium, on sale 1pm local TICKETEK
• BRISBANE: Sunday 14 December, Brisbane Suncorp Stadium, on sale 11am local TICKETEK

The current issue of Australian Guitar features a huge celebration of the group's classic record Back in Black, which celebrates its 45th birthday this year. Get it on newsstands now, or subscribe via TechMags or iSubscribe.

Ever wondered about your best gig ever (so far)? Every musician has one – and for Pat Travers, it was sharing the stage with a host of legendary names at Day on the Green, a recurring concert series at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Promoted by rock impresario Bill Graham, the series began in 1973 and drew some of the biggest acts of the era and crowds of around 65,000 people.

“The best show I ever did was 1978 in Oakland, California,” Travers tells tells Rick Beato. “It's Aerosmith headlining, Foreigner, my band [Pat Travers Band], AC/DC, and Van Halen. Five bands starting at 11 a.m.

“So I'm not sure if Van Halen went on first, or AC/DC did. One of them did. It didn't matter. And of course, Bill Graham was the best, and the backstage area had AstroTurf and tables and umbrellas, trailers – and everybody's hanging out together.”

The fantasy lineup of classic rock musicians extended to Travers' backstage encounters – including a comical one with none other than Steven Tyler.

“That was the first time I met Steven Tyler, and that's so funny. Somebody from my record company says, ‘Pat, you got to meet Steven Tyler.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I've just got to meet Steven Tyler.’

“So they walk me over. He's sitting in a chair underneath an umbrella with a frozen daiquiri, and he's got big mirrored aviators and the biggest dive watch I ever saw, and he's just sitting there, and someone goes, ‘Hey, Steven, this is Pat – Pat, this is Steve.’ And I go, ‘Hey, Steve, how you doing?’”

Tyler’s response? “He goes, ‘My fucking lips are killing me.’ [laughs] I liked him, just loved him immediately. I went, ‘That's my kind.’ He just didn't get it. I mean, he had chapped lips because it was so dry out there, yeah, but he [had] forgotten that, ‘Oh, by the way, your lips are so big you can whisper in your own ear.’ It's funny.”

Another one for the books? An encounter with two guitar greats, and a photo to prove it. “There's a great picture of Eddie [Van Halen], Pat Thrall, and myself backstage. Oh man, we look awesome – three guitar players, just 24 years old.”

In the same Rick Beato interview, Travers revealed he owned three Gibsons by the age of 16 – all of which met an unfortunate demise.

Olly Pearson – an 11-year-old guitar player from Wrexham, Wales – recently stunned Britain's Got Talent with a white-hot medley of classic rock bangers and tricky solos as he won over the judges’ hearts.

Wielding what appears to be a Patrick James Eggle guitar for his solo audition, Pearson's age-belying talents make for a heart-warming spectacle.

As Pearson explains, he started learning the electric guitar at the age of seven, and cites AC/DC's Angus Young as his favorite guitar player. For his audition, though, he drew upon the works of a few other guitar greats, who help him steal the show.

To a warm cheer from the crowd, he storms into a reverb-bolstered Highway to Hell, giving it the Young shuffle as he nails the riff, before delivering a very literal take on Van Halen's Jump fretwork workout and capping his performance off with a screaming take on Brian May's Don't Stop Me Now solo.

He even had the confidence to get up in the judge's faces at one point, having arrived well prepared with a wireless guitar system.

“I dream to become the best guitarist in the world,” Pearson had said before showing the judges, and an enthusiastic crowd, what talents he possesses. It’s a skillset that bodes very well for the future.

“Oh my god, Olly. Literally, a star is born. I have never, ever seen anything like that in my life,” said a shocked Amanda Holden, while fellow judge Simon Cowell offered him perhaps the highest praise he could: “You already have your own distinct sound, which normally people take decades [to find]. You’re that good! That was brilliant.”

It's not the first time an 11-year-old mini shredder has made a mark on the BGT stage. In 2023, Harry Churchill put his name on the map with two mesmerizing showcases. First, he donned an Epiphone Les Paul for an awe-inspiring Queen medley before delivering a Marty McFly-flavored tapping masterclass in the semi-final.

That came after a 62-year-old Grandpa honored the spirit of Eddie Van Halen with a viral incendiary audition the year before.

Across the pond, Maya Neelakantan wowed America's Got Talent judges last year. Her audition later resulted in her jamming onstage with Testament and Alex Skolnick, being gifted one of Jeff Hanneman's guitars by the late guitarist's wife, and meeting Jason Becker.

Meanwhile, another 11-year-old, Aanika Pai, left ex-Megadeth shredder Kiko Loureiro shell-shocked after she used his gear for a fiery impromptu solo at his guitar camp.

These youthful talents might leave some players feeling a little old and useless – this writer included – but it’s safe to say that the future of shred is in very safe and talented hands.

A few years ago, I had to learn (or brush up on) the lead guitar parts and solos for about 83 songs – everything from classic Merle Haggard and Kinks tunes to the Cars’ Bye Bye Love to two entire Beatles albums – all of which I eventually performed at clubs, theaters, and outdoor festivals that spring and summer.

Buried on this two-ton list of tunes was Friday on My Mind, a late-1966 single by the Easybeats, a high-energy Aussie band that churned out some seriously catchy power pop.

The song was huge by the spring of ’67; it reached Number 16 in the U.S., Number 1 in Australia, and Number 6 in the U.K. It even was voted “Best Australian Song” of all time by the Australasian Performing Rights Association back in 2001.

The most striking thing about the tune – from a guitarist’s point of view – is the deftly and relentlessly alternate-picked root-fifth and root-octave figures that outline an implied chord progression during the intro and verses.

And then there’s the Eastern-flavored use of the harmonic minor scale and its fifth mode, Phrygian-dominant, in the single-note fills! And how can we ignore the contrapuntal interplay between the primary and secondary guitar parts, featuring contrary melodic motion?

Anyway, I was so intrigued by the song that I actually paused in the middle of all my relentless song-learnin’ to do a bit of serious research about the band and their guitarists. That’s when I stumbled upon their connection to AC/DC.

First of all, the band – as heard on this particular tune – featured Stevie Wright (lead vocals), Harry Vanda (guitar), George Young (guitar), Dick Diamonde (bass), and Gordon “Snowy” Fleet (drums), and the song was composed by Vanda and Young. As any AC/DC super-fan knows, Young was the older brother of AC/DC cofounders Malcolm and Angus Young.

When the Easybeats called it quits in 1969, Young and Vanda concentrated on writing and producing songs for other artists – not to mention a few for themselves, most of which were recorded under different stage names. One of their studio-based groups, the Marcus Hook Roll Band, featured Malcolm and Angus.

George (along with Vanda) went on to co-produce AC/DC’s early albums, including Let There Be Rock, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, T.N.T., Powerage, and High Voltage. He played bass for the band very early on and wound up producing their 2000 album, Stiff Upper Lip.

George Young’s famous saying to his younger brothers was, “You can’t call yourself a band until you’ve done at least 200 gigs.”

In a 1992 interview with Guitar World, Angus Young reflected on what he learned from his older brother, saying he “was so quick that you learned a lot when you were with him. Especially when you were 14 or something.

“He'd pick up a bass and hand you the guitar. And you'd think you were incompetent, but before you knew it you were playing with him. He'd go ‘G... A...’ And you were away.

“He also taught me... like, say you play a song five nights in one key, but on the sixth night the singer's throat ain't makin' it. You might have to go down a tone or so. George was really used to that, and he got me used to that.”

The elder Young's six-string eccentricities also left a large impression on his brothers.

“He was into some crazy things too, you know,” Angus told Guitar World. “Like he'd tell me the D string annoyed him. The G string, too. ‘Too sweet for rock and roll,’ he'd say – so off went the G string!

“When I last saw him in the Easybeats, he had like four strings on that guitar. He was never a fan of light strings either – especially when those slinky strings came out. He'd say, ‘You can't tune 'em.’”

Young died on October 22, 2017, only a month before his younger brother, Malcolm.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a torn hamstring is no fun – and Orianthi can attest to that. Having had to pull out of Alice Cooper's tour due to the injury, the guitarist has revealed how a torn hamstring and hip have disrupted her immediate plans and touring schedule – forcing her to approach AC/DC's Back in Black from, let's just say, another angle.

“I'm recovering from a slightly torn hamstring and hip,” she explains on the Guitar Hang podcast. “And I had to cancel some Alice Cooper dates, which I felt terrible – really terrible about. But I felt this terrible pain and I was, like, ‘I don't know, holding the guitar for two hours a night and not being able to move around.’

“And I called Alice, actually, when I was in Saudi Arabia, and I said, ‘I'm in a lot of pain. I'm not too sure what's going on.’ So I gave him a heads up and I said, ‘I don't know. I don't know what's happening.’ When I got back, yeah, they were, like, ‘Oh, you can't really do this.’ I'd never canceled anything before. So it weighed heavy on me. But now I'm feeling better and all of that.”

Despite the obvious consequences such an injury has on a musician with a schedule as packed as Orianthi, she's hopeful she'll be able to stand up for the upcoming shows – something she wasn't able to do at PRS' 40th anniversary concert.

“Playing the 40th anniversary for PRS sitting down on a chair, it was so bad,” she admits. “I was, like, ‘Man, this is so embarrassing.’ And I'm, like, in a tracksuit and playing with Dany [Daniela Villarreal] from The Warning – she's awesome. We played Back In Black.

A quick tip from Orianthi? “You should never play Back In Black sitting down. It was just weird because they didn't show me walking out. So my mother saw it. She goes, ‘Did they wheel you out? You just appeared on a chair.’ That was some weird shit. Anyway. What can you do?”

Aside from her link-up with Dany, Orianthi also treated audiences to a performance of First Time Blues – and surprised The Warning guitarist by gifting her the custom guitar she played that night.

Great rock and roll needs no explanation; it hits you so squarely in the chest that you start feeling good long before your brain has had time to figure out what happened. AC/DC know this. For 16 years they've been making powerful, masterful rock and roll – without pretense, self-analysis, or the slightest regard for the never-ending parade of fashion.

Those 16 years are summed up beautifully on AC/DC's new live album, Live – a collection of classic after classic from the quintessential live hard-rock band. Through it all, Angus Young's lead guitar rages like a forest afire.

He stands no taller than five feet, but he throws every ounce of his compact frame into each power chord and stinging lead, playing with brutal conviction. As singer Brian Johnson says, “You cannot bullshit the kids.” AC/DC wouldn't know how to try.

In New York to promote Live, Johnson and Young come on like a duo from a Charles Dickens novel: a boisterous highwayman from the chilly north of England and a diminutive, wise-cracking Artful Dodger.

Though Angus has not lived there for years, his speech is still peppered with the sharp cadences of Australia, where he and his brother, Malcolm, started AC/DC all those years ago.

With each wry observation, Angus squints one eye behind a perpetual cloud of cigarette smoke that trails up and gets lost in his fine, auburn hair. He and Johnson throw themselves wholeheartedly into the business of talking barre chords, bared bottoms, and other rock essentials along the Highway to Hell.

Your performance style is so strenuous, Angus. Have you ever hurt yourself onstage?

Angus Young: “Sure. I've lost teeth. I mean I don't go out there to do myself a deliberate injury. But when you're on the road for that length of time, you're bound to twist an ankle or something. I once had splints on my fingers. I soon learned how to play slide with them on! I've jumped off amps and fallen ass over tit – made a complete fool of myself.”

What was your most embarrassing moment onstage?

Young: “Well, I've had my pants fall off. All of a sudden my wedding tackle was out there for all to see. You know, I've even had my shorts stolen a couple of times.”

What's the origin of that time-honored part of your show where you strip off and moon the audience?

Young: “A lot of that came from the days when we'd be playing clubs and it'd be hot inside. So I'd take off my jacket, and half the audience would go ‘whooooooo.’ Especially with my physique – I'm not exactly Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it's all built off that. I'd take off my shirt and the drummer would go ta-dump. A bit of cheap cabaret, really.

“And the mooning thing... well, it's a great way to shut up a heckler. Or to get attention back up on the stage.

“One time we were playing this big festival in England and there was this woman photographer with a real Dolly Parton physique, you know? She gets up and walks across the front of the stage. And of course more than half the audience are hotblooded males; so they're all following her like this. [rolls his eyeballs to the right] And my brother says, ‘You better do something quick to get their attention back.’ So I mooned 'em. That certainly jolted them back quick. Very popular with the law, too.”

I'll bet!

Young: “Oh, yes. On one of the early tours of Britain we had the vice squad on tour with us the whole time. 'Cause Bon... [the late Bon Scott, AC/DC's first singer]... he took the French language, you know. Well, he had a colorful language anyway.

“I remember there was many a time in Australia, playing in these outback places, where we'd have to put up bail money. And if we did anything wrong – like me pulling my pants off or Bon swearing or anything – we'd lose the bail money.

“The mayor and the councilmen would come along to the show to monitor us. They thought it was a great thing. They invented it. Not us. It was their way of trying to stamp us out.

“I remember once Bon getting up there and saying, ‘I've been told we can't say ‘fuck.’ Okay, we won't say ‘fuck.’ I've been told we can't say ‘shit.’ Okay, we won't say ‘shit.’ They left out ‘suck.’ But we won't say that either...’ You know? Our bankbook didn't grow, but our popularity did.”

You've said somewhere that you can't play guitar well unless you're jumping around like a lunatic.

Young: “Yeah, well I go with the guitar, because I'm pretty small. On most people, a Gibson SG looks small – like a violin. On me, it looks like a big guitar. I've got small fingers, too.

“Now, when most people bend a string up, their finger bends the note. With me, my whole body's got to go. [He falls into Angus stage move number 1, miming how he uses his entire forearm to bend a string.] I hug the guitar, if you want to get technical about it. Now for vibrato... [he convulses with laughter as he illustrates]... I've got to shake me leg a little. When you're a little guy, there's not much pull on the strings – especially with the heavier gauges.

“The most important thing for me onstage is playing the guitar. The whole epileptic routine – whatever I do up there – comes out of that. I do become a little... possessed, as Malcolm says. But there's nothing Satanic in it. I do become another person. But that other person comes from me concentrating really hard on playing the guitar.”

Do you feel that AC/DC are essentially a live band?

Young: “I think that all good bands are essentially live bands. The great ones – the ones that last – are the ones that had that approach. Your Stones, Who, whatever. Your only real gauge for AC/DC is if we play someplace and people come to see us the next time we play there. That's the only way we know if we were good the last time. You can't trust the hype side of it.”

Do you see a lot of fans from the beginnings of your career – 1976?

Young: “Sure we do. There's a lot. You can tell. The older ones are in the back.”

Brian Johnson: “We're just about on first-name terms with some of them. Some guys have got a standard pass to get in. They know the crews and all.”

Young: “Europe accepted us before America did. So when we went through Europe last time it was like an army following us. Kids with tents coming out and stuff. You walk in and they give you the set list they want you to play.”

Johnson: “We feed 'em, too. There's always a lot of food backstage – more than we can eat. So as we're leaving the venue, we say, ‘Okay guys!’ And the kids come in with haversacks and fill them up – so they can get to the next gig.”

Young: “They've got great networks, the fans. They can tell you what happened the night before. Like if you played a few different songs or did a song a bit faster the previous night, they know all about it.”

Is it kind of like the Grateful Dead phenomenon?

Young: “Naaooowww. I mean, the last four letters of the Grateful Dead say it all, don't they?”

Brian, you joined AC/DC in 1980, after the band had enjoyed a bit of success. Did the band live up to your preconceptions of what they were like?

Johnson: “Well, I hadn't known about AC/DC long enough to have a preconception of them. I was up in Northern England. And it was just six months before I auditioned for them that I first heard them.

“A couple of me buddies... Malcolm Waley, I'll never forget... he brought back an album, 'cause he'd seen them at the Newcastle Mayfair. And he said [his voice drops even lower than usual], ‘You gotta fookin' hear these! Fook!’ [To Angus] You know Mal.

“At the audition, we started doin' Whole Lotta Rosie; I knew it 'cause there was a big buzz in England on that song.

“Europe and England were the first places where the boys were really gettin' red hot. It was great 'cause it was right in the middle of the big punk thing. Now, I heard punk and I said, ‘I fuckin' don't get it. I know everybody's raving about it...’ But I didn't like it at all. So with the boys, at least there was something out there that was decent. Ya could tap ya foot to it – know what I mean?”

Young: “At that time he's talking about – the middle Seventies – we were giving punk music a good name. Because that was the word they used to describe us – punk band. They'd get a wrong idea. We weren't a punk band, but they'd put us on the same bill as punk bands. And they sure got a shock when they started spitting at us and we spat back.

“We were never ones for getting slumped under a tag or filed under A, B, or C. We started as a rock and roll band. That's what we play – what we do best. We never claimed to be anything else. And then in the Eighties, they'd slump us in as a heavy metal band. Even before that they had other things: power pop. Crap.”

Johnson: “You put all the names together and it spells bullshit.”

Young: “It's true. I mean, okay, the word ‘blues’ conjures up something definite. You know where you're going. It says it right. But the heavy metal thing? I immediately think of men in armor. And then that split leg routine. You know what I mean?

“There's more to playing the guitar than being able to do a leg split and wearin' a pair of tights. The heavy metal tag offended me more than the punk thing. 'Cause I thought, ‘Jesus, what have they conjured up now?’ Then just because you call an album Highway to Hell you get all kinds of grief. And all we'd done is describe what it's like to be on the road for four years, like we'd been.

“A lot of it was bus and car touring, with no real break. You crawl off the bus at four o'clock in the morning, and some journalist's doing a story and he says, ‘What would you call an AC/DC tour?’ Well, it was a highway to hell. It really was. When you're sleeping with the singer's socks two inches from your nose, that's pretty close to hell.”

Presumably it's gotten a little better now.

Young: “It has. He can do his laundry now.”

Johnson: “I've got two pair of socks now.”

So Angus, did you listen to a lot of blues early on?

Young: “Sure. That was my diet. Other kids would come to school with the latest Top 40 thing. I was always buying a lot of imports: Muddy Waters. That music.

“When I was young, one of the earliest records I heard was Little Richard's You Keep a Knockin'. I think I nearly invented rap with that record: I'd take the needle and keep putting it back to the same spot, to the blues bit, over and over again; 'cause that was the best part of the song. My mother said, ‘You touch that needle one more time and you're going to have a very sore fist.’ But I couldn't help it. I just loved that one bit.

“I was never a lover of the harmony-type stuff. For some reason that seemed too... eeuuuewww... it brought in that sweetness. When I heard the Beach Boys, I just thought it was an older version of the Chipmunks.”

Johnson: “Hah – at the real speed!”

Young: “You know what I mean. 'Cause it was like [sings in a hilariously nasal California accent], ‘We're suurrfun Yew Ess Ayyy.’ Then when my family immigrated to Australia [from Scotland, in the mid Sixties], you'd see these kids that had nothing to do with the real thing, but they all looked like they came out of Hawaii Five-O. Standing there with these great wooden lumps of board.

“I'd never seen a surfboard in my life. But they've all got these bits of wood, and they're all going, ‘Surrrfun Yew Ess Ayy.’ I went home to my mother and said, ‘Mum, I think they put us on another planet.’”

Johnson: “In Newcastle [England] we didn't know what water was.”

Young: “It was oil.”

Johnson: “The only water we had was what you put in your whiskey.”

Young: “That's right, Newcastle invented the word pollution.”

So you weren't impressed by the ‘American-ness’ of it all?

Young: “Oh, no, no, no, don't get me wrong. I love what's come from America, musically. But I don't think the people here see it for what it is a lot of times.

“For me, the culture is blues music. That's what I grew up on, and I have great respect for Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon... If those people weren't there, you wouldn't have your Stones, your Zeppelins, the Who... all the big blues-based bands. The Beatles – same thing.

“I mean, if Paul McCartney played in Boston tomorrow, he would finish off the night with seven or eight Little Richard songs. That, to me, is rock music. The other things are really the housewife, ‘cry in the tea towel’ shit. That ain't rock music.”

When did you start up with that SG, Angus?

Young: “Just as I came out of school. I saved up my pesos and went to the guitar shop. I always wanted an SG.

“I had a friend, an American guy, who had a Gibson catalog. As soon as I saw the SG, I knew that was the one I wanted; I think it was because the horn things [i.e., the sharp cutaways] reminded me a bit of myself. And the other thing, when I saw the Beach Boys with a Stratocaster, I think that also swayed me the other way. It didn't look right. And that surfin' thing was popular at the time.”

That Fender sound.

Young: “I'm not condemning it. You've got your Hendrixes and all that. But even he said he didn't like playin' surf music.”

The Who did.

Young: “Well, yeah. They were a strange case.”

So you discovered the guitar of your life pretty early on.

Young: “Well, not right off the bat. I mean, I played other guitars. I had an acoustic guitar first. My mum got it for 10 bucks when I was nine or so. She got both me and Malcolm one, so there'd be no fighting over it. There was always a guitar around the house, always some brother that had some guitar lying about somewhere.”

Were you influenced by your brother George being in the Easybeats? [The Easybeats were a mid Sixties beat group that had a worldwide hit with Friday on My Mind.]

Young: “Not that much, 'cause he formed that band as soon as we arrived from Scotland – formed it from the immigrant camp. So from the moment we arrived, he was out playing a lot. I never really saw him much. And then I had another brother, a saxophone player, who had also taken off. He went to London and then ended up in Hamburg, Germany, during the Beatles' times.

“My father wanted to get us all off the music kick – he thought we should be working. That was his thing. That's why he moved to Australia. So at school, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone that my brother was a member of a band. I remember one headmaster found out and gave me a hard time over it.”

Did you and Malcolm start your thing together?

Young: “Not really. We just used to play away. George would say to Malcolm sometimes, ‘Here Mal, pick up the guitar.’ Like if he was working out an idea or something. 'Cause Mal was very competent. He's a great all-around guitarist. I know it says ‘rhythm guitar’ on the albums. But for me, if he sits and plays a solo, he can do it better than me.”

Does he ever play solos on records?

Young: “In fact, there's a couple of solos from him on our first album. But even then it's the way he plays rhythm – it's got that distinct sound, especially with that Gretsch. I've tried to emulate his rhythm style myself, at home, with one of his guitars, and it's no easy task. He's got those .32 guitar legends big thick strings on it, like tram tracks, you know? It's all in his little wrist.”

You guys have an amazingly tight thing together.

Young: “I think that's part of the brother thing, too. It used to be a game, sort of. It becomes instinct with you. And my other brother George was so quick that you learned a lot when you were with him. Especially when you were 14 or something.

“He'd pick up a bass and hand you the guitar. And you'd think you were incompetent, but before you knew it you were playing with him. He'd go ‘G... A...’ And you were away.

“He also taught me... like, say you play a song five nights in one key, but on the sixth night the singer's throat ain't makin' it. You might have to go down a tone or so. George was really used to that, and he got me used to that.”

Instant transposition!

Young: “Right. And he was into some crazy things too, you know. Like he'd tell me the D string annoyed him. The G string too. ‘Too sweet for rock and roll,’ he'd say – so off went the G string! When I last saw him in the Easybeats, he had like four strings on that guitar. He was never a fan of light strings either – especially when those slinky strings came out. He'd say, ‘You can't tune 'em.’”

So now Malcolm uses real heavy gauge strings and you use lighter ones.

Young: “Well, Malcolm just seems to get heavier and heavier with his strings. Now he's at the point where they're not making that gauge any more, since the youth want them lighter and lighter. These days, you see, they all want to run from one end of the fretboard to the other. They want to practice their scales. I mean, that's all very good, so long as they do it at home.”

Why should we have to hear it?

Young: “Right.”

A lot of your greatest hooks are single-string riffs where you alternate between fretted notes and playing the string open – like Thunderstruck, for example.

Young: “Yeah, I was just fiddling with my left hand when I came up with that riff; I played it more by accident than anything. I thought, ‘Not bad,’ and put it on a tape. That's how me and Malcolm generally work. We put our ideas on a tape and play them for one another.

“Malcolm came in to see me once when we were on the Highway to Hell tour and said, ‘I've got this riff and it's driving me nuts.’ It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm trying to sleep, and he's saying, ‘Well, what do you think of this?’ I said, ‘It sounds fine to me.’ And that was Back in Black. Bang.”

So you like being in a band with your brother, then?

Young: “Well, it's good and bad. When I play something in the studio and the producer says, ‘Oh, that's great,’ I always look around and say, ‘Yeah, but what does Malcolm think?’ 'Cause Malcolm knows me, and if he says yay or nay, it's the difference between getting to go home or sitting in the studio all night.

“So, sometimes it's like having two producers. But that's good, because it keeps you on your toes. And if I really get disheartened, I can just hand Mal the guitar and say, ‘Here, you try it.’ Then he'll show me up and I'll say, ‘Right, I'll beat him.’”

What can you recall about your first tour of the States?

Young: “When we first came here, we toured around with a station wagon. We got put on with Kiss. This was when they had all the makeup and everything – the whole hype. They had everything behind them, the media, a huge show and stuff. And here we were – five migrants, little micro people.”

Johnson: “Migrant workers – that just about describes it! ‘Where's your green cards?’”

Young: “It was tough to even get into the show with that station wagon. Many a time they wouldn't let us in the venue 'cause they didn't see a limo. [Another nasal Yank accent] ‘Wheeahs duh limo? If yaw duh rock band, wheeahs yaw limo?’”

When was this?

Young: “1977 was the first time we got to America. So this would have been '78. It was pretty strange. I hadn't even heard of a lot of the music here at the time – I thought there would be more rock. But when we got here it was a disco-type thing.”

It was a dismal place in 1977.

Young: “What was real strange was that although the media was pushing this really soft music, you'd get amazing numbers of people turning out to hear the harder stuff. We were playing big stadiums and getting a great reaction.

“We'd be on the bill with a whole heap of acts – like in Oakland, playing a Bill Graham ‘Day on the Green’ event. We were on at 10:30 in the morning – the first act. But at 10:30 in the morning there were 65,000 people. And they knew what we were about when we came on. We were only on for 35 minutes. But in 35 minutes you had to do a lot. It was fun. It was exciting. I'd do it again.”

Johnson: “Yeah, yeah, that was excitin' times, that. Pick yer best and go out. Pow!”

Young: “Sometimes we could be real mercenary. Like if another band was givin' us a bit of stick – the headlining band or something. We get on and just sort of say, ‘Okay, we'll just turn up to 11 here, and let's go.’ Blow 'em away. We were good at that, too.”

Johnson: “Fuck 'em. Hah!”

Were you overwhelmed by the groupie scene here?

Young: “No, no, no, no, no. In those days, girls were only interested in... well, not us. You met more of that when you started in clubs and pubs. Because in that time, you got rich people coming to slum it, and other people coming to see what the fuss was about. So those were your times when you could meet more of the weird and wonderful women. The crazy people. But during those first tours in the States... no. No more than what would be now. Same thing.

“We were never that sort of band, anyway. I never ever saw a girl out there that would faint over me. Maybe she'd look and go, ‘Mmmm, I've never seen something as ugly as this!’ Maybe I'd get some of that. But not a – what would you call it? – a fan sort of thing.”

Johnson: “The Top of the Pops syndrome.”

Young: “But in a way that's always worked for us. You don't see an audience of young little girls screaming for us. So other people say, ‘Now that's a real band. That I like. It's real.’ 'Cause we aren't the prettiest things in the world. With AC/DC, it's not like we're here to steal your wife and your girlfriend and your daughter. We may borrow them, but...”

Johnson: “Only for a while.”

But don't girls like the schoolboy suit?

Young: “Well, they used to come out in England. But then, the English have been known for their craziness in the, um, sexual department.”

Johnson: “The public toilet department. ‘Vicar please, take yer hands off me. It's not yer turn!’”

Young: “I guess there's something a bit sexy in the blues element of what we do. That's probably more what's associated with the old strip club routine. I think that's somewhere in the back of people's heads when they hear that sort of music: the strip club image, you know? The smoke-filled room and the girl onstage. Well, I would like to believe that.”

Johnson: “I was startin' to feel good.”

One last thing: what's the origin of the schoolboy?

Young: “My sister. As a kid, I'd come right home from school and pick up my guitar, without changing out of my school suit. At dinner time, I'd still be in the school suit, playing away. My sister always remembered that. She thought it was cute.

“She was the one who said to Malcolm and me, ‘You know, it would be great if he'd get onstage with that school suit. It'll give people something to look at.’ I suppose she was right. At least it's worked for us.”

This interview was originally published in Guitar World magazine in 1992.

The childhood home of AC/DC electric guitar heroes Angus and Malcolm Young has been demolished, despite the fact it had been listed on Australia’s National Trust Register of Historic Houses.

Located at 4 Burleigh Street in Burwood, Sydney, the property became the Young home when the family moved in back in 1965, the same year that the pair’s older brother George Young released his debut album with The Easybeats.

In 1973, AC/DC formed at the address, and in 2013, it was added to the National Trust Register of Historic Houses. However, when it came to demolishing the property, the company responsible stressed it was unaware of the building’s cultural significance.

“We regret that the previous long-term owner did not share this vital part of the property’s background with us,” says Burwood Square Pty Ltd general manager Leon Kmita. “Learning about this connection after our plans were already underway has shocked us. We are genuinely sorry for this oversight.

“On behalf of the team at Burwood Square, I want to convey our heartfelt regret. We now recognise how deeply this location resonates with the AC/DC community and fans worldwide. We feel a strong responsibility to honour AC/DC’s legacy and to make amends to all the fans who hold this band in such high regard.

"While we cannot change the past, we are dedicated to celebrating this significant part of their story. To the global fanbase of AC/DC, please know that we hear you, appreciate your deep admiration for this legendary band, and are devoted to making this right."

The property was originally demolished to make way for a $28.75 million residential development, but now, in response to backlash from music fans, the site will be repurposed as a new tribute to AC/DC and the Young brothers.

Using material salvaged from the property, the developers have vowed to set up a bar or cafe where fans can “gather to celebrate the band’s enduring legacy”.

In response to the demolition and fan backlash, the local council stressed that, despite the fact the property was listed on the National Trust Register of Historic Houses, it was not protected under local or state legislation.

“As it is not heritage listed or protected under local or state legislation, and because The National Trust is a community-based, non-government organisation, with no statutory authority, the property does not have enforceable protections. Burwood Council remains committed to finding new ways to celebrate the Young family and the area’s rich musical heritage,” the council writes.

Childhood homes of influential musicians and guitar stars are often seen as sites of cultural significance. In 2022, Paul McCartney opened his own childhood home for unsigned artists to write and perform.

Before that, the home of fellow Beatle George Harrison went up for auction.

NAMM 2025: Greek pedal maker Crazy Tube Circuits has unveiled the Heatseeker – a threefold amp-in-a-box pedal that promises to nail Angus Young’s guitar tone.

But, to go one step further, it also boasts a preamp and an additional dynamic enhancer circuit inspired by the Schaffer Vega Diversity wireless system – a cult piece of vintage gear that was championed by the likes of AC/DC, Kiss, Pink Floyd, and more throughout the mid-1970s.

In fact, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett would later use a replica on 72 Seasons, calling it the “secret weapon” of the band's Grammy-nominated LP.

So, expect a pedal that “features the most important sonic elements to match the tone of the short-pants-rock-God”, but one that looks to throw extra versatility into the mix.

CTC adds that, while the pedal’s blueprint was all about capturing the tonal magic of early AC/DC, the pedal can go far beyond it, too, with the Schaffer/Marshall-inspired circuitry supposedly also capable of producing Van Halen, Kiss, and Peter Frampton-flavored tones.

As the mastermind behind the new stompbox explains, the Schaffer system went beyond simply freeing guitarists from cables. Instead, its preamp helped tighten up low-end frequencies with a slight accentuation for the mids, while its in-built Dynamic Expansion circuit “enhances the dynamic response and harmonics of the signal”.

That, as a result, “gives punch and attack to ensure that it will cut through the mix”.

Going one step beyond simply integrating that circuit into Heatseeker’s innards, CTC has linked it to an Enhance knob to give players “more control over the guitar tone’s dynamic response”.

Setting it at 10 o’clock promises “extra sparkle” and maxing it out brings “even the most dull and colorless sounds” to life.

A smart switching circuit is said to follow the signal path and respective gain stages tuned for each amp, with a Marshall-style EQ – that’s Bass, Middle, and Treble augmented by Master, Presence, and Volume controls – giving tone-tweakers plenty to experiment with.

Elsewhere, the Master Volume packs enough output to double as a preamp, and it can be plugged into a clean power amp, or direct into DAWs to make demos pop.

CTC does, however, note that the pedal does not offer any speaker emulation circuitry, so when going into a DAW, you’ll still want some kind of cab emulation.

A further new addition to CTC electronics is the Heatseeker’s Wall of Sound circuit, which creates “thundering lows and thickening high mid frequencies” by tuning the amp section of the pedal.

As such, the firm talks up a level of projection that is akin to standing in front of a wall of 4x12 cabinets. It is a very bold claim, but it’s one that CTC is distinguished enough to make. After all, this is the firm behind Joe Bonamassa's favorite pedal of 2024, having already delivered the sound of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here in pedal form.

“In combination with the tube power amp simulation and the enhance circuit of the right section we’ve made sure that the pick attack will be as dynamic as it gets,” says CTC. “The softer picking will produce clean and slightly crunchy sounds, hard picking will give explosive distorted sounds.”

The Heatseeker is rounded out with a passive effects loop for pedalboard integration, while the two different amp/preamp sides can be run independently.

The Heatseeker is available now for $279.

Visit Crazy Tube Circuits for more details.

The firm's stock has been on a meteoric rise in recent years, with founder and tube amp obsessive Christos Ntaifotis telling Guitarist how his love for collecting amps has inspired one of the most exciting stompbox brands in the world.

As the rhythm guitarist holding down the fort while his brother plays lead, Dan Hawkins is the Malcolm Young of The Darkness, so who better to explain why the late rhythm king was the best in the business, and how anyone would go about emulating him?

Hawkins has tried, but it is easier said than done…

When did you first become interested in the art of rhythm guitar?

“It was my brother, Justin, who turned me onto AC/DC. I immediately picked out the rhythms as something I could do. I could hear this guy playing in a way that made me think, ‘Gosh, I might actually be able to do that!’ Malcolm’s approach was groovy but also angry and aggressive.

“He wasn’t playing lightly. His parts sound simple, but when you delve deeper, despite being mainly open chords, they’re quite intricate. Let’s put it this way: I struggle to play barre chords! I spent two years with the stereo panned hard left so I could only hear Malcolm.

“I did my 10,000 hours of trying to copy him. To some extent I failed, but it helped me find my own way. If you try to emulate him, it’s like sport: mess up once and the whole thing is gone.

“But Malcolm never put a foot wrong. He was always in time. If the rhythm section started to drift, he would go with it and then pull them back into line. You can hear that on the live stuff… it’s incredible! He’s got to be one of the most underrated guitarists ever.”

Malcolm usually fed his Gretsch guitars into amps like the Marshall Super Bass. Did his tone influence you as much as his performances?

“Definitely. His sound wasn’t particularly high-gain. I went from acoustic guitar to electric, so my brain was already quite anti-distortion, in a way. I liked those big open chords with very little overdrive. That’s where precision and palm-muting comes into its own, because you can’t let anything get out of control – otherwise people will hear it!”

Have you ever bought a Gretsch Jet or White Falcon to sound like him?

“I had the Malcolm signature for a while, but to be honest I didn’t get on with it. It wasn’t the easiest guitar to play, which again is a testament to Malcolm. It’s so bright and chimey that if you don’t palm-mute correctly, it quickly becomes a clang fest. I’d also been playing Les Pauls for a while, so there was no going back.

“A Les Paul fattens things out better for a band like The Darkness. I’ve used a Marshall Super Bass in the past. I borrowed one in Australia recently, the same exact spec as Malcolm’s. They’re quite growly and warmer than you might expect. That’s why his rig worked so well – the Gretsch could be harsh but the Super Bass would round out the lower frequencies.”

Which song best captures Malcolm’s input to AC/DC?

“For many years, the first song I would play at soundcheck would be Beating Around the Bush! Which is actually similar to the Fleetwood Mac song Oh Well. But it’s quite tricky because there’s a lot of information happening. It’s still probably the first thing I play when I pick up a guitar and plug in.”

Where is Malcolm’s influence most evident in The Darkness?

“I’d say Black Shuck and definitely Stuck in a Rut, as well, especially as that song just sticks with an A chord and toys around with different rhythms. We didn’t even bother changing the chord with that one! But, then again, pretty much everything we’ve done is built around the same three chords. I slip into that stuff a lot because that’s how I learned how to play electric guitar.”

Some might say rhythm guitar is a bit of a lost art form…

“I’m lucky to be one of the last bona fide rhythm guitarists left in the world. Everyone else wants to be playing lead. My daughter is learning and she can already play loads of solos.

“I’m constantly reminding her to work on her engine room. You need to be digging in and supporting the band until it’s your turn to shine. My love for rhythm guitar is born out of necessity and lack of ability! I know I’ll never be a technically great lead guitarist, so I don’t bother trying.”

Did you ever get to see Malcolm in action?

“A few times. I remember the Stiff Upper Lip tour at Wembley being ridiculously loud, something like 147dB in front of the PA. You would permanently lose your hearing stood two feet away from it. I was halfway down the arena and still couldn’t hear properly for a couple of days.

“I remember we were playing in Germany the day Malcolm died. It dawned on me that the reason I’m on stage making a living from rock guitar – the best job in the world – was entirely because of Malcolm. I shed a tear on stage that night.”

Do you have any other parting tips for nailing Malcolm’s tone?

“I think Marshall knocked it out of the park with their Studio series. One thing that frustrates players is getting the right sound without turning up really loud. Because amps are made to be driven, right? But the Studios manage to get that full sound at a much more palatable 20 watts.

“They will inspire players as much as the powerful stuff cranked. So, I’d say that’s what you need for the classic Marshall sound at a quieter volume. I actually played the Royal Albert Hall for a charity thing recently and was using one of those little Studio Super Lead [SV20C] combos. I didn’t even need the 20 watts – I used it on the 5-watt setting and it sounded massive!”

The jarring rhythms and unorthodox math rock brilliance of Black Midi is a world apart from the raw rock ’n’ roll of AC/DC, but as guitarist Geordie Greep tells Total Guitar, influence can take form in all kinds of ways…

Here, he explains what makes Angus Young a bona fide guitar hero who changed the sound of rock 'n' roll electric guitar.

I love Angus Young, but it doesn’t necessarily come across in my music… 

“You might read this, listen to my band and think I’m talking gibberish, but there is definitely an influence! One thing that’s very prevalent in some of the best music is people taking influence from other things and imitating it in their own way. I guess if you played AC/DC to a hardcore Chuck Berry fan back in the day, they wouldn’t have liked it, mistaking it for noise. 

“Sure, Angus is trying to play like Chuck Berry and old blues guitarists like that, but he doesn’t sound like them. It became his own thing. Look at Jimi Hendrix, he was playing his own version of the blues. But it didn’t come across like that at all; it sounded like something new.”

One thing I learned from AC/DC is how to get the most out of every song. 

“They are masters of tension, knowing exactly when to extend something and take their time before moving on. That’s what gets you hyped up. They would jam out Jailbreak for 10 minutes, taking their time like a volcano about to erupt. And when it finally drops, it’s so satisfying and one of the best feelings. It’s about making the most out of that power.”

Angus manages to achieve so much with a simple approach. 

“His solos usually have a similar kind of arc to them, using the same kind of vocabulary. But every time you hear one, he makes you listen. He never meanders – there’s always a very clear start, middle and climax.

“His leads never seem to trail off. There are lots of guitar players who are fantastic but they have a tendency to trail off… we all do, as guitarists! You’ll be in the middle of something and then let it get away from you. With Angus, that’s very rare. 

“He’s always on top of what he’s doing, what the song requires and how to make best use of the solo section. His solos sound free, but they’re actually pretty choreographed. They’re like set pieces within a song. The band will build up to sections completely reserved for the solo and work around him. 

“A great example is the song What’s Next To The Moon, which has a brilliant solo. You can tell it’s a big feature because it doesn’t fit to eight or 16 bars or whatever. There’s a specific part they worked out which perfectly leads back into the verse, adding to the momentum.”

Angus changed the sound of an electric guitar

“Everyone was playing through the same equipment back in the ’70s, stuff like Marshall Plexis, but no-one sounded like him. There was so much attack and bite in his tone, but he kept the clarity. 

“When people play AC/DC songs in a covers band or on YouTube, I notice they almost always use way too much distortion. But with AC/DC it’s not that overdriven; it’s just an amp being played really loud. The sound of the guitar that gets amplified, without all the mush or extra saturation. 

“Of course, AC/DC rely on simple chords, in a way that’s not too different to what Pete Townshend was doing. Everything comes through clearly because it isn’t too distorted. You can hear all the chords and frequencies of each voicing. That’s what helps make the music more nuanced than it could have sounded. 

“Another thing I love about Angus is his use of the volume control, which is quite an underutilised thing in general. He taps into different levels of overdrive just through his guitar. 

“He might keep it halfway up and reserve maximum power for his solos. And that’s why his solos always pop out… they’re never unsatisfying. That takes discipline – choosing to have a cleaner sound so he has the space to take it further when needed.”

Angus is mainly a blues player, but there are moments where he dabbles with classical ideas

“If you listen to Let There Be Rock from the If You Want Blood You’ve Got It live album, there’s one arpeggio he keeps repeating, getting faster and faster, almost like a faux neoclassical kind of thing. It’s something that many guitar players try to do, carving out their own solo section and risking pomposity.

“But with Angus it’s always good-natured and fun. It always sounds cool and gratifying. You never get the sense it’s too self-indulgent. I love Ritchie Blackmore as a player, but there are times where you can tell he’s taking himself a bit too seriously, sometimes he can start to lose his charm. With AC/DC, that doesn’t happen.

“Another favourite is Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, which has some more complicated ideas that go up almost in an Eddie Van Halen kind of way. It reminds me of the kind of things Steve Hackett from Genesis was doing in 1972. Angus often comes up with ideas like that which sounded tapped, though he uses his fretting hand against an open string. 

“That’s quite a hard thing to control – if you’re using fingers to tap, it’s all roughly around the same volume level. Open strings, however, jump out a lot, but Angus can always control it.”

One thing that’s great about Gibson SGs is the access to the upper frets.

“Angus tends to make great use of that area. Almost every solo will involve ideas up to the 18th or 22nd fret. He’s in that range a lot. So if you’re hoping to sound more like him, that’s one thing you could do: start out lower and work your way up. He also knows not to play too much.

“He makes a feature out of every riff or lick, rather than noodling the whole time. He has a very disciplined way of going about himself, with not too much gain. If you get a Plexi-style amp, a guitar with humbuckers and maybe an EQ pedal for more bite, that will get you there. 

“Me and Morgan [Simpson, Black MIDI drummer] used to do an AC/DC tribute just for fun. We only played a few shows but it was such a blast. All I had was a Boss EQ pedal for a push in the upper mids, and then I’d use my SG to control the volume. We got pretty close… there’s not much to it, gear-wise!”

2024 has delivered some weird and wonderful matchups – from Johnny Depp paying tribute to Jeff Beck with Andrea Bocelli to Matteo Mancuso and Joe Bonamasssa trading fiery licks. Now it has seen the return of another unlikely duo: Billy Joel and Axl Rose.

The pair performed together back in 2017, taking on AC/DC’s peerless driving anthem Highway To Hell, and last night (July 25) they did it again at Madison Square Garden.

Mr. Joel even donned a Fender Stratocaster for the occasion.

The combination of single coils and a barely overdriven, possibly chorus-tinted guitar tone doesn’t exactly match up to Angus Young’s iconic SG through a Marshall stack combination – and it would be hard to imagine Bon Scott or Brian Johnson in the sparkly blazer Axl Rose wore for the performance – but it’s great entertainment.

It was the final night of the US leg of the Piano Man’s current world tour, and Joel looked to bow out in style.

Granted, Axl Rose arguably sounded better when he performed with the band proper in 2016 when he was a surprising – and impressive – stand-in for Johnson, who was suffering from hearing difficulties.

The song was preceded by another cover, a take on Paul McCartney’s Bond theme Live and Let Die, which Guns N’ Roses famously reimagined on Use Your Illusion.

Joel was back behind the keys for that track, but it’s the slightly parallel universe vibes of their Highway To Hell cover, which, going off the video footage, definitely got butts off seats, that will live longest in the memory.

“Who knew Billy could play guitar?” quipped one commenter on YouTube.

However, it must be noted that Joel stuck strictly to rhythm duties, with touring guitarist Tommy Byrnes handling the guitar solo.

The pair then made it a triple-header, closing the show with one of Billy Joel’s own, You May Be Right, to ensure the MSG finale lived up to its billing.

Now, if only we could find out where to buy one of those jackets…

“I always knew I was going to spend my entire life dedicated to bass guitar,” Chris Chaney told Bass Player back in 2003. “From early on, I just knew. Maybe it has something to do with being born on Marcus Miller’s birthday.” 

For the third time in his whirlwind career, Chris Chaney has struck gold, earning one of bassdom’s most coveted gigs. This time it’s a slot replacing Cliff Williams in the revamped and re-energised AC/DC, the legendary rockers who are hitting the road with a European tour in support of 2020’s Power Up album.

“We are thrilled to finally announce the European Tour,” the band wrote in a statement. “Angus, Brian, Stevie, and Matt will be joined by Chris Chaney to carry the torch for Cliff.”

Rewind to the mid 1990s, the ever-humble, Berklee-schooled Chaney was gigging steadily in Los Angeles, playing jazz at the famed Baked Potato and R&B in the house band at Dragonfly. “That was an amazing gig. We played everything from Aretha to Soundgarden, and we backed 20 singers a night.”

As fun as it was, it all changed in March 1995, when Chaney was invited to go on tour with an obscure Canadian songwriter named Alanis Morissette.

“Taking the Alanis job was a hard decision. The ball was really starting to roll for me in L.A.; I had a variety of gigs, and I was playing almost every night. Lots of guys were saying, ‘You're finally playing jazz at the Baked Potato, and you're going to leave that behind to play pop music?’ But I liked Alanis, I liked her songs, and I liked the band so I took the gig.”

In between Morissette's ensuing success and his new job with AC/DC, Chaney's diverse chops and winning attitude have established him as a studio mainstay. 

The following interview from the Bass Player archives took place in June 2003.

You're often confronted with lots of fairly basic rhythms, but your grooves are never boring. How do you do it?

“I learned more about pop rhythms from Alanis Morissette drummer Gary Novak than from anyone else. Gary taught me that it's all about the subdivisions within the beat. I learned that even when you're just playing the root on the downbeats, if you understand the beats’ subdivisions and how they work together, you can make the shit as funky as hell. 

“Once you understand exactly where to place your notes, you can start building your grooves from the drums on up. That's a crucial skill in pop music. Grooving with a drummer is all about the space around the beat, and being able to control your notes – not just when you play them, but how you play them and for how long. Understanding that will allow you to do more with a simple groove.”

Many of your basslines have an almost vocal quality that supports the melody as well as the groove.

“Gary helped me develop that aspect of my style, too. He told me, ‘Don't attack every note. It's all in your left hand.’ And I realized you can control just about everything with your left hand and maintain a light attack with your right. That lets you control your dynamics a lot better, too. So now even my simplest basslines are full of pull-offs, slides, and hammer-ons.” 

“I really like what it does to my phrasing: Everything gets slinkier, and it gives my lines a much looser feel. This probably goes back to listening to Stevie Wonder's pentatonic Minimoog basslines when I was growing up; that stuff is not about the attack. To this day, I'll spend hours with Boogie On, Reggae Woman. Stevie is the Mozart of our day; no-one else stacks up musically.”

How did you end up joining Jane's Addiction?

“I had just finished recording Tommy Lee's first record with his band, Methods of Mayhem, and then I went back on the road with Alanis. When I finally joined Tommy to tour, I met Perk, who was playing Tommy's drum parts onstage. 

“We had a good connection right away; he's so open-minded and such a gifted musician, and he's incredibly fun to play with. Even if you're playing a simple groove on two and four, he'll move his beats slightly left of center, and all of a sudden a simple groove is full of texture and nuance. We continued to play together, and then I met Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell.”

What’s your favorite part about the gig?

“The fact that the door is never shut on a part. There's always room for change, even if I think I've found the perfect part. I was fortunate to be able to take home a song and listen to it for weeks, and if I wanted to go back and change something three weeks later, I could just do it. That's not a luxury you have as a studio player. I didn't actually end up changing any of my parts – but knowing that I could made me feel quite spoiled.”

How did you fill the shoes of original Jane's bassist Eric Avery?

“I take the weight of Eric Avery very seriously; I feel honored to be playing his parts, and to have the other guys open to me creating my own lines for new songs. Also, learning Eric's parts note-for-note forced me to get my pick playing up to speed. I had always wanted to be better with a pick, but I've always been primarily a finger player.

“I used a pick on I'm Still Here, the Johnny Rzeznik tune from the Treasure Planet movie, and on Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet, but that was about it.

“The other amazing thing about Eric's playing is his feel. Stephen Perkins told me Eric would play tons of acoustic guitar, and I think that really contributed to the feel and texture of his basslines. He incorporates lots more into his playing than just basic chugga-chugga rock rhythms.”

How did the Jane's sessions lead to your playing with Michelle Branch?

“Michelle was recording in the studio across the hall from us. During some downtime in the Jane's sessions, her producer – John Shanks, who is kind of a legend around the old A&M Studios – asked if I'd like to come lay down some tracks. I was pretty much left to my own devices.

“Michelle had most of the melodies down, and the song structures were worked out, but the rest was a blank page. Since then I've done other stuff with John, from a big Celine Dion track to some edgy, grassroots pop with Will Hoge.”

Who were your early bass influences?

“In high school I had a couple of Rush buddies. The drummer was the biggest Neil Peart fan in the world, so I fell right into learning Geddy Lee's parts. That was a real challenge; he's such a progressive player, especially for rock. But now I think tackling that stuff right off the bat worked to my advantage.

“Geddy made me realize that I was gonna have to practice my ass off to be any good at this! It wasn't long before I was heavily into Zeppelin and Aerosmith, too. I came to McCartney and Jamerson later, and I spent hours with those Marvin Gaye records when I did finally discover Jamerson. Same with Jaco. I don't sound anything like him, but I could still probably play Donna Lee.”

When did jazz enter the picture?

“When I was 14 a friend's older brother turned me on to Miles Davis, and then came John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Charles Mingus, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, Hank Mobley, and on and on until I discovered Marcus Miller. His playing on David Sanborn's Straight to the Heart blew my mind.

“He has this sound that nobody else can even touch. So I am heavily influenced by jazz, even though John Paul Jones' riffs and Stevie Wonder's pentatonic Minimoog synth-bass parts are usually the first things that pop into my head.”

Now that your technique has caught up with your early influences, what influences your playing these days?

“My influences have become more conceptual. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Gary Willis, and he opened up my head to a whole new process of approaching the bass. I don't know if my brain ever would have gone there. He made me realize how important it is to be able to play simply – to consistently come up with parts that work for the song. It's a cliché, but it's so important. 

“So even in the most basic musical setting, I'm always trying to hear more than just the whole-note. Even though that approach is important, and I can do that for days and be content if it's serving the music, I'm always trying to bring something different to the table.”

How much bearing does your time at Berklee have on your playing today?

“My Berklee education definitely opened me up, especially in terms of harmony, and applying that knowledge to bass expedited my creative process. Understanding right away what works and what doesn't, and being able to move around between chords, is certainly part of my foundation. I also learned to read and to understand written rhythms, and that really helps in the studio. 

“On the other hand, Berklee was much more about jazz education, so lots of the advanced harmony I learned stays in the background of my bass playing. I knew my pentatonic scales before I went to Berklee, and 90 percent of the time that's what I'm called upon to play.”

Say you've just been handed music for the first time in the studio. How do you come up with a part?

“Unless we're playing written parts, I use the same approach most of the time, regardless of the artist or style: I clear my mind, listen to the other instruments, focus on the progression and the overall song structure, and start hitting roots as the song passes by. 

“Then I begin searching for the part. The more the song passes by, the more I start hearing the part that should be there. I don't know where that comes from, but I always hear something. And that something gradually progresses until it becomes part of the song.

“Open-minded listening is the key. It's what helps me understand what is an appropriate part. It may not be the clichéd sound or part for that particular genre; it may be something totally different. But I can usually tell right away if it will work.

“It's tough to analyze, and it's hard to say exactly where that inspiration comes from. It's really cool that any other bass player, given the same song, would come up with a different part. I love that.”

Your open-mindedness is certainly reflected on your resume.

“Well, being locked into, say, Metallica as the only cool band out there is just as harmful as the jazz snobbery that says you're not a real musician if you aren't playing Coltrane changes in all 12 keys at 300 BPM. Those outlooks really hinder your overall musicianship, and they can seriously affect your career.

“The more you know, the more you can add to the music. And you should always, always try to add as much as you can, whether you're playing with others who aren't as good as you are or players who have much more experience than you do. That's another thing – let the experience of others kick you in the ass. 

“Any way you can give yourself a push is great. Real players are inspired to seek out a kick in the ass; that's what moves me, every day. If I just sat on top of my own mountain, where would I be? Alone on my own mountain, looking down on my own stuff. That just doesn't sound fun to me.”

“I'm much more into climbing than sitting still and looking backwards. That's why it's incredibly important to be open-minded about your bass playing, to be into as many different styles as possible. All music is valid, and there's always another envelope to be opened.”

AC/DC are back touring for the first time since 2016's Rock or Bust world tour, and they marked a maiden voyage for their new recently recruited bass guitar player Chris Chaney with a rip-roaring 24-song set on Saturday night (May 18).

The Aussie rock legends packed out the 62,000-capacity Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, as they kicked off a 24-date European tour with wall-to-wall bangers.

Former Jane's Addiction bassist Chaney was unveiled as the man chosen “to carry the torch” for departing bassist Cliff Williams earlier this year.  

Williams joined the band in 1977, performing on every record since Powerage, up to and including 2020's comeback album, Power Up, despite retiring from the band in 2016.

Chaney makes up half of a new-look rhythm section alongside drummer Matt Laug, who had deputized for Phil Rudd at AC/DC's slot at the Power Trip Festival 2023.

The Germany show was the band's first live appearance since that one-off festival appearance and the setlist was largely the same, save for a couple of tweaks in the song order: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was played earlier than last year, and You Shook Me All Night Long came later on. 

They cannoned into If You Want Blood (You've Got It) and Back In Black for a punching start, with Chaney looking comfortable and sounding solid alongside Stevie Young and Angus Young, who rolled through his iconic riffs on his trademark Gibson SG.

Whole Lotta Rosie – sandwiched between Highway to Hell and Let There Be Rock – sounded particularly gnarly as Young pushed the dynamics of his amp in front of an adoring crowd. 

T.N.T, from their debut album, High Voltage, preceded a set-closing run-through of For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), which provided their trademark – and explosive – finale. 

The tour remains in Gelsenkirchen for a second show on May 21, with further dates taking the band to 11 different countries, including Spain, Italy, Slovakia, and the UK.

Setlist

1. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
2. Back In Black
3. Demon Fire
4. Shot Down in Flames
5. Thunderstruck
6. Have A Drink On Me
7. Hells Bells
8. Shot In The Dark
9. Stiff Upper Lip
10. You Shook Me All Night Long
11. Rock 'N' Roll Train
12. Shoot To Thrill
13. Sin City
14. Givin' The Dog A Bone
15. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
16. Dog Eat Dog
17. High Voltage
18. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
19. Riff Raff
20. Highway To Hell
21. Whole Lotta Rosie
22. Let There Be Rock
23. T.N.T.
24. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

• For a full list of tour dates, head over to AC/DC's website.

AC/DC will return to the stage with a 21-date European tour this summer, and the band has picked Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney to fill in on bass.

Longstanding bassist Cliff Williams, who joined in 1977 and debuted on Powerage a year later, initially retired from the band in 2016. He did, however, return for the 2020 album, Power Up as well as last year’s headline performance at Power Trip, California.

Away from Jane’s Addiction, Chaney is an established session musician, having previously toured with Joe Satriani, Slash, Eddie Vedder, and Meat Loaf, among others.

He was also a member of Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, performing at Wembley Stadium as part of the late Foo Fighters drummer’s tribute concert.

“We are thrilled to finally announce the ‘POWER UP’ European Tour,” the band wrote in a statement. “Angus, Brian, Stevie, and Matt will be joined by Chris Chaney to carry the torch for Cliff.”

Chaney completes a line-up that includes Brian Johnson, Angus Young, and Stevie Young. Drummer Matt Laug, who deputized for Phil Rudd at Power Trip, takes the drum throne for this tour, too.

Tickets go on sale at 10am local time on February 16.

The 21-date European trek kicks off at Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena soccer stadium in Germany on May 7 and wraps up in Ireland's Croke Park on August 17. Along the way, there are two dates at Wembley Stadium on a tour that takes in 11 different countries.

The Aussie rock 'n' roll icons had begun teasing an announcement via their social channels last week. At first, their signature thunderbolt had flashed into life amid the sound of fizzing electricity before making way for the words “ARE YOU READY”.

Other clips followed, counting down to what has now been unveiled as the band’s first run of dates since they released Power Up nearly four years ago. Before ‘23’s Power Trip frenzy, they hadn’t played a gig since rapping up the Rock or Bust tour in 2016.

It was during that tour that Brian Johnson, after developing hearing issues, was forced to abandon the tour. Guns N’ Roses vocalist Axl Rose was tasked with taking the mic off the band’s frontman.  

The dates announced so far take only European locations, meaning no shows are currently confirmed for North and South America, or Asia of Australasia. However, Brazilian sources (via Louder) claim the band has been approached regarding topping the bill at this year’s Rock in Rio event, scheduled for September.

For tickets and more information, head to Ticketmaster. 

Announced dates:

May 07: Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena, Germany
May 21: Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena, Germany
May 25: Reggio Emilia RCF Arena, Italy
May 29: Seville La Cartuja Stadium, Spain
Jun 05: Amsterdam Johan Cruyff Arena, The Netherlands
Jun 09: Munich Olympic Stadium, Germany
Jun 12: Munich Olympic Stadium, Germany
Jun 16: Dresden Messe, Germany
Jun 23: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria
Jun 26: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria
Jun 29: Zurich Letzigrund Stadium, Switzerland
Jul 03: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 07: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 13: Hockenheim Ring, Germany
Jul 17: Stuttgart Wasen, Germany
Jul 21: Bratislava Old Airport, Slovakia
Jul 27: Nuremberg Zeppelinfeld, Germany
Jul 31: Hannover Messe, Germany
Aug 09: Dessel Festivalpark Stenehei, Belgium  
Aug 13: Paris Hippodrome, France

GayC/DC are looking for a new member and they know exactly what they want. You need to live in Los Angeles. You need to be male. You need to be gay. You need to be “capable and flamboyant”. And here comes the tough part: you need a metronomic right hand and you need to be able to play guitar like Malcolm Young. 

It’s a big ask – Young was only the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time – but the long-running AC/DC tribute band are hopeful that an open invitation will help them recruit a new full-time player following the death of their rhythm guitarist, Clint Yeager, who died on August 15, aged 53. And they have officially put out the call for video auditions, with prospective guitarists welcomed to film themselves playing an AC/DC classic or two of their choice. 

Yeager’s spot in the band had been occupied by old friends and GayC/DC alumni. Now they want to find someone permanent, someone who can turn the electric guitar into an engine for the band.

“GayC/DC would like to thank everyone for their well-wishes after the sudden passing of our guitarist Clint on August 15th,” wrote the band in a statement.

“We truly appreciate your support. We would also like to thank our original guitarist Karl Rumpf, guitarist Chris Ganser and ex-Pansy Division and Dirty Power guitarist Patrick Goodwin for filling in so that we could keep our remaining live commitments this year.

“After long deliberations and sensitive considerations, GayC/DC are now opening up for auditions for a capable and flamboyant guitarist who embodies AC/DC’s driving guitar force, Malcolm Young.”

Besides rhythm skills, and flamboyance, applicants with a gift for creating a pun will stand themselves in good stead. Like AC/DC, GayC/DC have a Mozart-esque grasp of the double entendre. 

Some songs need little work to be interpreted for the GayC/DC audience. Tracks like Big Balls have something for everyone no matter your orientation. Others require a little reworking a la Dirty Dudes (Done Dirt Cheap). 

Musically, the set is AC/DC but with feather boas, more leather, more pink, and liberally applied makeup, so keep all this in mind when you shoot your audition. Remember: dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

Yeager's will be a tough spot to fill. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, GayC/DC lead vocalist Chris Freeman described Yeager as a confidante whose death came as a shock to the band.

“You could completely relax around him and feel like you could say anything,” Freeman said. “Everything happened so quickly. By the time we found out, it was like – wait a minute, he was going to be at rehearsal.”

Applicants can send their video to GayC/DC Guitarist Auditions.

Extreme are currently on tour with fellow rock royals Godsmack, and during a show at Camden, New Jersey, on Saturday (October 28) the two groups shared the stage to cover AC/DC’s Highway To Hell – a rendition that featured additional virtuosic flair courtesy of Nuno Bettencourt.

Bettencourt’s electric guitar antics have been firmly under the spotlight in 2023, ever since Extreme returned earlier this year with Rise – the lead single from the band’s most recent album, Six, which featured arguably one of the most sensational guitar solos of the 21st century.

That fine fretboard form was carried throughout the record, most notably on Other Side of the Rainbow, which Bettencourt says features his favorite solo on the whole album.

What we’re saying is, Bettencourt and his Washburn signature guitar have been a potent duo in recent months, so it comes as no surprise that he helps Godsmack and Extreme deliver a knockout cover of AC/DC’s classic 1979 cut.

With each instrumental department doubled up, Bettencourt duly spends much of the performance rooted in the rhythm spot, riding the A-F#/D-G seesaw before letting loose on an especially extravagant outro solo.

Since Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola had taken the first lead effort – and took the opportunity to respect Angus Young’s original solo while adding some extra licks of his own design – Bettencourt was not bound by the source material, meaning he had creative license to explore the ‘board as he saw fit.

That freedom resulted in a suite of dizzying turnarounds and scale licks, embellished via a series of tapped bends and EVH-flavored two-hand tap runs that brought the quick-fire solo to a conclusion.

Godsmack frontman Sully Erna had prefaced the performance by paying homage to Extreme, saying, “This band inspired me in so many ways when I was growing up. 

“They are an incredible group of guys,” he went on. “They have probably one of the best guitar players in the world in this band. Every single one of them, quality musicians, quality human beings.”

It was the latest live showcase of Bettencourt’s brilliance in recent times. After delivering a flawless display during Rise’s stage debut, he then linked up with Tom Morello to cover Audioslave’s Cochise with Gary Cherone.

Other highlights from Bettencourt’s recent activities include shredding Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher on a Strat.

The sound and playing style of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young is legendary and constantly emulated. The core elements, though rarely complex, are harder to master than you might imagine, however. 

Malcolm’s open shapes and powerchords are delivered with unrelenting, rock solid groove. And Angus’s leads? Well, his phrasing and vibrato are instantly recognizable – which, while making him the icon he is, does mean you’ll be aping quite an individualistic style. 

Tonally, the AC/DC sound epitomises the idea that less is more. A Marshall amp is a core ingredient, as is the combination of Gretsch G6131 Jet and Gibson SG guitars with bridge pickups selected. 

Assuming you’re not in a position to crank your amp to stadium-ready volume levels, Young brothers style, we recommend keeping the gain low for the rhythm parts and using a Tube Screamer-style overdrive pedal for a mid boost on lead parts. Now, let there be rock...

Example 1.  Malcolm-style open powerchords

The driving force of the AC/DC rhythm section, Malcolm Young predominantly favored open chords and powerchords, where open strings would maximize resonance and sustain. 

Coupled with the lightest of drive tones this gives loads of dynamic range and bucketloads more power than you’d expect. Here in our Dirty Deeds-style riff, the minor 3rd G note can be bent slightly sharp for a bluesy flavour. 

Example 2. Malcolm-style sparse riffs 

Space and raw simplicity are key to Malcolm’s vibe – he’d never overplay. His parts let the drums and bass breath and never got in the way of Angus’ lead parts. Inspired by tracks like Rock ’N’ Roll Train and Highway To Hell, our example here is best delivered with downpicking for a consistent attack. 

Example 3. Angus-style doublestop lick

Angus' lead style is a blend of rock ’n’ roll and blues, and this doublestop (two notes together) idea demonstrates his Chuck Berry influences. 

We've taken our inspiration from Hells Bells here with a lick that's based in the minor pentatonic scale – but listen out for the 14th-fret note on the second string, which comes from the Dorian mode. 

Example 4. Angus-style bends & vibrato

Many would say Angus’ frenetic vibrato is instantly recognizable. Break the vibrato in our example riff into two elements by copying first the speed and timing, then analyzing how much pitch bend to apply. 

Example 5. Angus-style pentatonics

One trick that Angus uses is to mix up the major and minor pentatonic scales. Our example is inspired by You Shook Me All Night Long and starts out with the bright-sounding A major pentatonic scale (A B C# E F#) before moving to the darker A minor pentatonic scale (A C D E G). Try to exploit this mood change in your own licks.

Sam Fender returned to his home city of Newcastle, England, last week for two mammoth headline shows at St James' Park, during which he shared the stage with not one, but two Geordie music heroes, for a cover of AC/DC's Back in Black and You Shook Me All Night Long.

The first, legendary AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, took to the stage with Fender alongside a lesser-known hero – one Phil Martin, who had been Fender’s old guitar teacher back during the Seventeen Going Under superstar’s youth.

Seeing Johnson and Fender blast through the classic rock hits is a spectacle in its own right, one of epic proportions, but the rendition remained rooted to reality and took on a relatable, wholesome edge thanks to Martin’s presence.

It wasn’t just a novelty cameo, though. In Fender’s own words, Martin “showed the entirety of St James’ Park how it’s actually done”, wielding an ebony Epiphone SG to channel prime Angus Young for a genuinely awe-inspiring showing.

Any player or teacher worth their salt will have some grasp on these two iconic riffs, but Martin goes way beyond that, absolutely nailing the riffs, solos and everything in between with ridiculously silky licks, plenty of Angus attitude and some individual Martin flair.

After the show, Fender paid an emotional tribute to his old master, writing, “I also brought out my first guitar teacher who showed the entirety of St James’ Park how it’s actually done. 

“Phil Martin, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if it wasn’t for your tutelage and back when I had my first band (when we were bairns [children], 14 or 15) you let us rehearse in the Gasworks practice rooms for free. We need more people like you in our community.”

It’s a genuinely stirring moment – something that doesn’t happen too often in the guitar world – with Fender serving a timely reminder to remember all those who’ve helped you in your own music journey, and to stay in touch with where you’ve come from.

“What he's achieved in a very small period of time, I haven't seen that done before,” Martin told ITV after the event. “And the way the Geordie nation's took him to their hearts, for every right reason. He is what he says he is and we can all verify that.

“It was absolutely incredible. Probably the most positive feeling I've ever had. The love out there for Sam is incredible. I think he deserves it."

Despite Martin’s show-stealing performance, we mustn't forget the equally awe-inspiring presence of Johnson – another Newcastle hero who had an equally influential, though far more indirect, impact on Fender’s career.

“Sharing the stage with Brian Johnson was a dream come true,” Fender went on to say. “When we first started seeing success with our band, me and Dean used to watch interviews of Brian to keep ourselves grounded – he is the prime example of a Geordie who has never forgotten his roots.”

Another notable aspect of the evening was Fender’s electric guitar of choice for certain songs – a custom Fender Jazzmaster inspired by the songwriter’s beloved soccer team, Newcastle United.

The model, featuring the team’s bold black-and-white stripe aesthetic, was gifted to Fender by, er, Fender as a surprise, and has seen much live action over the past few months.

The St James’ Park double-header was a significant milestone in Sam Fender’s stratospheric career, having been the subject of numerous “jokes” by the band, who always aspired to perform at their prestigious home venue. 

In a separate post, Fender wrote, “This day has been the subject of a joke for about 15 years of my life. When I formed my first band at 14, we would joke about playing here – but it was genuinely just a joke, we didn't believe it was possible, who would? 

“We fucking did it boys. We fucking did it. Thank you so much to every one of you, my friends, my family, my fans. You are the ones who made this happen, I am in debt to you all.”

Joe Bonamassa has teamed up with LA funk collective Scary Pockets and singer Joanna Jones on a brilliantly soulful cover of AC/DC’s Back In Black.

If you’re not familiar with Scary Pockets, the outfit are a group of veteran musicians drawn from across the LA scene who regularly get together to record funk covers and other jams. 

Their lineup includes guitarist Ryan Lerman (who has spent time on the road with Ben Folds and Michael Buble), drummer Dan Bailey, who plays with Father John Misty; and keyboardist Jack Conte, who – fun fact – is the founder of Patreon. Bassist Calvin Turner, meanwhile, has played with pretty much everyone, including Bonamassa – which is how we imagine Scary Pockets’ latest ramble came about.

In their new clip, the band invited the blues-rock giant, alongside Hamilton singer/actress Joanna Jones, to stop in with them at LA’s prestigious EastWest Studios, tackling an unlikely cover of AC/DC’s monster of rock Back in Black, in the process.

It’s perhaps not surprising given the pedigree of the musicians involved, but the cover feels like a genuine reinvention of the tune, which here comes across as some lost Stax track – something that might have featured Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper. 

Bonamassa opts for a red Gibson SG equipped with a Bigbsy tailpiece for the performance and makes good use of it, too. While he’s used to leading the line, here Bonamassa proves his worth as an ensemble player and, to our ears, sounds better than ever for sitting slightly back in the mix. 

Scary Pockets have not simply taken a Porsche and driven it to the grocery store, though, and Bonamassa is delivered the spotlight for a laid-back, fingerpicked and beautifully rendered interpretation of Angus Young’s iconic solo. 

It's one to keep in your back pocket and whip out the next time someone starts ranting unprompted about Gilmour’s touch and “feel players”...

Bonamassa, meanwhile, recently stopped in for another guest spot/cover, jamming Red House with Eric Gales, Marcus King and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram at Australia’s BluesFest.

Steel Panther electric guitar player Satchel has claimed that AC/DC’s late rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, was more influential than Eddie Van Halen, Robert Johnson or Eric Clapton. 

Speaking in a recent interview with Loudwire in which he looked back on the most influential albums from his teenage years, Satchel staked a claim for the underrated rhythm master’s place in the pantheon of guitar greats.

“Not enough guitar players talk about Malcolm Young,” says Satchel in the clip. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here. [Actually] I don’t think it’s a limb I’m going on, but I’m gonna say this: Malcolm Young was probably the most influential guitar player in rock. If not, in guitar [music, in general].”

“[He] probably influenced more people as a guitar player than Eddie Van Halen,” continues Satchel. “I’m saying this: more than Eddie Van Halen, Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton, and any guitar player, because think about all the bands that have come after AC/DC that have tried to write AC/DC-sounding songs with three chords.”

The concept and extent of a player’s influence is obviously hard to quantify and highly subjective, but it’s an interesting thought. For instance, while it’s often the lead players getting the spotlight, many guitarists – we would wager the majority, even – pick up the instrument to play songs or riffs, rather than solos. 

AC/DC were formed in 1973 by Malcolm and Angus Young. While the punk movement that came along a few years later is often credited with lowering the barriers to entry for budding guitarists and songwriters, AC/DC’s no-nonsense rock songs and flair for an irresistible riff arguably sparked a similar sentiment. It’s certainly hard to find a guitarist that hasn’t tried on a few AC/DC riffs at some point in their playing career.

Looking at the numbers, the Australian band are the ninth highest-selling artist of all time in the US, according to the RIAA, shifting an astonishing 75 million albums across their 50-year career. Only Led Zeppelin, The Eagles and Garth Brooks outpace them in terms of guitar-based artists from the ’70s onwards. 

By that token, Satchel has a pretty convincing case to make for Malcolm Young having a wider influence than Van Halen and Clapton, but Young might get pipped by Jimmy Page. Yes, it’s pure speculation, obviously. But it’s fun speculation...

Gretsch certainly regards Young as one of its most influential players – as evidenced by the fact he was recently posthumously honored with a new signature guitar that aims to recreate an early incarnation of his trusty Jet, dubbed the ‘Red Beast’.

The guitar nucleus of AC/DC lies in the two brothers who formed the band in 1973. With lead duties going to ‘school boy’ Angus Young and rhythm guitar to the late Malcolm, they always had a boogie blues-based approach to making music.

It’s the title track from frontman Brian Johnson’s first outing with the band that we’re looking at here – 1980’s Back in Black, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest riffs of all time. It’s a simple riff, jammed around easy open E, D and A chords, interspersed with two single-note licks.

Formed of a run of 16th notes, the opening single-note line can pose a challenge at full speed. Practiced slowly, however, it’s much easier, so slow practice is advised.

The closing line is also on the fiddly side as you play an unusual offbeat rhythm and a bit of a jump as you move between the various notes. Use your first and fourth fingers to manage those jumps and listen carefully to the original track to pick up that tricky rhythm.

This is a riff of three parts. Practice the powerchords, blues scale line and syncopated outro separately at first.

• Appears at: 0:06-0:27
• Tempo: 91bpm
• Key/scale: E blues scale
• Main techniques: Open position powerchords, blues scale licks, syncopated riffing

Get the tone

The tone in Back in Black is a mix of Malcolm Young’s only very slightly overdriven sound and brother Angus Young’s dirtier tone. If you’re playing with another guitarist then take this approach. If you’re playing alone, opt for a medium overdrive tone, somewhere between Angus and Malcolm’s tones.

Generally, we’d recommend a bridge humbucker, but try your other pickups, too – you may just get closer to the combined sound.

Iggy Pop has revealed he was once asked to join AC/DC as the band’s lead singer, but turned down the opportunity as he felt he couldn’t bring to the table “what they needed."

The vocalist made the revelation while in conversation with The New York Times, and explained he was initially asked to become AC/DC’s frontman before he moved to England to reform The Stooges the first time in the early '70s. 

“[AC/DC] had a manager many years ago, when I hadn't reformed The Stooges, I hadn't moved to England,” Pop recalled. “And this guy said, 'Are you interested in joining AC/DC?' They were looking for a singer.”

Despite the interest, Pop ultimately turned down the offer after consulting the band’s early repertoire: “I listened to their record,” he continued. “I thought, ‘I can't fit that bill.’ I wasn't, like, 'Ugh, I don't like them.' It was quite well made. They do careful work, but I'm not what they needed."

In the interview, Pop doesn’t make it clear exactly when he was approached by AC/DC’s management, though he does reference that he was contacted about the job before he moved to England and reformed the Stooges in 1972. That move would ultimately result in the band's 1973 comeback album, Raw Power.

Given, however, that AC/DC didn't release their first album, High Voltage, until February 1975, the timeline presented by Pop in the interview (he references hearing an album by the band) seems improbable. 

In any case though, later in the interview, Pop goes on to discuss his relationship with the man who would ultimately become AC/DC's first prominent vocalist, saying, ”I had some wonderful encounter with Bon [Scott] somewhere, and we were both drunk and stoned.

“I see pictures sometimes,” he added. “I go, ‘I don't remember, but that's me with Bon.’ I loved what he did.”

After Scott died at the age of 33 in 1980, AC/DC considered numerous potential replacement singers before ultimately hiring Brian Johnson, who has been with the band ever since.

Recently, Johnson was particularly coy about the future of AC/DC, explaining to SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk that he had been “told not to” answer questions about the subject, as it's the band's “official line."

When asked about his own live future with the band, Johnson replied, “I'm not answering that. Why should I? First of all, there's five members in this band, and to ask one member isn't fair.”

In that same interview, Johnson also refused to answer questions about a possible follow-up to AC/DC’s 2020 record, Power Up, saying, “It's gettin' tabloidy here. You're gettin' tabloidy. If I say one thing, it'll be blown out of all proportion. You just can't afford to talk now. There's too much blabber on the internet. And I'm not on any kind of Face-thing or social media at all – never have been. It's just gossip.”

Brian Johnson has remained remarkably tight-lipped over his onstage future with AC/DC, citing an agreement with his bandmates not to talk about plans under any circumstances.

In a new conversation on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Johnson, when asked about what’s in store for his live future with the band, replied [via Blabbermouth]: "I'm not answering that. Why should I?

“First of all, there's five members in this band, and to ask one member isn't fair.” When Eddie Trunk tries a different line of questioning, instead asking not if there are any concrete plans, but just if he wants to play live with the Aussie rock titans again, Johnson remains steadfast, responding: “Eddie, I cannot answer that. I’ve been told not to by everybody. It’s the official line.”

Johnson also refuses to speak about a potential followup to their 2020 album, Power Up.

Justifying his silence, Johnson continues: “It's gettin' tabloidy here. You're gettin' tabloidy. If I say one thing, it'll be blown out of all proportion. You just can't afford to talk now. There's too much blabber on the internet. And I'm not on any kind of Face-thing or social media at all – never have been. It's just gossip.”

So there you have it: don’t expect any big AC/DC announcements any time soon, we suppose. Or perhaps Johnson is intentionally throwing us off, and there’s something right around the corner. If so, we’ll keep our ears to the ground for any further updates.

AC/DC embarked on their last tour in 2016, with Brian Johnson sitting out mid-tour due to issues with hearing loss. On that trek, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose filled in for Johnson on the dates he couldn’t make.

While the hard rock legends haven’t been onstage as a unit since then, Brian Johnson has graced the stage, most recently with Lars Ulrich, Justin Hawkins and members of Foo Fighters at the latter’s tribute show to Taylor Hawkins at Wembley Stadium, London.

Earlier this year, we unearthed a 1984 Guitar World interview with AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young, in which he spoke about his longstanding love for the Gibson SG.

"I liked the SGs because they were light,” he explained. “I tried Fenders but they were too heavy and they just didn't have the balls.” 

In the same interview, the guitarist – who’s renowned for his soloing ability – spoke of his approach to crafting leads for AC/DC, and knowing when they’re not necessary.

“I don't regard myself as a soloist,” he said. “It's a color, I put it in for excitement. It's not great loss if a solo has to go. We've made songs without solos.”

Though nothing beats the feeling of playing an actual guitar – be it an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar – sometimes circumstances force us into playing something else entirely: nothing at all.

If it wasn’t clear, we’re talking about the air guitar: a deceptively difficult discipline that, believe it or not, was once a taboo instrument – something that was played away from prying eyes when the overwhelming feelings of separation from a real six-string became too great to bear.

But that all changed when Tom Cruise made air guitar a public nuisance in 1983’s Risky Business. With the house to himself, the underwear-clad Cruise did some mighty Chuck Berry-esque guitar work while frolicking to the chunky blues rock riffs of Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll.

The best thing about playing air guitar? That is, other than the fact you can be entirely tone deaf, you don't have to fork out for an actual instrument, an appreciation of music theory is entirely unnecessary, and you can have all the musicality of a hockey puck? You can play as loud as you like without fear of receiving any noise complaints.

With that in mind, here are 10 tracks of varying difficulty that will put your air guitar abilities to the test. Master these tracks and you’ll be on your way to the Air Guitar World Championship in no time. Yes, that is a real thing.

10. Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode

An entry level track for those looking to kickstart their air guitar journey in the easiest possible way. In fact, if you can't navigate Chuck Berry's primal rock 'n' roll riffs, perhaps the discipline isn't for you after all. If the song proves too difficult to learn, never fear: you can still work on that iconic duck walk of his – a stunt best practiced behind closed doors and definitely not in front of mixed company.

9. Beastie Boys – (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

With their punk hearts, hip-hop minds and '80s metal sensibilities, the Beastie Boys tried and succeeded for a while in becoming all things to all people. For air guitarists, they did not provide consistently fertile ground, but this frat boy anthem has become a quiet classic in the annals of flailing air-meisters.

8. The Who – Baba O'Riley

Okay, puff that chest out and plant those legs. It's time for one of the greatest air guitar moves developed in the short history of this amazing art form: the Windmill. Thank you, Pete Townshend – though you may be a pretty good real-life guitar player, your contribution to the oeuvre of air guitar poses and mimicry will live on forever.

7. Aerosmith – Walk This Way

A riff that really needs no introduction, Joe Perry’s low-fret throwdown from 1975 separates the good air guitarists from the great air guitarists. It may revolve around only a handful of frets, but that’s no excuse to get complacent – your right hand will need to keep up with your left hand for this one. A lack of synchronization will just put a spotlight on the shortcomings of your technique.

6. Boston – More Than a Feeling

Tom Scholtz's hermetic guitar artistry is legendary, so it comes as no surprise to see his byline on a list of air guitar songs. The tone alone allows air guitarists to feel the heat of the spotlight, hear the roar of the crowd and think about what would have happened if they had only learned to play a real guitar.

5. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird

As the solos that close this epic veer off in a million directions like a gorgeous display of fireworks, a seasoned air guitar vet knows that they need not follow one solo arc specifically, for Free Bird is more about "feeling" than it is about technique. Still, those lightning-fast pentatonic licks are not for the faint of heart.

4. The Troggs – Wild Thing

Like the primal scream of the Troggs themselves, this song is great for beginner air guitarists. The melody is familiar and there are enough vocal hooks to distract any onlookers from noticing big gaps in your technique. Simply put, it's a three-chord masterpiece, and one that needs to be in the repertoire of all serious air guitarists.

3. AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long

With his manic gestures and incessant mugging, Angus Young may just be the quintessential role model for an air guitarist. Not only is this chord progression standard for all air-heads, but it also provides an amazing sing-along chorus for those players who aren't afraid to sing and play at the same time.

2. Jimi Hendrix – Foxy Lady

Hendrix doesn't turn up on a lot of air guitar lists because, well, frankly, not many air guitarists dare take on the Great One. The fact is, even pretending to be Hendrix is difficult. Tackle at your own risk. For experienced air guitarists only.

1. Derek and the Dominos – Layla

Multiple guitar parts are the ultimate challenge for air guitarists, no matter what their skill level. In this instance, do you follow Clapton's rhythm track on this classic, or do you take the high road and play Duane Allman's memorable lead line? It's a no-brainer, really...

Back in June, Gretsch ushered in the summer by announcing two new signature guitars – one of which was created to honor AC/DC's late co-founder and rhythm electric guitar titan, Malcolm Young.

Now, that model – the pickup-packed, limited-edition “Red Beast” Signature Jet – has been officially launched.

Designed in consultation with Malcolm’s nephew Stevie Young, the latest Beast is an homage to the earliest iteration of the famed axe Young used during his early AC/DC performances and videos – including It’s a Long Way to the Top – before stripping it out and embarking on his mod journey.

The original Beast began life as a humble Firebird Red Jet, and was first bolstered with a middle humbucker retrofitted by Young. He would later go on to remove both the middle and the neck pickups, leaving just the bridge unit.

Further, the rhythm guitar icon also removed the original Firebird Red colorway, leaving the now-iconic natural finish of arguably his most famous instrument.

The all-new G6131G-MY-RB Beast is a limited-edition recreation of that early favorite of Young’s, before it was on the receiving end of the above functional tweaks.

As such, it features a chambered body – composed from mahogany with an arched laminated maple top – that flashes two two-inch cutaways, as well as a U-profile mahogany set-neck that is adorned with a 12”-radius ebony ‘board and 22 jumbo frets.

While we’re at this end of the axe, the neck also features aged pearloid neo-classic thumbnail inlays, a bone nut and aged white binding, and flashes an aged white-bound headstock that boasts Schaller die-cast tuning machines.

Other notable appointments include a harmonica-style Adjusto-Matic bridge with a pinned ebony base, which lines up alongside an original-accurate Gretsch ‘60s Jet Vibrato tailpiece.

As for those pickups, two TV Jones Ray Butts Ful-Fidelity pickups sandwich a TV Jones Starwood humbucker, with each answering to both unit-specific volume controls and a master volume parameter.

Joining the three G-Arrow knobs are a trio of toggle switches. The first is a classic pickup selector, while the other two serve as a tone switch and stand-by switch.

The Gretsch G6131G-MY-RB Malcolm Young Signature Jet is available now for $3,399.

Head over to Gretsch to find out more about the guitar.

In the second installment in Total Guitar's Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time, we're going to be looking at an era when the big beasts of rock turned up the volume, went big and bold with ideas that changed guitar music for keeps. 

If the greatest guitar albums of the ‘60s revolutionized rock 'n' roll, deflowering it amid the political turmoil of the decade, the '70s conducted rock on a scale like never before. 

After you voted in your thousands, we bring you profiles of your top 10 albums, and offer an in-depth look at the decade's number one album.

10. Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)

The definitive choice for guitarists who recognize that rhythm parts are more important than solos, Sabbath’s second album, Paranoid, saw riff lord Tony Iommi laying down the metal blueprint. 

Iron Man, War Pigs and the title track are the foundation of heavy metal, with Iommi sounding crushing even before the band discovered downtuning. The solos are fluid and exciting, usually improvised as part of live takes with the band; Iommi would add rhythm parts underneath later. But the riffs are the real story. 

Pete Townshend was known for power chords, but his sledgehammer strumming did sometimes include the major third. It was Iommi who really codified the root and fifth power chord we all play today.

Iommi liked the amps he got free from local manufacturers Laney, but he was always pushing for more gain. On Paranoid he was using a modified Rangemaster treble booster to overload the amp input. 

To keep the low frequencies tight, Iommi ran the guitar amp’s bass control on 0 while maxing every other control. His Gibson SG’s humbuckers helped too, with more push than the Strat he’d had in Sabbath’s early days. The title track, though, was played on a Les Paul, the only time Iommi recorded with one.

• Beginner guitar: How to play powerchord riffs

9. Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979)

By the time Floyd recorded this sprawling double album, David Gilmour’s Black Strat had a Charvel maple neck and a high output DiMarzio FS-1 bridge pickup, although other guitars delivered some of The Wall’s most famous moments. 

The Nile Rodgers-ish main riff on Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) was played on a 1954 Fender Stratocaster, serial no 0001, and the solo came from a 1955 Les Paul Goldtop with P90 pickups and a wraparound tailpiece. 

But the Black Strat delivered the Comfortably Numb solo, through the Big Muff Pi pedal Gilmour first used on 1977 album Animals. Gilmour’s enormous live tone came from splitting his pedalboard signal and feeding each output through a separate Boss CE-2 chorus pedal.

8. Boston – Boston (1976)

Spearheaded by the classic hit single More Than a Feeling, Boston’s debut would go on to sell 17 million copies in the US alone. While Van Halen’s debut set the standard for guitar playing in the 80s, Boston’s heavily multi-tracked, chorused guitars and glossy production were just as influential on the overall sound of the coming decade.

Bandleader Tom Scholz, an MIT graduate, was equal parts mad scientist and guitarist. Building a studio in his spare time, the perfectionist designed new equipment to produce the sounds in his head. 

When Boston’s debut hit big, Scholz commercially released his inventions the Rockman Headphone Preamp and the Power Soak, a pioneering attenuator for valve amps. The Rockman appeared on albums by Def Leppard, Joe Satriani, and David Gilmour.

Boston’s heavily compressed clean tones and harmonized distorted guitars immediately defined the sound of AOR radio, and still sound amazing today.

The guitar parts are complex interweaved layers of rhythm and lead lines with different tones, making Boston a stepping stone between Queen albums and the even more complex productions that producers like Trevor Horn and Mutt Lange would create in the 80s. Scholz’s Les Paul produced a high gain tone that didn’t offend anyone, making it the ideal power ballad sound.

7. AC/DC – Highway To Hell (1979)

Producer Mutt Lange polished the sound enough to push AC/DC in to the big league with Highway To Hell, while leaving enough rough edges that no diehard fans were alienated. 

Rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young stuck with his modified Marshall Superbass, while lead guitarist Angus Young – according to Solodallas founder and AC/DC obsessive Filippo Olivieri – used a Marshall 2203. 

Lange tamed Angus’s shredding, producing his most melodic and considered solos to date. And on an unparalleled set of riffs, Malcolm’s almost-clean Gretsch and Angus’s slightly dirtier SG remains the best sounding guitar pairing in history. Their telepathic timing and epic open powerchords are the definition of rock guitar.

6. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

David Gilmour’s titanic playing on Shine On You Crazy Diamond has some of the most imitated feel and tone in history. Gilmour pays tribute to blues pioneers, particularly BB King, with his controlled feel and sublime behind-the-beat timing. 

The Black Strat was still largely stock in 1975, and throughout this album his Colorsound Powerboost is featured – largely into his Hiwatt DR103. A silicon Fuzz Face lifts his slide parts, and an MXR Phase 90 appears for the first time. 

Back in the real world, you can get close to Gilmour’s sustaining, cleanish tone with a compressor and a low-gain overdrive pedal like a Boss Blues Driver.

5. Deep Purple – Machine Head (1972)

Deep Purple’s sixth studio album is, of course, much more than just that riff, but Machine Head deserves to be in this list for Smoke On The Water alone. 

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said simplicity was the key to the song’s success, but playing it like him is surprisingly tricky. Blackmore originally used pick and fingers to play both notes in each double stop at the same time.

Hendrix had exploited the potential of a Strat and a Marshall on 10, but Blackmore found a whole different set of sounds in that combination. There was no trace of icepick treble in his gutsy tone.

His unforgettable riffs and fluid soloing drew on both classical and blues influences to broaden the vocabulary of rock guitar. Even the self-critical Blackmore had to admit there were good bits on Machine Head. 

Highway Star was his homage to Bach, and his alternate picking was cutting edge for the time. He insisted it was the only solo he wrote before recording. Elsewhere, his off-the-cuff soloing exhibited feel, control, and his unmistakable approach to the tremolo arm. The solos in Lazy and Pictures Of Home raised the bar for technique and expression.

4. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)

After the polished Houses Of The Holy, Zeppelin threw everything at Physical Graffiti, their philosophy of ‘tight but loose’ at the fore. Kashmir and Ten Years Gone have their sharpest arrangements, while In My Time Of Dying was essentially a jam. 

The song lasted over 11 minutes partly because they hadn’t rehearsed a proper ending. The double album format let Zeppelin demonstrate everything they could do, from thundering hard rock to acoustic folk. Jimmy Page’s Danelectro emerged for Kashmir, while his Martin D-28 never sounded better than in Bron-Yr-Aur.

3. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Floyd’s most famous album was also The Black Strat’s finest hour, as David Gilmour laid down some of the tastiest solos of the decade. While Ritchie Blackmore set new standards for flash, Gilmour’s tasteful phrasing and sublime behind-the-beat feel showed the power of a few well-placed notes. 

The Black Strat was still in close-to-stock form at this point, with its original pickups and white pickguard. His glorious fuzz tone, a silicon Fuzz Face boosted by a Colorsound Powerboost overdrive, is one of the most sought-after sounds in rock. His custom Bill Lewis axe also crops up; Gilmour makes use of its full 24-fret range towards the end of Money.

2. Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)

The date on the sleeve says 1978, but a cursory listen to Van Halen’s debut tells you that it is, by some distance, the greatest guitar album of the 1980s. Van Halen didn’t have much in common with The Clash or the Sex Pistols, but the Californians’ brand of ‘Atomic Punk’ had the same urgency as the London punks.

None of Van Halen’s 11 tracks gets near the four minute mark, the perfect antidote to sprawling 70s excess. MTV was three years away, but Van Halen had already invented MTV rock. “We’re playing the 80s,” grinned effervescent frontman David Lee Roth. “Other bands are still playing the 70s.”

The songs zipped by so quickly partly because Eddie could play his borrowed Clapton licks at four times their original speed. But describing EVH’s guitar playing as “fast” undervalues it, like describing the Great Pyramid of Giza as “large”. 

Not just the best soloist on the planet, Eddie was possibly even better at rhythm – effortlessly grooving, extremely dynamic, and with the best swing in the game. Debates about whether he invented tapping (answer: no) are beside the point.

Eddie Van Halen also did not invent harmonics, divebombs, palm muting, legato, or high gain tones, but no one had combined them seamlessly into one coherent guitar style, let alone perfected it on their debut album. 

Many of the final tracks are first takes, and it never sounds like Eddie might screw up. Where he hits a wrong note, he styles it out and keeps on wailing. Like the gymnast Simone Biles, no matter what acrobatics happen in the air, he always sticks the landing.

Besides his cutting edge technique, Eddie was best known for his infectious grin. Asked about Van Halen in 1986, Jimmy Page remarked, “It’s an incredible technique for what he does. I can’t do it. I can’t smile like him either.” 

Eddie’s smile reflects the sheer exuberance bursting from the grooves on the first Van Halen album. Listening to it is a joyful experience, and that love of music gave meaning to every note they played. Eddie’s licks had soul, even when he was showing off.

Then there was the tone. It’s doubtful the electric guitar has ever sounded better. Guitarists have devoted their lives to trying to discover how it was done. 

John Suhr worked on Eddie’s Marshall Plexi in 1991 and swears blind there was nothing unusual about it. He posted on The Gear Page forum in 2010, “When Ed played through this amp in my shop, it sounded every bit like Ed and the first album. When I played through it, it sounded every bit like me. Ed would make any decent amp sound like Ed.” 

The 23-year-old Eddie didn’t just invent 80s rock guitar; he did it in a way that no one would ever surpass. A generation of shredders took his technique to new heights, but no one had the tone or the vibe, and no one else looked like they were having nearly as much fun.

1. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin III was hardly a flop, but Jimmy Page took criticism of it personally. The guitarist refused interviews for the next 18 months and resolved to let the music do the talking in the most dramatic way possible. 

The next album would have no accompanying words – not even the band’s name on the cover. The resulting untitled effort, known universally as Led Zeppelin IV, is the most devastating answer a band has ever given their critics. 

“It was a really good and serious summing up of where we were,” said Jimmy Page of the album. “Each song has its own character. It gives all the different colors and textures of the band. We were moving the acoustic aspect of what we’d done on the third album into these more intimate areas with Going To California and The Battle Of Evermore. The music kept expanding.”

It was in 1970 that Page, singer Robert Plant, drummer John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones began the first recording sessions for the album at Island Studios in London, but the magic was not happening. According to Page, an early version of a key track, When The Levee Breaks, sounded “labored”. The guitarist decided a new working environment was required.

He wanted somewhere the band could live, write, and record, so Led Zeppelin retreated to Headley Grange, a disused workhouse for the poor in Hampshire. Renting the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio to capture the results, the band dug in. 

“I liked the idea of everybody being in the same house and really working with the whole band,” Page recalled. “It was an old Victorian house, very imposing. It was in the countryside, so you weren’t going to have neighbors complaining. If it didn’t work we’d go into a studio, but in actual fact it was great. It was like everybody’s creative energies all joined. That’s what the whole magic of the environment was like.”

The band used cupboards and stairwells around the house as isolation booths for amps, setting up temporary studios ad hoc. They were constantly setting up in different locations, lending each track its own ambience. 

As Page said, “We used the acoustics of the house. We were playing in this drawing room to begin with, and then John Bonham has another drum kit turn up, and it’s in the hall, with this really high ceiling. When he started playing it was like, ‘right, we’ll have to do something in here now,’ with the drum sound like that, because it was just huge. You’ve heard it – on When The Levee Breaks.”

Levee was Zeppelin’s thunderous reimagining of a 1929 Memphis Minnie tune. Although the melody does draw on the original, it’s unlikely anyone would have recognized the song if Plant had bothered to change the lyrics. Memphis Minnie’s tune was an up-tempo blues with a bright fingerpicking part. 

The original follows standard 12-bar chord changes, but Page’s ominous, droning riff never modulates, designed to invoke a trance. He played it on his Fender Electric XII in Open G tuning, but it sounds like Open F because Page slowed the track with varispeed.

“If you slow things down, it makes everything sound so much thicker,” he told author Brad emphasized. “The only problem is, you have to be very tight with your playing because it magnifies any inconsistencies.”

Working quickly, Zeppelin captured ideas while they still sounded spontaneous. “We didn’t over-rehearse things,” Page emphasized. “We just had them so that they were just right, so that there was this tension – maybe there might be a mistake. But there won’t be, because this is how we’re all going to do it and it’s gonna work!”

The record sounds fresh because it is. If a song didn’t come together quickly, they simply moved on. 

As Page recalled: “We’d get it up to a serious speed, so it’s really firing on all cylinders, and then you’d start recording. With the red light on there’s even more urgency to it. We’d arrive at those takes in a pretty short time – just a handful of takes, maybe. If a song started to labour, and it just wasn’t working, there’s no point in just recording it. We’d just stop it and do something else, and then return to it later.”

Guitar solos were always the last thing recorded. 

“I wanted it to be totally in character of what’s going on with the lyrics and a summing up of my guitar playing for that particular song,” Page explained. “What I’d do is just limber up and then, okay, put the red light on. And again, those solos weren’t done over hours and hours. They were pretty much improvised. They weren’t worked out note for note. Never. The solos were always: take a deep breath and go for it! For the spontaneity. I might have worked out how I might start it off. But that’s it.”

With a combination of inspiration and ruthless efficiency, Zeppelin’s fourth was essentially complete by the end of their month-long residency at Headley Grange. Three tracks remained unfinished: Four Sticks (a rhythmic number on which Bonham on played with, yes, four drum sticks); Black Dog, the heavy hitter that would serve as the album’s opening salvo; and lastly, the song that many consider the greatest of all time.

“I had the sections for it. It was a question of piecing them together,” said Page of writing Stairway To Heaven. “By nature of the fact that it had acceleration through it, it needed some work on it. Definitely it was the sort of thing where you wanted to be all around each other. Because of the amount of overdubs that were going to go on it, it needed to be done in a studio.” 

Returning to London, Page picked Island Studio 1 for its ambience and clarity. The rich arrangement for Stairway to Heaven includes all of Page’s main guitars. The intro was his beloved Harmony Sovereign H-1260, a budget acoustic used to write the first four albums, while the lush electric rhythms came from two different 12-strings, DI’ed and panned left and right. 

His Fender Electric XII was joined by the Vox Phantom he’d used on Led Zeppelin II and earlier, in his previous band The Yardbirds, for the song Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor. They were recorded straight into the desk and compressed. 

Outro riffs came from his Les Paul, while the solo was played on the legendary Dragon Telecaster, a gift from Jeff Beck he’d used to record all of Led Zeppelin’s debut. The Gibson ES-1275 double neck didn’t arrive until after the song was recorded, when Page needed one guitar that could reproduce all the parts live.

The solo used the same approach as the others, Page preparing the opening lick and a few link phrases before improvising the rest. He says the solo came together easily, in about three takes. Producer Andy Johns, however, remembered things differently in a 2009 interview with Rhythm. 

“There was a bit of a struggle on the solo. He was playing for half an hour and did seven or eight takes. He hadn’t quite got it sussed. I was starting to get a bit paranoid and he said, ‘No, no you’re making me paranoid.’ Then right after that he played a really great solo.”

Page is notoriously reticent to give details of the amps used on specific tracks, sometimes complaining that after he mentions using a particular amp with Led Zeppelin they become impossible to buy. 

He has variously claimed the Stairway amp was a Marshall or a Supro. We do know that his Number 1 Les Paul Standard and Marshall 1959 Superlead head remained his main rig for the Headley Grange sessions. That tone didn’t work for Black Dog, however, and Page recut those guitars at Island with Andy Johns.

Despite his association with cranked Marshalls, Page is no valve amp purist. After the bass and drums were completed at Headley, Page cut the Black Dog guitars at Island Studios, using a direct box to plug straight into the desk. 

Andy Johns cranked the gain on the mic input to create distortion, and put the signal through two Universal 1176 compressors in series. The riff was triple-tracked, with one take panned left, one right, and one centre. Page has compared the resulting tone to an analogue synth.

For the solos in Black Dog, Page took a more orthodox approach. As he told Guitar World in 1993. “I wanted something that would cut through the direct guitars – I wanted a totally different tone color. So I ran my guitar through a Leslie and mic’ed that in the usual way.” 

This “usual way” of mic’ing was actually pretty unusual for the time. While most engineers close mic’ed cabs, Page would position an ambient mic anywhere from six to 20 feet from the speaker, depending on the room’s sweet spot. As with Bonham’s drums, Page followed his mantra “distance equals depth” for recording guitars.

The last completed track was Four Sticks, whose intricate overdubs also required the clarity of a recording studio. Along with Stairway, Page felt Four Sticks came the closest to fulfilling his artistic vision.

He told Steve Rosen in 1977: “My vocation is more in composition, really, than anything else. Building up harmonies, orchestrating the guitar like an army – I think that’s where it’s at, really, for me. I’m talking about actual orchestration in the same way you’d orchestrate a classical piece of music. 

“Instead of using brass and violins, you treat the guitars with synthesizers or other devices; give them different treatments, so that they have enough frequency range and scope and everything to keep the listener as totally committed to it as the player is. I can see certain milestones along the way, like Four Sticks, in the middle section of that. The sounds of those guitars – that’s where I’m going.”

Recording complete, Page mixed the album at Island with Johns after a disastrous ten days at LA’s Sunset Sound produced only one useable mix, When the Levee Breaks. What remained was sequencing the album – crucial for a band determined not to release singles.

“We were crafting albums for the album market,” he said. “It was important, I felt, to have the flow and the rise and fall of the music and the contrast, so that each song would have more impact against the other. I thought that Levee Breaks just had to finish the overall picture of what we’d done – the sonic picture – because it was just so ominous. After you’ve caressed them with Stairway, now you’re going to disturb them!”

Led Zeppelin IV is not just the greatest guitar album of the 70s, but the benchmark for every guitar band ever since.

Guns N’ Roses played Seville, Spain yesterday (June 7) and found time to sneak in another surprise AC/DC cover, performing the Aussie rock gods’ mega-hit, Back in Black. 

The group were performing at the city’s Benito Villamarín Stadium and pulled out the song early on in the 26-track set. It comes just three days after Guns N’ Roses played another AC/DC track, Walk All Over You, at their Lisbon show.

Fan footage of the band’s Seville performance has now surfaced, in which you can see Axl Rose once again relishing the chance to dip into the AC/DC back catalog. As with the Lisbon date, Slash opts to stay faithful to the Les Paul during the performance, rather than take the opportunity to don an SG.

Elsewhere in the set, GNR included other, well-worn covers including Live And Let Die, I Wanna Be Your Dog and Knockin' On Heaven’s Door, before an encore performance and tour debut for their version of Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman.

It seems that for Axl Rose, the memories of his 2016 tour filling in on vocal duties for AC/DC are still fresh. It was in some ways an event that marked something of a turnaround for the frontman’s live reputation.

It also built a bridge between the two groups, as evidenced by Angus Young’s repeated guest appearances with Guns N’ Roses throughout 2016 and 2017, most frequently during their tour of Australia.

Guns N’ Roses current European tour will continue until July 15, before they take in South America, Mexico and Australia/New Zealand later this year. Perhaps, then, we’ll see another Young guest slot before the year is out…

Last Saturday (June 4), Guns N’ Roses commenced their hectic 2022 touring schedule, and treated those in attendance to a number of surprising deep cuts and a cover of an AC/DC classic.

Taking to the stage at the Passeio Martimo De Alges in Lisbon, Portugal, Slash and co took a brief pause from their own repertoire halfway through the set to perform AC/DC’s Walk All Over You, taken from the Aussie rock icons’ 1979 Highway to Hell album.

Though Slash didn’t opt for a Gibson SG for the performance, he did use his Les Paul for a faithful exploration of Angus and Malcolm Young’s scorching chord progression, before giving Angus’ rip-roaring solo a suitable amount of Slash-style six-string seasoning.

Axl Rose has a history of performing AC/DC songs live, after he temporarily stepped in to deputize for Brian Johnson back in 2016 when the vocalist had to step down due to hearing issues.

Before the cover, Slash, Rose and the rest of the Guns crew lured listeners in with a host of hits – Welcome to the Jungle, Mr. Brownstone and Chinese Democracy among them – before serving up a rare rendition of Reckless Life.

The track, which is lifted from the band’s 1986 four-track EP Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide, had not been performed since 1993, and as such the unexpected rendition was the first time Reckless Life got a showing in nearly 30 years.

Notably, Slash switched out his tried-and-trusted Gibson Les Paul for a red B.C. Rich Mockingbird model, which he used to storm through the track’s classically Guns-style riffs and a none-more-Slash guitar solo at the 1:30 mark in the video below.

It wasn’t the only deep cut the band revisited during the gig. The penultimate track of the entire setlist – coming in just before the customary performance of Paradise City – was the Appetite For Destruction version of You’re Crazy.

You’re Crazy was originally released on Appetite for Destruction, though was later reimagined and re-recorded for 1988’s G N’ R Lies as a swashbuckling, clean guitar-driven romp that relied heavily on acoustic grooves.

The original – which hadn’t been performed live since 1991 – is jam-packed with up-tempo, riotous six-string riffs, with Slash reuniting with a black Les Paul on the night to revisit the raucous rendition.

Elsewhere on the setlist, Guns N’ Roses performed a bounty of their biggest hits – such as Sweet Child O’ Mine and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – and performed tracks from their recently released four-track EP, Hard Skool, including the title track and Absurd.

Guns N’ Roses will next be in action tonight (June 7) at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in Seville, Spain, and will continue their European tour with trips to Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic next week.

The band will conclude their European tour on July 15, and will commence their South America tour soon after on September 1 in Brazil. Tours of Mexico and Australia will follow in October/November.

For a full list of tour dates, head over to Guns N’ Roses’ website.

Canadian percussion maestro Joe Porter has attracted a big online following thanks to his remarkable interpretations of contemporary hits on percussion instruments. His latest clip, however, takes on some of rock guitar’s biggest riffs in a truly unique way.

The video comes in under two minutes and takes us through famous riffs from the likes of Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

Porter’s playing is astonishing in its quiet technicality and un-show-y performance, which let’s be honest, is all quite galling and largely against the point for us guitarists. What’s more, it’s all performed live, in a single take, back to back, too: six tracks on six different instruments, in quick, calm succession.

We’re particularly taken by the muted yet punchy interpretation of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck on the slap-o-phone, but the steel pan take on Sweet Child O’ Mine and Californication via a vibraphone also sound completely at home in Porter’s hands.

That makes sense, as alongside his popular YouTube channel, the award-winning Canadian musician has performed around the world and written several books on his ‘six mallet’ technique. No wonder he sounds so good with two or four, here…

Head to Joe Porter’s YouTube channel for more of his unique percussion covers… 

With such decorum and public composure, it's hard to imagine members of the British royal family listening to hype music. And if such an imagination can be conjured, they're surely listening to some spritely orchestral composition, right? 

Wrong. Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, listens to rock music – specifically AC/DC – to get himself ready for his royal duties, as he explains in a new episode of Apple's Time To Walk podcast.

“There's nothing better than, on a Monday morning, when you're a bit bleary-eyed after the weekend and trying to get yourself back into the grind of the week, listening to AC/DC, Thunderstruck,” the Duke of Cambridge says during a stroll round the Queen’s Sandringham estate (transcribed by Blabbermouth).

“I have to say the first time I put it on – and I’ve heard it a million times now – I was kind of, like, ‘Well, this is quite heavy for a Monday morning. But now, when I listen to it, it’s the best tonic for a Monday morning. It absolutely wakes you up, puts your week in the best mood possible, and you feel like you can take on anything and anyone.

“I’d imagine you’re going to walk quite fast listening to it, maybe with a skip in your step, with the headbanging. It’s a difficult song not to dance to or to nod along to.”

Thunderstruck appears on AC/DC's 1990 album, The Razor's Edge, and remains one of the Aussie rock giants' most popular tracks. Despite the track's stratospheric influence on rock music in general, its main riff actually originated as one of guitarist Angus Young's acoustic guitar warmup licks.

“It started off as a practice thing on an acoustic guitar I had at home,” the guitar icon revealed in a conversation with Zane Lowe for Apple Music earlier this year.

“I had a cassette and I was fiddling around with the guitar and I thought, ‘That's interesting’, so I put it down.”

Young explained that it was his brother – late AC/DC founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young – who encouraged him to pursue the practice lick and transform it into the Thunderstruck we all know today.

“Angus, go back, go back to that little guitar thing you had on the acoustic – that's a little hooky thing... there's something about that,” Malcolm reportedly told Angus.

Angus also revealed that when he took a one-week break away during the recording of The Razor's Edge, Malcolm tweaked the track's original arrangement.

"When I came back, Malcolm came to me and he said, ‘Listen and hear what we've done to your song,’” Angus recalled. “I put it on, and he had added the big thunder choruses at the beginning, and the chant, which we originally only put in the middle section of the song.”

When Malcolm asked for his opinion, Angus simply replied: “You've made it better, you've improved it. It sounds great.”

The nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards have officially rolled in and – though the Justin Biebers and Ed Sheerans of the world got their fair share of nods as one would expect – there's plenty of other guitar greatness that's been recognized across the board.

Notably, H.E.R. – who earlier this year scooped up the Grammy for 2021 Song of the Year with I Can't Breathe – has been nominated for the Album of the Year award for Back of My Mind and Song of the Year again for Fight for You (a song that, mind you, already won H.E.R. an Oscar back in April).

The signature Stratocaster-toting guitarist and singer/songwriter was also nominated for half-a-dozen other Grammys – Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for the Damage, Best R&B Album for Back of My Mind, Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media for Fight for You, and last but not least, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for Hold Us Together (Hope Mix), her collaboration with Tauren Wells.

Back in March, we cited H.E.R. high in our list of 12 guitarists who changed the game over the previous 12 months, and we're certainly glad the Grammys feel the same way. 

• How to watch the Grammys 2022

Elsewhere, the nominees in the rock, metal and alternative categories were an intriguing mix of the old guard and the new.

Reliable stadium-fillers Foo Fighters, AC/DC and Paul McCartney all picked up multiple nominations – the Foos for Best Rock Performance, Song and Album, AC/DC for Best Rock Album and Performance, and Macca for Best Rock Song and Album.

Posthumously, Chris Cornell received a pair of nominations, for Best Rock Album (No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1) and Best Rock Performance for his cover of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Weezer, Kings of Leon and Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH also received Best Rock Song nominations, while Black Pumas were recognized in the Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance categories. The latter category was also rounded out by a nomination for Deftones, for the nine-string-driven Ohms.

Deftones were also nominated for Best Metal Performance, a category that was rounded out by nods to Dream Theater, Gojira, Mastodon and Rob Zombie.

Guitar-heavy LPs from Fleet Foxes, Halsey, Japanese Breakfast, Arlo Parks and St. Vincent made up the nominations for Best Alternative Music Album, while Snarky Puppy's Mark Lettieri – rounding out a year that saw the release of his PRS signature guitar, the Fiore – received a nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, for his Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2 album.

Some top-tier guitar-slingers also made it into the country, roots and bluegrass categories. Billy Strings received nods for Best American Roots Performance (for Love and Regret) and Best Bluegrass Album (Renewal) and Jason Isbell (speaking of folks who got a signature guitar in 2021) was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance, for All I Do Is Drive.

Modern country superstar Chris Stapleton cleaned up as well, with nods for Best Country Song and Album, and Best Country Solo Performance for You Should Probably Leave. We assume though, that this isn't the recent You Should Probably Leave performance that Jimmy Fallon sat in on.

We haven't even gotten to blues yet, either. Between the two of them, the Best Traditional and Contemporary Blues Album awards saw nominations for blues artists both established (Joe Bonamassa, The Black Keys and Steve Cropper) and up-and-coming (Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Cedric Burnside and Shemekia Copeland). 

Finally, as we've noted, there's plenty of engrossing guitar work on the Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift albums that between them received a number of marquee nominations.

Let's face it, the Grammys don't ever please everyone with their nominations (we would've loved to see some recognition in the jazz categories for Julian Lage and his 2021 masterpiece, Squint, for instance), but if you come looking for the guitar in this year's categories – in any and all forms – you won't be disappointed.

For a full list of all 2022 Grammy nominees, head on over to the Grammys website.

Along with its cousin the Les Paul, as well as Fender's Stratocaster and Telecaster, the Gibson SG arguably rounds out the big four of classic electric guitars. It's lent power, brawn and sonic versatility to countless vital long-players in the six decades since its introduction. 

Narrowing things down to just the 10 best of these innumerable SG-powered albums is a near-impossible task, but it does help chart rock's dizzying evolution, particularly in the 60s and 70s.

From AC/DC's rabble-rousing debut to Sister Rosetta Tharpe's stunning Live In Paris 1964, the following albums all – with an SG leading the charge – made a tremendous impact on music in their own way.

1. AC/DC – High Voltage (1976)

AC/DC’s first proper release also featured Angus Young’s first SG, a 1970 model (‘probably’, says Angus himself) bought that same year. It was used exclusively throughout most of the 70s – and even on 2020’s Power Up. High Voltage was famously slammed by Rolling Stone magazine, but it’s hard to argue with its energy and the quality of material and performances.  

Standout track: T.N.T.

2. Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967)

Fair enough, Cream’s second effort isn’t considered the most consistent record, but when it got it right it absolutely shone – and Clapton’s spellbinding playing on his 1964 ‘Fool’ Gibson SG is all over it. Plus it also goes down in history for introducing Clapton’s coveted ‘woman’ tone; just check out the opening riff to Sunshine Of Your Love.  

Standout track: Sunshine Of Your Love 

3. Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970) 

Left-handed riff king Tony Iommi is responsible for many teens purchasing SG guitars (and rupturing their own eardrums). His band’s second album continued the band’s eponymous debut’s theme of a dark and heavy low sound, and is considered a benchmark in heavy metal music. The title track is key, but War Pigs is a standout, too.  

Standout track: War Pigs

4. The Allman Brothers Band – Hittin’ The Note (2003)

Duane Allman is a crucial player in the SG canon, as is Derek Trucks, whose clear and precise blues sound is revered the world over. Hittin’ The Note is especially notable here since it’s the final Allman Brothers Band album and the only one to feature Trucks. His mellow juicy lines work well with Warren Haynes’ guitar work on an enjoyable and solid record.  

Standout track: Instrumental Illness

5. The Beatles – Revolver (1966)

The hints of experimentalism heard on the previous year’s Rubber Soul went on to be further realized on 1966’s Revolver. For the studio sessions, George Harrison relied heavily on his 1964 Gibson SG Standard, which he later gave to Pete Ham of Badfinger. The tone achieved on the track She Said She Said is just stunning.  

Standout track: She Said She Said

6. The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)

The last studio album to feature Jim Morrison at the helm, the Doors’ sixth studio release was also a return to a stripped-back, more bluesy sound for the California band – and what a resounding success it was too. Robby Krieger’s 1968 SG Standard features throughout, but really starts hitting its stride when the cracking Been Down So Long kicks in.   

Standout track: Been Down So Long

7. Frank Zappa & The Mothers – Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)

Zappa’s ‘Baby Snakes’ SG of the late 70s was actually an obscure custom copy, but the ‘Roxy’ model he used for this album was a Gibson, albeit modified with various switches and preamps. His son Dweezil has since stated that Frank’s tone is impossible to emulate; and even the briefest of listens to this rollercoaster album will back that claim.   

Standout track: Cheepnis

8. Haim – Days Are Gone (2013)

Danielle Haim has quickly become a modern icon for the SG, and this tightly performed, highly listenable, well-produced debut album from her LA band is chock-full of spikey, accomplished pop songs, with Danielle’s jagged picking on her 2005 Cherry Red Standard a key element. Check out live footage of the band for the full experience.   

Standout track: Falling

9. The Who – Live At Leeds (1970) 

Live At Leeds is well up there with the best ever live rock albums, and it’s also a cracking example of the power of the SG. Just hear Pete Townshend’s fretboard-surfing during My Generation for unquestionable proof of its muscle. And talking of strength, the modified SG in question is also famous for surviving being smashed to smithereens on stage.   

Standout track: My Generation

10. Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Live In Paris 1964 (1988)

This remarkable guitarist has been cited as a key influence for many a star player over the years, including Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Later in her career, the good sister acquired her classic white early 60s SG model, which bore the ‘Les Paul Custom’ nameplate (which subsequently disappeared at the end of ’63) and was showcased well in this live set.  

Standout track: This Train

Last week we caught a glimpse of AC/DC front man Brian Johnson’s guest spot with the Foo Fighters on a cover of his band’s immortal 1980 anthem, Back in Black.

Now pro-shot footage of the full performance, which took place at Global Citizen's Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World, has been released. You can check out Johnson tearing through the song with Grohl and the Foos above.

Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World took place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on May 2 and aired on a variety of outlets on May 8. The event was hosted by Selena Gomez and, in addition to the Foo Fighters, also featured performances from Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin and H.E.R., who performed Glory alongside 125 Fender Play Foundation students.

Beyond their collab with Johnson, the Foos also bashed through a handful of their own hits during their short set, including Everlong and Best of You.

For more performances from the event, head to Global Citizen’s official YouTube page.

And for more Foo Fighters, check out Guitar World’s recent cover story on the making of the band’s latest release, Medicine at Midnight.

The Foo Fighters appeared at Global Citizen's Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World event at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on May 2, and – among the band’s six-song set of Foos classics like Everlong and Best of You – they also squeezed in a cover of AC/DC’s immortal 1980 anthem, Back in Black – with none other than Brian Johnson on vocals.

While no official footage of the pairing has been released, one of the 27,000 fans in attendance managed to capture some of the performance on video. You can check out the clip above.

As for the event itself, Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World will air on May 8 on a variety of outlets, including ABC, CBS, YouTube and iHeartMedia. The show is hosted by Selena Gomez, and – in addition to the Foo Fighters – also includes performances from Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin and H.E.R. For more information, head to Global Citizen.

Recently, Grohl and his 15-year-old daughter Violet covered X's Nausea with Krist Novoselic and Dave Lombardo. You can check out that performance here.

A never-before-published interview with Malcolm Young from 2003 has recently been released by The Coda Collection, in which the late electric guitar legend and AC/DC founder takes a deep dive into the iconic rock band’s roots and his guitar-playing relationship with his brother, Angus.

The newly unearthed conversation was released alongside a whole host of AC/DC-related material, including seven hours of video footage documenting the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson eras, which are currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Also included in the comprehensive catalog are a handful of timelines and in-depth essays, which chart the band’s meteoric rise from outback rockers to one of the most formidable bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.

Notable highlights from Young’s previously unpublished interview include a discussion of his musical relationship with his brother Angus, of which Malcolm revealed, “It was never a brotherly squabble.

“I was more into the chord thing, the complete song, rather than the individual part. I was glad in a way, because I was more of a melodic player. Angus was more into the rock world,” he said. “Straight away I said, ‘This is great.’ There was never any question. I thought, ‘Angus, it’s pointless for me to play solos.’ We just wanted to do good as a band.”

When asked whether he had heard about the rock 'n' roll trope of brothers in bands falling out, Young replied, "We do suffer a bit of that. It's not that dramatic. We have our moments. That's what we do, knowing each other all our lives.

"Brothers do fight, but there is a closeness too. Within the band, a little bit of aggro rears its ugly head. But it's certainly not a problem for AC/DC," he continued. "During the making of the albums it's the worst, because everyone is a bit under pressure. You're in a confined area and things happen."

Young also took the time to discuss how the axe-slinging siblings originally joined forces, recalling, “It just happened at one point when I was putting together a band. We were going to get a keyboard player, but I got Angus instead.

“We never really played together. I was more into the Beatles and Stones, and Angus was more into the heavier stuff, Hendrix and Cream, with the lead guitar. I used to listen to songs as songs. I tended to pick up on the chords, the whole picture around the guitar. 

“I said, ‘Come down tomorrow and have a bash.’ We were going to play rock ‘n’ roll, it was simple as that. When Angus came in, it was a big piece.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Young touches on how he was heavily influenced by blues music in his early years, and discusses how the band's live career blossomed from "rowdy, made, brawling Aussie" clubs.

Head over to The Coda Collection to read the conversation in full and to explore the full list of AC/DC-related titles currently available in the catalog. 

Sometimes, ideas with humble beginnings are destined for greatness. That mantra is all too true for AC/DC's electrifying classic Thunderstruck, which Angus Young recently revealed originated as a practice routine he used to play on, yes, an acoustic guitar.

In a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Essential Music show, the electric guitar icon was joined by bandmate Brian Johnson to discuss the band's legendary career and select their essential AC/DC tracks.

When quizzed on the history of Thunderstruck, Angus Young revealed that the larger-than-life lead lick had an unlikely origin.

"It started off as practice thing on an acoustic guitar I had at home," revealed Young. "I had a cassette and I was fiddling around with the guitar and I thought, 'That's interesting', so I put it down."

Young continued, saying that when he showed his brother and bandmate Malcolm, the late guitar great pursued the idea, saying, "Angus, go back, go back to that little guitar thing you had on the acoustic – that's a little hook-y thing... there's something about that."

Angus, per Malcom's request, then began to add to the track, transforming it from a humble warmup lick into a rock guitar classic.

Young also revealed that Thunderstruck was taken to the next level by Malcolm, who tweaked the original arrangement while Angus took a one-week break away during the recording of Razor's Edge.

"When I came back, Malcolm came to me and he said, "Listen and hear what we've done to your song,"" Angus recalls.

"I put it on, and he had added the big thunder choruses at the beginning, and the chant, which we originally only put in the middle section of the song."

In response to Malcolm asking for his opinions on the newly arranged track, Angus said, "You've made it better, you've improved it. It sounds great.

"I was really happy," continued Angus. "I said, 'you've given it life!'"

There you have it, folks. Don't neglect your practice, because those little mindless noodles you play without thinking may have more potential than you think.

Elsewhere in the podcast are a number of other insights into the origins of classic AC/DC tracks, including the tale of how Angus Young came up with the vocal line for Highway to Hell on the toilet – the clip of which can be seen above.

”Oh dear. Be kind!” quips Cliff Williams when I tell him that I’ve been carefully listening to the bass parts on his new album, Power Up, in preparation for this interview. He’s kidding, of course – you don’t play stadiums for 40 years without developing a thick skin – but at the same time, he’s definitely not on familiar ground today. 

This is because Cliff is in AC/DC, a band dominated since its inception by huge electric guitars and vocals, rather than bass guitar, drums, or anything else. 

The huge production of the semi-British, semi-Australian band’s shows, the cannons, the lasers, the inflatable ‘colleague’ Rosie, the pyro, the crowd participation, the massive sense of uncompromising heritage – arguably these are also more important to AC/DC... Or so you’d think, if you were less well informed on these matters than you and me.'

This is superficial, of course. In reality, Williams’ bass parts are utterly integral to his band’s music. 

Listen to more or less any of the guitar riffs that anchor AC/DC, the majority of which were written by the band’s late leader and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young: their staccato nature leaves loads of space for the bass. Listen to the sparse, impactful drum patterns; they don’t drown him out with rolls or flourishes. 

No, he’s all over the sound of AC/DC, and nowhere more so than on their new album, Power Up. The key to his bass style is simplicity and economy. If, as we do today, we want to drill down to the philosophy behind his millimetrically precise playing, it’s actually easier to ask him what he doesn’t do.

For starters, he doesn’t do five-string basses. “I get lost with the damn thing,” he chuckles. “That bottom string – what is it, a B? I only play a five-string bass when I’m out somewhere, and someone’s playing, and they say ,‘Come and have a play on a couple of songs’ and the bass player has a five-string. I don’t know where the hell I am, because I instinctively go to the bottom string. Wrong! Haha!’

He doesn’t bother looking at YouTube for the next big thing in bass. 

“I’m stuck with the old stuff that I know and love. I still listen to Little Feat. There’s probably a lot of great young bass players out there, but I’m just not aware of them. I do think Pino Palladino is a great player, and I had the distinct pleasure of having a beer with Rocco Prestia when Tower Of Power were playing in Florida. We went along and I got a chance to talk with him.”

He doesn’t listen to jazz. “My wife and I went and saw John McLaughlin years ago playing at some club, and it made me feel uncomfortable. It made me feel kinda twitchy. Too busy! My wife hated it, so we got out of there. So no, jazz is not for me. I know there’s some awesome bass players there, though.”

He doesn’t play slap bass. Yes, I asked him that question, even though I had a good idea what the answer would be. I make a habit of asking inappropriate questions about slap, just to see what will happen.

“I don’t think the boys would have really appreciated me trying to slap around. They would have slapped me around, I think,” he snickers.

“I can’t say I didn’t try it, sitting around in a room on my own, just for shits and giggles. But I never wanted to be very good at it. Flea’s a monster at that stuff, and there are other guys out there that are really good – but it was not for me.” 

He’s also not trying to improve or evolve his bass playing. “I don’t think it’s changed much. I just try and do my bit as best I can,” he muses. “If anything, it’s a little simpler. I try to bring it down to what it needs.”

All this stuff is extraneous, frankly – and make no mistake, Williams is already a machine on his instrument. Listen to any of his recorded bass tracks: his grasp of pocket playing is awe-inspiring, although he can push and pull against the beat at will; his muting is extraordinary, clipping off notes with precision-engineered accuracy; and he redefines the idea of consistency.

How did he arrive at this style, we ask? “It just developed, from playing with the guys, and with the songs that we play,” he explains. “The songs are very guitar- and chorus-driven, so I don’t need to be noodling around underneath. I just need to be playing the framework, and driving it as part of the rhythm section. That’s how I’ve always approached it, and it’s just developed over the years to where it is now.

”When I play, I mute with the pad of my hand; it’s just a feel thing. If the string is ringing out a little too much, on this note here or there, I’ll just mute it slightly, just to keep it all even.”

Does he change up his bass parts on tour? “On live stuff, sometimes I’ll vary it a little bit; I might put something in that I feel might work, and try it, but that’s about it. It’s about the song first, most definitely, and it’s about trying to play the song as best you possibly can every night.”

An attitude which the bassists who first influenced Williams would appreciate, we think. He recalls the first time that bass impressed him, as a young kid in Essex.

“I remember standing outside a youth club and listening to some soul music, and hearing the basslines. This was before I’d started playing an instrument. I just stood outside and listened to the bass – it was incredible stuff.

“I had a buddy that somehow got hold of a lot of American blues records, and I’d go over to his place and we’d listen to them, and I don’t know who the players were, but it was a type of music that really attracted me. I was definitely in awe of the James Jamersons of the world: In fact, it might have been him who I first heard playing.”

By the early '70s, Williams was making his name in the psychedelic band Home, but he never listens to their music any more, he tells us.

“My wife loves [the 1973 LP] The Alchemist, so now and then we’ll put that on, but other than that I don’t listen to Home that much. You know what, I’ll have a listen. That’s a long, long time ago. Damn, is it nearly 50 years ago?” 

Williams joined AC/DC in 1977, three years before their singer Bon Scott died of a booze and/or heroin overdose, depending on which source you consult, and Brian Johnson was recruited for the band’s imperial phase.

Several decades later, AC/DC – now Williams plus Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd, and guitarists Angus and Stevie Young, who are respectively Malcolm’s brother and nephew – have had a chaotic time of it over the last six years or so. 

The band’s 16th album, Rock Or Bust, appeared in 2014 and was their first without Malcolm, who was suffering from dementia. 

The following tour, on which Stevie took his uncle’s place, also included a replacement drummer, Chris Slade, depping for the sidelined Rudd, who was working through some rather serious legal issues.

Two years later, Johnson quit the band mid-tour with severe hearing damage, although the dates were completed thanks to the appearance of a certain Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses.

Also in 2016, Williams announced his retirement: then 66 years old, the bassist had been treading the boards with AC/DC since 1979, and had definitely earned a break. And yet here he is once more, just when we thought we’d seen the last of him... 

“I thought I’d seen the last of me too, haha!” he guffaws. “Look, I spoke to Angus on the Rock Or Bust tour – I said that I felt that I was done. It was my time, I guess. Phil had done the recording and then never did come on the road with us. 

“He had his issues, and that’s that, you know, so we had Chris Slade come in to replace Phil. And then of course we had that terrible thing with Brian, he really needed to stop, so Axl came in and did a bang-up job, God bless him, and got us through to the end of it.”

He continues: “As Angus said, you can’t have a tour called Rock Or Bust and [then go] bust, so we wanted to finish it, which we did. And then that was it—we all went home and I was pretty much done. But Angus and Sony reached out a couple of years ago, asking if we would have any interest in getting together to do an album with Malcolm in mind.”

This isn’t the first time that AC/DC has reconvened after the loss of a member, he reminds us, citing a certain planet-sized album. “Back In Black had Bon Scott in mind. This album has Malcolm in mind – and because it was Brian and Angus and Phil and Stevie, I wanted to do it. And it went really well.”

Describing Malcolm Young as a “real strong character, like his brother”, Williams says of his late colleague: “He wrote some awesome stuff and he was an unbelievable player to play with. A solid guy, a totally solid guy. We were talking about this the other day – it’s like he’s still there. Not being soppy and hippie about it, but it’s a feeling that we all have, so hopefully he’s looking down and liking it.”

Our hunch is that, yes, if Malcolm Young is indeed relaxing in some hard-rock Valhalla and listening to Power Up, he’ll like what he hears. It’s punchy, upbeat and faithful to the sound that made AC/DC famous, but that doesn’t mean it’s one-dimensional.

Listen to the thoughtful quasi-ballad Through The Mists Of Time if you want to know what I mean. Williams is quick to credit producer Brendan O’Brien for the vibrant feel of the new album. “God bless Brendan, he’s just a fantastic producer to work with,” he says. “He keeps it fresh, so you’re not sitting around because there’s always work going on. I couldn’t have been happier.”

Did he mic up one of his Ampegs in the studio, or go straight into the desk? “We did a bit of everything. We had the Ampegs set up, and an Avalon DI, and one other DI into the desk as well, so there was several different feeds that they put together. The way we record a take is that we’ll all go for it, and if it’s good then that’s it. If not, we’ll go back and do it again. You listen back, and you can feel if there’s something that’s not what it’s supposed to be.”

The bass parts came from Williams’ trusty Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray, the 1979 model that has traveled the world more times than anyone can possibly remember.

“It’s always been my mainstay, and I’ve stuck with it, for the most part,” he considers. “It’s taken a beating over 40 years. I wandered off here and there a little bit. I used a Fender Jazz for a while, although actually that might have been before the Music Man. I also played a Gibson Thunderbird for a bit, but not for very long.”

This leads us to the new Cliff Williams Signature Stingray, announced earlier this year and modeled on his 1979 original. “It’s a fantastic bass,” he says. “I was blown away by that. They had my old number one bass for over a year, I just got it back a couple of weeks ago, and they did a bang-up job of it. It really is impressive.”

Did Ernie Ball’s team measure up the exact dimensions of the old bass?

“Yeah, all of that. Every nick and ding and all the rest of it, cosmetically, they reproduced, but they got inside the thing too, and the pickups are tweaked exactly like mine. The whole thing is faithfully reproduced. They sent me a prototype and another one, so we had the three basses together and we went through each one – and I knew which bass my number one was, but they’re so damn close it’s very impressive.”

He adds: “Those basses have even got a Sharpie mark on the treble knob, because if you have it full on, it’s real glassy, so if you wind it back just a wee bit that glass goes away and you get a good, solid punch. They’ve even reproduced that on the signature bass, so you can dial that in. It sounds great.”

Armed with a new bass and a new album, Williams seems set for whatever the future may hold. Fortunately, a painful-sounding accident a while back didn’t deter him.

He recalls, “About 15 years ago I took a fall, and put my hand out to break my fall, right onto some broken glass. It cut the nerves and tendons in my left hand. If I showed you my palm you would see the shape of the bottom of a bottle – a semicircle. I had two surgeries for that, and lots of rehab.

“The guys were awesome, they said ‘Go and get yourself well and we’ll pick it up from there’ so now I can only play with two fingers, the two on the outsides. The two middle fingers, I just keep out of the mix. I’ve learned how to do that. I’ve got flexibility straight up and down, so I can make a fist, but when I try and bend those fingers individually, they don’t bend.

“The surgeon was brilliant, but a couple of the tendons let loose, and I felt them when they did, so it was bad. But you know, you stick with it and you get around it. Thank God there’s only four strings on the damn thing. I never looked at it as ‘I’m never gonna play again’, I just took the attitude that I’ve just gotta get over this and get it done.”

On a more cheerful note, how does it feel to stand on stage with AC/DC, whose back catalog contains some of the world’s most loved songs, and blast them out to a stadium audience? 

“It’s brilliant. It’s fantastic,” he says. “When we do a new record, we’re hard pressed to slot a song in from the new one, because the guys have written so many damn popular songs that people want to hear that we’d end up with a three-hour set if we weren’t careful. I know McCartney does it, God bless him, but it’s not like Angus running around. It’s been fantastic to see audiences react to those songs, it’s really heartwarming.”

So will we see Cliff back on stage with his band, virus permitting?

“We want to. Earlier on this year [2020], we all got together and rehearsed for three weeks to see how it would be – and it was fabulous. The band was playing great and the conversation got around to ‘Is everyone up for playing some shows?’ 

“I said ‘I would love to play a few shows’ so everyone was like ‘Great! Let’s go home and get the guys to work on putting the shows together’, and then of course the world went on lockdown. We’re hoping that lifts, because we would love to play some shows.” 

It would be sadly ironic, we suggest, if Williams came out of retirement only to be forced back into it by the pandemic. He laughs and says, “Ain’t that life? We’ll all get past this, and everyone can get on with their lives.” More power to him.

• AC/DC's Power Up is out now via Columbia.

Happy (slightly belated) New Year! For those lucky enough to enjoy some time off over the holiday season, we hope you had a wonderful break with your loved ones and took advantage of some well-earned relaxation after the clusterf*** that was 2020. 

We’re excited to leap straight into an exciting new year filled with endless opportunities for greatness – and we’re even more excited to be kicking it off with a giant new edition of Australian Guitar! In issue #141, we’re celebrating the long-awaited return of a local institution, one of the most recognisable names in music history and quite possibly the biggest rock ‘n’ roll band to ever don the axe: of course, we're talking about AC/DC! We’ve crammed in two extra special, one-on-one interviews with legendary guitarist Angus Young, who fills us in on everything there is to know about the band's epic new LP Power Up, plus a heap of interesting facts about his past, present and future as a bonafide shredlord. 

If AC/DC ain't your jam (no judgement here), don't sweat it – we've packed AG #141 with plenty of other in-depth artist interviews. With the help of Billy Corgan himself, we get down to the nitty gritty on the Smashing Pumpkins' defiantly experimental new album, Cyr. We catch up with Tash Sultana on the eve of their monumental second album, and vibe on how 2020 completely flipped their perspective on time.

We've always been huge on celebrating Australian talent, and issue #141 is no different, featuring interviews with such legendary locals as Orianthi, Plini, Luca Brasi and Jess Locke, plus our regular Fresh Frets column (where we highlight some of our favourite up-and-coming acts) and an all-Australian Spotlight special. And for those looking beyond our sunny shores, you'll find interviews with overseas acts both iconic, like Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Julien Baker, Laura Jane Grace and Steven Wilson – and emerging, like Pale Waves, Yungblud and Amahiru.

Elsewhere in Australian Guitar #141, you'll find the ultimate guide to building the pedalboard of your dreams, our tips for beginners keen to podcast like a pro, a hands-on dive into the world of the women revolutionising lutherie, and a special look back at the guitarists that invented what we know and love today as the blues. And if your new year's resolution was to up your ante as a player, you'll find plenty of invaluable lessons in our epic 10-page bootcamp feature! 

Australian Guitar #141 is available now from newsagents all around the country, and online via techmags.com.au or iSubscribe.

Exclusive interviews in this issue:

• Amahiru
• Architects
• Bring Me The Horizon
• Jess Locke
• Julien Baker
• Laura Jane Grace
• Luca Brasi
• Orianthi
• Pale Waves
• Passenger
• Plini
• Smashing Pumpkins
• Steven Wilson
• Tash Sultana
• You Me At Six
• Yungblud
• Kiah Gossner (Producer Profile)
• Jarryd James (Spotlight)
• Kelly Jansch of Totty (Spotlight)
• Matt Stevens and Paul Musolino of The Gloom In The Corner (Spotlight)
• Maddy Jane (Spotlight)

All the hottest gear reviews:

• IK Multimedia Z-Tone Buffer Boost + DI
• Vox Bobcat V90 + S66
• Fender American Professional II Telecaster + Stratocaster HSS
• Faith Lyra Cutaway Nylon-String Acoustic
• DV Mark Eric Gales 'Raw Dawg' 60W Amp Combo
• Kramer Original Collection (2020 Lineup)
• Zoom G11 Multi-Effects Processor
• Fender Acoustic SFX-II + Acoustic Junior Amplifiers

Subscribe to the print edition of Australian Guitar, and you'll enjoy each new issue on the day it's published, delivered straight to your door. Click here for all the details, including how to get 12 issues delivered for under a hundred bucks and win a ZOOM G11 Multi-Effects Processor valued at $1,799!

Between the sadistic and visceral nu-metal grit of Slipknot and the pummelling post‑grunge punch of Stone Sour, it’s safe to say that Corey Taylor’s creative heels are planted firmly in the ‘90s. Or it would’ve been until recently: with his long‑gestating solo album finally upon us, the 46-year-old Iowan has tapped way back into his roots and embraced the equally cool and uncouth crunch of ‘50s-thru-‘70s rock ’n’ roll – think along the lines of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and all the other classic bands that called Alberts home back in the day. 

But of course, this is Corey Taylor we’re talking about – CMFT was never going to be a simple or straightforward 50 minutes for you to pop on and rock out to from cover to cover. This is a dude whose entire existence revolves around sharp and severe left-hand turns – from the belting first solo on “HWY 666” to the semi-satirical hardcore punk juts on “European Tour Bus Bathroom Song”, Taylor takes the listener on an all-out rollercoaster ride through distant peaks and valleys of classic rock. It’s an absolutely breathtaking experience to embark on – but one that demands you shed all expectations for before you do, if only so that you can truly be prepared for anything. Because with a record like this, you really should be.

With CMFT now out and wreaking havoc in the wild (courtesy of Roadrunner Records), we went one-on-one with Taylor to figure out how he made it all happen.

We’ve been fans of Slipknot and Stone Sour since the beginning, but nothing could have prepared us for how totally f***ing crazy this LP is. Was it your goal to surprise everyone with how wild and loose you get on the record? 
I don’t know if that was the goal – I think it’s a byproduct, absolutely. I’ve always been the guy that puts it out there that if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it wholeheartedly. So if I was going to do a solo album, I didn’t want it to feel like either of my other band. There would have been no point if I was going to do that, y’know? If I was going to do a solo album, I wanted it to represent a whole different part of my musical prowess, and songwriting talent. 

And that’s really where this stuff came from – most of these songs have been sitting around for almost 20 years. I love the fact that people are so taken aback by it – that’s the best compliment I’ve heard about this album so far, that people are like, “I didn’t know what to expect, but it was exactly what I needed!” That f***ing makes my life, man! 

Did you look at this record as an opportunity to explore all the genres of music you love and make your own sort of playlist of influences? 
A little bit. To me, it was more about sharing my influences, and realising that I’m influenced by so many different genres, bands, movements and whatnot, that there was no way this album wasn’t going to feel very diverse. But it still just feels like an awesome rock album, y’know?

My approach to making albums has always been, y’know, let’s not lay everything out for people and make it easy – let’s challenge the listener; let’s put things together differently and make sure that it isn’t reminiscent of anything that I’ve done before. And that was the case with this album as well – I wanted to put something together that would really grab people by surprise, throw them through a loop and leave them going, “Holy f***!” 

I do take people through a lot of different genres on this album, but you don’t really feel it until you listen to it in retrospect and you go, “Huh, that was pretty all over the place!” But when you’re in it, it feels very connected.

You mentioned that a lot of these songs came from your archives – why is it only now that you feel you were able to make this record? 
I was just waiting for the time to do it. It had to be the right vibe. But I was going to go in and make this album regardless of COVID. My plan was to finish up the tour cycle with Slipknot throughout this year, then go in and record this album in January and February of 2021. I just moved it up because y’know, everything got put on hold. 

It just felt like it was time to get it all out of my system. The more time I spent listening to these songs, the more I knew that I wanted to put them out. I knew that none of them fit with either band – and after doing so many records with Slipknot and Stone Sour, I felt like it was time for me to show people something different; to really put myself out there in a way that nobody had ever seen before.

So why these 13 songs in particular? 
Because they were the best songs at the time. I wanted this album to be stacked with the best songs that I have, because you don’t get a second chance to make that first impression. It was like, “Let’s just go all-out, right out the gate, and just make everyone lose their minds.” I wanted it to have that old-school feel that every song may not be a single, but every song is important – every song is f***ing vital to this record. I don’t want to f*** around, y’know? I just wanted killer songs that people would want to sing along to.

You’ve put together an insanely talented group of collaborators to bring this record to life. What was it like to curate the CMFT band? 
They’re some of my best friends, man. I’ve had the privilege of playing with these guys in various projects over the course of almost 20 years. My best friend Jason [Christopher] is on bass, we’ve got [Christian ‘Tooch’ Martucci] from Stone Sour… I was jamming with Tooch for years before Stone Sour. Zach Throne, who is an incredible guitar player, he and I have been doing stuff together since 2003. 

And then Dustin [Robert], who was in Jericho, is such a criminally underrated drummer – he can just play anything! And that was key. Y’know, anybody can put together a diverse album, but if your drummer can’t really make his way through all of those different genres, it’s not going to work. And that’s just how talented that kid is, man. I’ve known him since 2005, 2006 – so we’ve been good friends for 14 years. 

This band was such a great unit, talent-wise. But the most important thing was how good we all get along – how much excitement we bring to the table when we get together. It’s one thing to be able to go onstage with a bunch of people who can play the parts, but it’s another thing entirely to be stoked about being able to hang out with your friends and play music with them.

Were you recording live to tape? 
Probably 99 percent of the music was done live, with the exception of acoustics, vocals, keys and some of the solos. But everything else is live – everything is right there in the room, all of us just jamming it and going f***ing wild with it.

Was that important to capture the raw energy you were all feeling? 
I think so. I mean, it was definitely something we all wanted to try. There was such a great vibe when we were rehearsing, so we looked at each other and we were like, “Man, we should try to do this live.” And it just worked! Honestly, we spent less time recording than we did just hanging out. We would all do the same thing – we’d come in for two hours, bullshit and drink coffee with everybody, and then we would go in and play a few songs. It was f***ing ridiculous, dude, we were such assholes about it. We were just like, “Oh, I guess we should f***in’ go in and play.” And then we’d just bang it out. It was the best bro-hang ever.

Best of 2020: Angus Young doesn’t seem like a man with many regrets. But the AC/DC electric guitar legend does have a most regrettable AC/DC song.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Young pointed to the 1975 ballad (yes, AC/DC have a ballad), Love Song, which appeared on the Australian version of their debut album, High Voltage, as the unfortunate winner in this category.

“That was very different for us,” he said of the tune. “I didn’t know if we were trying to parody love songs of the time, because Bon [Scott] wrote the lyrics. I don’t even remember what the words are.

“I remember that song because the guy who worked for us at our record label told us that’s what was on the local radio at the time – very soft music. His thought we should release that song, because it’ll probably get some airplay. I remember thinking, Who in their right mind would want this to go out?”

He continued, “We were very fortunate, though, because all of the radio stations who had seen us live knew this was not who we were. So these stations started to flip the record over and play the other song, which was a cover of a blues standard called Baby, Please Don’t Go. We actually scored a hit from the B-side! That was the one saving grace of the song.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Angus is asked to name his No. 1 AC/DC song, and picks two. “If I was just thinking of the guitar, since I’m a guitar player, I’d say Riff Raff,” he responds. “The guitar work was a challenge but interesting in the way the song rolled out. That’s my guitar answer. But if it’s for a whole song, Thunderstruck is a big one. I like that answer.”

Interestingly, Love Song, like Thunderstruck, features a single-note pull-off motif in its melody, suggesting there’s perhaps, in some instances, a fine line between “regrettable” and "number one”.

As it turns out, Young has indeed spent a fair amount of time these last few years “tucked away somewhere in a room and putting together ideas and songs.” Which is how we’ve wound up, rather unexpectedly but certainly quite happily, with Power Up, AC/DC’s 16th (or, if we’re counting in Australian, 17th) full-length effort.  

As for what makes it unexpected? For starters, the band recorded it under a complete media blackout – traditional, social or otherwise. 

Aside from a few rumors – kicked off by surreptitious photos that surfaced in 2018 of various band members, coffee cups in hand, trolling alleyways around Vancouver’s Warehouse Studio, where they’ve recorded their last few efforts – things have been radio silent in the AC/DC camp for several years.  

More significantly, of course, there’s the fact that since the end of the Rock or Bust world tour there has been the looming question of just who, or even what, AC/DC is anymore.  

The tour itself was, like every AC/DC jaunt for decades now, a massive success – and maybe their most massive yet. It kicked off with a headlining stint in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 at, of all places, Coachella, and then over the next year-and-a-half proceeded to sell out arenas and stadiums from Brisbane to Buffalo, racking up ticket sales of more than $200 million in the process. Internally, however, things weren’t running so smoothly.

AC/DC is not a band immune to trial and tragedy – the death of inimitable front man Bon Scott in 1980, and the band’s subsequent resurrection with Back in Black, is a permanent part of rock lore – but even by their standards the Rock or Bust era was exceedingly challenging.

It began with the pronouncement that the band’s co-founder, stalwart rhythm guitar player and, in many ways, musical and ideological rock (not to mention Angus’ older brother), Malcolm Young, was battling severe dementia and stepping away from the group. 

Malcolm co-wrote the songs on Rock or Bust, but his parts on the recording, as well as his spot on the stage, were assumed by his and Angus’ nephew, Stevie Young. 

Malcolm passed away in November 2017 at age 64; just three weeks earlier, he and Angus’ older brother, George, who had helped guide AC/DC to success, as well as co-produced several of their albums from their 1975 debut, High Voltage, to 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip, died at age 70. Experiencing this sort of deep loss would be difficult enough on its own.

In AC/DC land, it was compounded by the fact that, just prior to the release of Rock or Bust, longtime drummer Phil Rudd, who had played with the band on and off since 1975, became mired in legal troubles and was replaced by a former drummer, Chris Slade. 

Toward the end of the Rock or Bust tour, meanwhile, singer Brian Johnson was forced to exit the band as a result of hearing loss, with his slot assumed, in a move no one could have seen coming, by Axl Rose. 

To put a final punctuation mark on events, by the time the tour wrapped in September 2016, bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement from AC/DC after four decades with the band. Which meant that, just two years after the release of Rock or Bust, only two members – Angus and Stevie – remained from the lineup that had recorded the album. 

So what did Angus do? What Angus always does – he wrote. And while he didn’t have his brother next to him physically during this time, he did still have his riffs.

According to Angus, the majority of the material on Power Up, as with Rock or Bust, was constructed from songs and ideas he and Malcolm had logged over the years.

“They were things that we knew were good, and so we put them aside and said, ‘We should get them down on record at some point,’ ” Angus says. “And I thought, well, maybe now’s the time to go through and pick out all those ideas.”

When it came to getting them down on tape, Angus called up a few friends. In fact, amazingly, Power Up finds the Rock or Bust-era lineup – Angus, Stevie, Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and, in a welcome return, Brian Johnson – back together and ready, to borrow a Rock or Bust song title, to play ball.

The result is an album that is 100 percent pure and unrefined AC/DC (and with this band, is it ever not?). From the power-chord slam and Thunderstruck-like Angus single-note figure that kicks off the opening track, Realize, to the mid-tempo stomp of Wild Reputation and Rejection, the Shake a Leg-style boogie of Demon Fire and the deep-in-the-pocket grooves and big chorus hooks of first single Shot in the Dark, Power Up finds the venerable lads in very fine, if not absolutely top, form.

Elsewhere, the new album is littered with all of the original band’s beloved calling cards – Brian Johnson’s gravel-soaked shrieks and growls, Phil Rudd’s impossibly solid and swinging drum wallop and, of course, Angus’ monolithic riffs and explosive solos – while throwing in a subtle curveball or two here and there.

Witness, for example, the twangy guitar lick that punctuates the verses in Kick You When You’re Down or, more conspicuously, the honeyed Angus guitar line and ultra-melodic major-key chorus that highlights the (gasp!) almost ballad-like Through the Mists of Time… 

But as far as Angus is concerned, at the end of the day it’s all just AC/DC. “I treat everything as a song and I hear it as a song,” he says. “I’m not on some sort of mission.” Angus laughs. “That might not be the right word. But I just look at everything on the musical side and then I say, ‘Does it attract me?’”

You mentioned that many of the songs on Power Up have their origins in riffs you and Malcolm came up with together. Do you have a stockpile that you can just tap into whenever you’re writing music? 

”I have lots of ideas the two of us worked on pretty much through the years. Even when we were in studios and recording rooms there were always ideas that we would put down. It’s just something where, the two of us together, we always seemed to be playing back and forth and coming up with stuff. From the beginning that was always a part of us.”

Do you also write on your own? Or do you prefer having someone to bounce ideas off of? 

”I’ve done it both ways. You get an idea and if you have a tape recorder you try to put it down. And if you haven’t got a tape recorder you do your best to try and remember it. But then when Malcolm and myself would get together it would be a case of rolling through the ideas and seeing what we believed was material for AC/DC. 

”And the material you’re hearing is stuff that we did that was always for AC/DC. We would try to separate what we had. You know, we could have 100 things, and out of that hundred here are 20 good, strong AC/DC ideas. And we’d put them to the side.” 

One hundred things? How many ideas do you think you have? 

”If I had to estimate? [Laughs] That’d be hard. But all I can say is I’ve got boxes full of stuff the two of us have done over the days.”

For Power Up you guys worked with Brendan O’Brien, who also produced your last two records. What does he bring to your sound as opposed to other producers you’ve had, like Harry Vanda and your brother George, or “Mutt” Lange? 

”Well, Brendan… I always say the role of your producer is pretty much that he’s your audience. He’s the man that’s sitting there hearing the whole picture, the outside ear that’s listening to everything. And he’ll tell you, 'I think this is AC/DC,' or, 'That bit there, I don’t know...' 

”That’s the role he plays in order to get the best performance from you. And Brendan’s very talented. He knows his music. So if we get stuck somewhere, maybe if we say, 'Oh, do we do a break here?,' he’ll sit down and we can have it out together and he’ll help us come up with a good idea to try.”

On first listen, my early impression of Power Up is that it’s a bit darker in tone than Rock or Bust. 

“A lot of it’s down to the songs and what you’re working on. But when we’re doing a song, I always think… I never go negative. I always go positive with song ideas. And with AC/DC, we never get too serious about what we’re doing. We don’t try to put in, you know, a real 'statement' that means something. It’s just, that’s the mood when you wrote the song and then you bring it to the track.“

If there’s any song on the record that sticks out as a slight departure from the standard AC/DC approach it’s Through the Mists of Time. It has more of a major-key sound, and you also weave an incredibly melodic guitar line through it.

“Yeah.“

Did that one feel a bit different to you? 

”Um… no. [Laughs] As I said earlier, I treat it as a song and I hear it as a song. You know, my older brother George used to always tell me that chances are when you come up with an idea, you come up with an image. And he said, 'You might even come up with a singin’ line, and it might not fit the track at that time but it sets the mood in what you do. 

”So jot that down. If there’s birds twittering in the background, just write, ‘birds twittering.’ Call it that, even just to get you started.' [Laughs] Obviously, you’re not going to write a song called “Birds Twittering,” but you just want to get something that’s going to fit in that melody line, if that makes sense.”

Did that happen with any of these new tracks? Was there one where you wrote down a phrase like “birds twittering” and it turned into a song? 

”Well, I came up with a lot of titles. Malcolm would call them 'hook titles'. And I’ve always done that. The two of us from the beginning always did that. So especially with titles and things, I’ve written down a lot over the years and I would just go through some of the books and mark out ones I liked and then sometimes bring singin’ lines. Or sometimes I might see a title and go, 'That’s a great title.' And then I say, 'Ah, I’ve got some great riffs here that’ll work with that.'”

A good example of that might be something like Hells Bells, where the title is so evocative and the music really sounds like the name of the song.

”Yeah. And that’s what you aim for. Or something like Highway to Hell – you hear those opening chords and you go, 'Uh oh… what’s coming?'”

“We’re on our way…”

”It’s something a little ominous. [Laughs]”

As far as titles are concerned, I want to ask about the name Power Up. It’s not too often that an AC/DC record isn’t titled after one of the songs in the track list. Is there any special significance here? 

“Well, the significant side of it was I just wanted something that meant something to the band, and especially to my brother. I always thought his whole thing with AC/DC was it had to be powerful as a band. So I wanted something that called up what we do and that sums up what AC/DC is. 

“And also, being guitarists, whenever I would plug in the guitar I always felt I was plugged into the 'big electrical grid.' [Laughs] So Power Up just sounded very powerful. Simple. Direct. Or you could go the other way and say it’s very Frankenstein, you know? Almost like creating a monster.“

AC/DC has obviously experienced a lot of turmoil over the past few years. After you came off the Rock or Bust tour and it was just you and Stevie remaining from the lineup that recorded the album, was there ever a moment where you felt, “This could be it”? 

“At that point you’re at the great unknown. We didn’t know what would happen. You’re in a bit of a case of limbo. But at the time you just go, 'I’m committed to getting through this, and then after that I’ll concentrate on what comes.'“

Could you ever envision a life without AC/DC?

“Well, I’ve been doing this most of my life, since I was in my teens. So it’s very hard to think of something other than that when it comes to making music. I’ve always said if I do anything music-wise, I can only do it the AC/DC way. Even if I wasn’t in AC/DC, I think it would probably still sound like AC/DC. [Laughs]“

After Brian Johnson exited so abruptly I think a lot of fans questioned whether he would ever return to the band. How did he come back into the picture for Power Up?

He was getting a lot of help with his hearing. And he kept up with it and kept trying various things to see how he could improve. Then he wanted to do something to test it out, so I think he did a few prep runs to see how it would go. 

“And the people who look after us, our management, they were all wanting to know, 'When are you going to do an album?' So it was a case of seeing who wanted to be on board. And everyone was happy and wished to participate. So it was good. And Brian felt, yeah, he would come in and try and see how he would do.“

Was it in Vancouver that the five members – you, Stevie, Brian, Phil and Cliff – first got back together and played?

“Yeah. And if you’re in a recording studio you’ve got a different environment to, say, if you’re playing live. You’ve got more control on the hearing side of things. You can isolate to very good listening levels. 

What was the first thing you played together as a band? 

“Well, if you’re in a studio you always try out some things even just to get your sounds together. So you play a little Back in Black or something.“

Following the end of the Rock or Bust tour there had been rumors that you were going to continue on with Axl in the singer slot. Was there any consideration about doing a record together? 

“That never really came up. Axl was really very generous and he helped us out to get through our touring side at a difficult spot. He had contacted us and said he could help if it didn’t interfere with his own commitments of what he was doing. 

“He wanted to come in and try songs that he himself liked, and he was suggesting songs I hadn’t played in a long time. I’m definitely grateful that he volunteered and that he helped us finish off our commitment. But he has his own life.“

On the guitar side of things, how did you and Stevie work together on this record?

“Stevie is a bit like… even when he was starting off with us he picked up on what Malcolm did rhythm-wise. I mean, Stevie can do solos and stuff like that too, but he went the route a bit like Malcolm. It’s the rhythm that he enjoyed doing best and that’s how he applied himself.

“And you know, Stevie had filled in for Malcolm in the past, in the Eighties [when Malcolm left the Blow Up Your Video tour in 1988 to battle alcohol dependency]. So for me it was, I’m looking at somebody I know is dependable and who can also do that role. 

“And I mean, nothing could ever replace Malcolm, because Malcolm is the founder and he set the whole style. But Stevie certainly can do the role. He knows how it should be. So it’s just a case of the two of us sitting down and making sure we’re in sync.

What gear were you using this time out? 

“Well, the guitar that I use and that I consistently use has always been the same guitar, the Gibson SG. And everyone always asks me what year it is. You know, I’ve heard somebody say, 'Oh, it’s a 1970s Gibson.' And then other people say, “No, it’s a bit earlier than that.” 

“I don’t really know what year it is but all I know is it couldn’t have been past 1970, because that’s when I got it! [Laughs] So I used that a lot, and then I’ve got a few other guitars. One is a black SG, I think there’s a photo of it from Back in Black. And then I have another SG that’s maybe a ’68 or ’69, that I used on Highway to Hell.“

So there are three guitars on the record, and they’re all SGs.

“Yeah. But the main, most consistent one is the one I’ve always had. It’s got, like, lightning bolts on the fretboard that, I don’t know, it was getting repaired and some guy put them in. I said, 'What the hell is that?' And I didn’t have time to go, 'Can you put it back the way it was?' [Laughs] How about amps? Marshall. They’re 100 watts. But they’re all older, going back to the Seventies. And the cabinets have the older-style Celestions.“

How do you approach your solos? Do you work them out in advance or are you just going for it on the spot? 

“Well, if you go to a song that’s dependent on following a lead line, you’d best get your lead lines sorted out. And it also depends on how prominent it is and how long you’re gonna go – 'Okay, am I going to do a long piece here or a rhythmic piece?' So it’s always track by track what you do. 

“Like on Back in Black, the track Shoot to Thrill? If you listen to where you would say, “Here comes the guitar solo…,” it’s actually more rhythmic playing. It’s got a little bit of a guitar bite to it but it’s more of a rhythmic thing. And it’s only really at the later part of the song, after a little breakdown piece, that the guitar – what you would call lead lines and phrases – picks up more. 

“So what I’m trying to say is, it’s really down to the song itself and how you hear it. Because one note can be a hell of a lot better than 50 notes, you know? You clearly have this guitar thing figured out. Even so, does Angus Young ever sit at home and just practice? Oh yeah! All the time. 

What do you practice? 

“Sometimes I just sit and doodle. I’ll maybe play a bit of blues or I’ll try and get my fingers moving and see if I can come up with any different phrases. Experiment a little bit. So yeah, I do practice. But I mean, I don’t sit there… even when I was younger, I didn’t sort of say, 'It’s two o’clock – I’d better practice now!' 

“I played when I felt good about playing. I’d pick up the guitar and start playing and then, you know, you end up going, 'Oh geez, I’ve been sitting here now for hours!' [Laughs] You don’t know where the time goes.”

• AC/DC's new album, Power Up, is out now via Columbia.

Ever hear the one about AC/DC making the same album over and over again?

Yeah, Angus Young has heard it, too.

And now the AC/DC electric guitar player has responded to the oft-stated, somewhat backhanded compliment.

"With us, it's to be expected," he told The Project TV. “As my brother [late AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young] used to say, when somebody said, 'Every album you've ever made sounds the same,' he said, 'Yeah. It's the same band!' ”

Angus continued, “When we started, we weren't reinventing the wheel. This is what we do best. We make rock and roll."

As previously reported, Malcolm, who passed away in 2017, contributed riffs to every song on the newest AC/DC album, Power Up, and is credited as a co-writer on all 12 tracks.

As Angus explained, “I know Mal’s not with us anymore, but he’s there with us in spirit. You know, this band was his baby, his life. He was always one [to say], ‘You keep going.’ ”

And keep going they will. As singer Brian Johnson tells the Project TV in the same interview, “If Malcolm’s spirit is still there like he was on this last album, I’ll be there ‘til the bitter end.”

In an emotional new interview with Australia's 60 Minutes, Angus Young has paid tribute to his older brother Malcolm, who tragically passed away at the age of 64 on November 18, 2017. The AC/DC rhythm man had been diagnosed with dementia at the end of the band's Black Ice World Tour.

A statement from AC/DC at the time described Malcolm as “the driving force behind the band”.

“As a guitarist, songwriter and visionary, he was a perfectionist and a unique man,” the statement read. “He always stuck to his guns and did and said exactly what he wanted. He took great pride in all that he endeavored. His loyalty to the fans was unsurpassed.”

In the new 60 Minutes piece, Angus reflects upon Malcolm's original idea for the band, and his 2017 passing.

“It was his creation, his idea, his whole thing,” he says. “When I was younger and he said, ‘Me and you are going to play together’, I said, You’re kidding? He said, ‘No, you’ve got the goods.’ I was like, Are you sure now, you want me playing next to you onstage? and he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re as good a guitarist as anyone else.’ It was all his idea.”

Angus also recalls music providing Malcolm comfort and joy in his final days at Lulworth House, a nursing home facility in eastern Sydney which specializes in dementia care.

“I think the hardest part was not so much him passing, because that was a kind of end, the relief,” he notes. “I think the worst part is the decline – that’s the hard part. Because of how you knew him, and then to see that that was gone.”

“I would say, even to the end, if I was there, from [ear to ear], he had a big smile,” the visibly emotional guitarist continued. “And for me, that always gave me a kind of joy. Even though he was in that state, that was always the joy of it. And he still got a great kick if I played him guitar. He would try to tap his foot. But he always knew I was there. So that was a big thing. I was with him towards the end.”

Watch the full interview with Angus, and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, above.

Although his playing doesn't appear, Malcolm Young is credited as a songwriter on every track on AC/DC's new album, Power Up.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Angus has also paid tribute to his brother's lead guitar talents, claiming that “Malcolm could solo even better than me”.