Black Ice (album)

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Black Ice
Black Ice cover
Studio album by AC/DC
Released October 17, 2008
Recorded March–April 2008 in Vancouver
Genre Hard rock
Length 55:39
Label Columbia
Producer Brendan O'Brien
Professional reviews
AC/DC chronology
Stiff Upper Lip
(2000)		 Black Ice
(2008)
Alternate Covers
Covers for Black Ice.
Covers for Black Ice.
Singles from Black Ice
  1. "Rock 'n' Roll Train"
    Released: August 20, 2008

Black Ice is the 16th studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, produced by Brendan O'Brien and released worldwide between October 17 and 22, 2008. AC/DC were known to be working on the album as early as January 2006, with it being delayed because of an injury to bassist Cliff Williams and a change of record labels to Sony Music, and in turn Columbia Records.

The album is their longest to date, with the band having recorded it in The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, Canada, the same studio as their previous album Stiff Upper Lip. It is their first album since the release of Stiff Upper Lip in 2000, the longest gap between two AC/DC studio albums to date.

Black Ice sold around 1,762,000 units in its first week, shipping 5,000,000 copies worldwide. The album went number one in 29 different countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and United States. In its first week, it sold 784,000 copies in the US alone, with it receiving a three times platinum certification in Australia and selling upwards of 110,000 in the UK. The band's 16th effort has been heralded as "the biggest debut ever by a mainstream hard rock album."[1]

Contents

[edit] Pre-release

In a 2004 interview, vocalist Brian Johnson revealed that for the first time since the 1988 album Blow Up Your Video, he would be handling lyrics (as it turned out, this did not prove to be the case). He also said that guitarist Angus Young had written harder riffs than those on Stiff Upper Lip.[2]

As of January 2006, AC/DC were working on the album, and according to rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young at that time, "The band are currently writing and recording material for the eagerly anticipated next album, but no release date has been set."[3]

In June 2008, Reuters reported that the album would be distributed solely by Wal-Mart stores only in the United States[4] It was later announced that the album would be produced by Brendan O'Brien and recorded and mixed by Mike Fraser at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[5]

On August 15, AC/DC recorded the video to accompany the first single from the album, "Rock 'n' Roll Train", in London.[6] Three days later, an announcement was made on the band's official website, stating that Black Ice would be released on October 20, 2008.[7]

There are several reasons why Black Ice was belatedly released – for one, AC/DC changed record labels to Columbia and their bass player Cliff Williams injured his hand. He cut all the tendons and nerves in his hand while trying to clean up an oil lamp that had fallen over and broken. Williams couldn’t play bass guitar for 18 months [8]. Then it was Malcolm Young who decided when the band was ready. "Malcolm and Angus had been writing music for quite some time and came to the conclusion that they had a lot of great tunes. So they decided it was time to record the album."[9]

[edit] Release

"Rock 'n' Roll Train" was released on August 28. The video of "Rock 'n' Roll Train" appeared on the band's website on September 19.[citation needed] That day also saw the release of another song, "War Machine".[citation needed] Also on that day was the release of a brief appraisal of the album by Rolling Stone magazine. Rolling Stone cites that "Brian wails about skies on fire, blood in his eyes, storms raging, lightning flashes, hard rain and pretty women...Angus Young shreds throughout...Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd — are solid as a rock." They also make the surprise statement that Angus Young uses a slide on the song "Stormy May Day". The magazine also named several tracks before the official release of the track listing.[10]

Several days after the original version of the album was made available for pre-order, the band's website store listed two variations of cover artwork available for the CD in addition to the original red logo. These were a yellow logo and a silver logo. All three versions feature the exact same music and content with a black background. However, the grey designs behind the band's logo are different on each of the two different covers. There is also a hardcover "Deluxe Edition" (blue logo) available which will contain a 30-page booklet with exclusive new illustrations, studio and live photographs of AC/DC.[11]

The first 10 tracks were played on radio station network Triple M in Australia 9 pm Monday 3rd and again at 1 pm on Tuesday. Those tracks can now be previewed along with interviews with Angus and Brian on the Triple M website. [12]

With the North American release of Black Ice on October 20th 2008, Columbia Records and Walmart created "Rock Again AC/DC Stores" with the album Black Ice holding centre stage. It was the first time in the history of Walmart that such a large area of floor space was designated to celebrate the release of a new album. In October 2008, MTV along with Wal Mart and Columbia Records created "AC/DC Rock Band Stores" in New York, at Times Square, and Los Angeles. "Black Ice" trucks were also dispatched on the streets of these two cities after the release of Black Ice, playing AC/DC music aloud and making various stops each day to sell merchandise.[13][14]

Four different covers were released for this album, three of which featuring differently coloured logos (red, yellow, and white) as well as a fourth with pale blue lettering containing bonus material.[15]

The album was also released as an LP on two 180 gram vinyl discs that came in a heavy gatefold package featuring the red lettering variation on the front. The LP was sold through the band's website, and was also made available through independent record shops in the United States. The band also released a 7" vinyl single that featured the song "Rock 'n Roll Train" on Side A, and "War Machine" on Side B. The 7" single came in a sleeve with its own unique artwork. The 7" vinyl was also made available in the United States through some independent record shops.[16]

[edit] Name Origin

According to Angus Young, the term Black Ice refers to playing gigs during the winter in the Young brothers' native country of Scotland. In an interview, Angus said that "it rolled off the tongue" and that it reminds him of "radio warnings up north of black ice."[17]

[edit] Reception

In an interview, Brian Johnson described the album as the "best one we've done", noting that he felt that while Back in Black was great for the time, but Black Ice shows the band's "versatility", with only a few changes from their previous efforts. For example, Angus plays slide guitar, on "Stormy May Day" and Johnson recalls feeling a twinge of anxiety when Brendan O'Brien suggested he swap some screaming for a spot of soul crooning (singing). Brendan instructed him that he was a soul singer and had to do what he needed to do. Brian Johnson recalls feeling worried that the rest of the band would think that this kind of singing would not suit their style of rock and roll but they (the band) were quite favourable to the decision.[18]

In 2008, Rock 'n' Roll Train was nominated for a Grammy award. The category was for best rock group or duo with vocals [19]. Black Ice was not eligible because it had been released too late in the year.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (November 2008)

[edit] Chart performance and sales

On October 20, 2008, Black Ice was released in the United States, and sold upwards of 193,000 units on the first day.[20] That same day, the album debuted at number 3 on the Australian album charts, but due to the fact that record stores broke the official release date for the album and released it one day early, the chart position was not granted. The following week [21] on October 27, it debuted at number one on the Australian Aria Album Charts and reached 3x Platinum status in its first week.[22][23]

As of October 26, Black Ice had shipped approximately 5,000,000 copies worldwide,[24] debuting on the UK Album charts at number one (a first since Back in Black),[25] selling "110,000 copies out of the box, a dramatic 777% increase on the initial 14,000 units of its 2000 predecessor Stiff Upper Lip."[26]

On October 28, Black Ice debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart, selling over 784,000 copies in its first week of release[27], the second highest one-week sales of an album in the US of 2008,[28] ranking ahead of Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends and only trailing Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III. It is also the biggest debut ever by a mainstream hard rock album.[1] The album debuted at number one in 29 different countries.[29] As of December 8, 2008, Black Ice had sold over 1.39 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[30] It has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.[31]

Black Ice has been certified 4x platinum in Canada, shipping 320,000 copies.[32]

"Black Ice" made history debuting at #1 on album charts in 29 countries and also has the distinction of being Columbia Records' biggest debut album (since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard in March of 1991). "Black Ice" has been certified multi-platinum in eight countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic. Additionally, "Black Ice" has achieved platinum status in twelve countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, UK, Argentina, Singapore and New Zealand) and gold status in four countries (Netherland, Spain, Poland and Brazil).

[edit] Supporting Tour

The Black Ice World Tour started on October 28, 2008 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and will continue through 2009. The North American phase of the tour wraps up in Nashville, TN on January 31, 2009. The Answer, a band from Northern Ireland, will be the opening act at least through the North American tour. Five of the songs off Black Ice have been performed on the tour consistently; Rock 'n' Roll Train, Big Jack, Anything Goes, War Machine, and Black Ice[2].

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Angus and Malcolm Young.

# Title Length
1. "Rock 'n' Roll Train"   4:21
2. "Skies on Fire"   3:34
3. "Big Jack"   3:57
4. "Anything Goes"   3:22
5. "War Machine"   3:09
6. "Smash 'n' Grab"   4:06
7. "Spoilin' for a Fight"   3:17
8. "Wheels"   3:28
9. "Decibel"   3:34
10. "Stormy May Day"   3:10
11. "She Likes Rock 'n' Roll"   3:53
12. "Money Made"   4:15
13. "Rock 'n' Roll Dream"   4:41
14. "Rocking All the Way"   3:22
15. "Black Ice"   3:25

[edit] Chart performance

Country Provider(s) Peak
position
Argentina[33] CAPIF 1
Australia[34] ARIA 1
Austria[35] Music Control Europe 1
Belgium (Flanders)[36] Ultratop 1
Belgium (Wallonia)[36] Ultratop 1
Canadian Albums Chart[29] Nielsen SoundScan 1
Czech Republic[37] IFPI 1
Denmark[26] IFPI Danmark 1
Finland[26] GLF 1
France[29][26] SNEP / IFOP 1
German Albums Chart[29][26] IFPI 1
Greece[38] IFPI 1
Hungary[39] Mahasz 1
Irish Albums Chart[40][26] IRMA 1
Italy[41] FIMI 1
Japan[42] Oricon 3
Mexico[43] AMPROFON 3
Netherlands[44] MegaCharts 3
New Zealand[45] RIANZ 1
Norway[29] VG Nett 1
Poland[46] Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży 1
Portugal[47] AFP 2
Slovenia[48] SLO/TOP/30 1
South Africa[49] Musiek 14
Spain[50] PROMUSICAE 1
Sweden[51] Sverigetopplistan 1
Switzerland[52] Media Control Europe 1
Turkey[53] Media Control Europe 6
UK Albums Chart[54] OCC 1
United States[55] Billboard 200 1
United States[56] Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums 1
United States[57] Billboard Top Rock Albums 1

[edit] Release history

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2008)
Country Date Label Format Catalogue #
Europe October 17, 2008 Columbia CD, album, limited edition, Hardcover deluxe package #88697392232
Australia October 18, 2008 Sony Music CD, deluxe edition #88697392382
United Kingdom October 20, 2008 Columbia CD, vinyl double LP #88697392232
United States October 20, 2008 Columbia CD, album, digipak #88697338292
Japan October 21, 2008 Sony Music CD SICP-2055

[edit] Personnel

  • Brendan O'Brien - producer
  • Mike Fraser - engineer, mixer
  • Eric Mosher - assistant engineer
  • Billy Bowers - additional engineering
  • Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC by George Marino
  • Richard Jones, Geoff Banks, Rick St. Pierre - equipment technicians
  • Guido Karp - photography
  • Joshua Marc Levy - art direction, design, illustrations (containing vector graphics by You Work For Them, LLC)
  • Alvin Handwerker (Prager and Fenton LLP) - management

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Week Ending Oct. 26, 2008: Headbangers Beat Out High-Schoolers". Yahoo Music. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
  2. ^ Negonda, Marco (2004-01-21). "AC/DC, indiscrezioni sul nuovo album" (in Italian). EUTK. Retrieved on 2008-08-02.
  3. ^ Richardson, Joel; Bowcott, Nick (May 2006). "AC/DC" (PDF). Marshall Law pp. 14–15. Retrieved on 2008-08-02.
  4. ^ "AC/DC to sell new album through Wal-Mart". Reuters (2008-06-09). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  5. ^ "AC/DC to release new album in October". News.com.au. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
  6. ^ "AC/DC wants YOU for their new video". AC/DC official website (2008-08-09). Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
  7. ^ "Black Ice set for release October 20th". AC/DC official website (2008-08-18). Retrieved on 2008-08-18.
  8. ^ http://www.news-press.com/article/20081015/ENT12/810150349/1013/LIFESTYL
  9. ^ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24510014-5012327,00.html
  10. ^ "Smoking Section: AC/DC, Bob Dylan, The Stills". rolling stone.com (2008-08-15). Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
  11. ^ "Pre-Order AC/DC's Black Ice". AC/DC official website (2008-08-29). Retrieved on 2008-08-29.
  12. ^ http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/music/featureartists/acdc.html To preview those ten tracks
  13. ^ /http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2008/10/17/acdcs_black_ice_rocks_into_walmart.htm
  14. ^ http://acdcrocks.com/us/news/black_ice_truck_invades_nyc/
  15. ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?key=95029&cat=a
  16. ^ http://www.buoy.com/~bonfire/accanews.asp Information found half way down the page.
  17. ^ http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/tv-showbiz-news/music-news/2008/10/26/ice-memories-for-ac-dc-s-angus-young-78057-20839812/
  18. ^ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24510014-5012327,00.html
  19. ^ http://content.grammy.com/grammy_awards/51st_show/list.aspx#04
  20. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "AC/DC's 'Ice' Red Hot At Retail". billboard.com. Oct. 22, 2008.
  21. ^ http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=6595
  22. ^ "ARIA Charts". ARIA Charts. Retrieved on 2008-11-02.
  23. ^ McCabe. Music Editor, Kathy (October 28, 2008). "AC/DC's new album Black Ice No.1 in Australia and UK". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-11-02.
  24. ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5010109.ece
  25. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums.shtml
  26. ^ a b c d e f "AC/DC's 'Black Ice' Dominates Euro Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  27. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/11/acdcs-black-ice.html
  28. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003878705
  29. ^ a b c d e http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=107781
  30. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/beyonce-starts-fierce-atop-album-chart-1003916959.story
  31. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS
  32. ^ [1]]
  33. ^ http://allcharts.org/music/argentina/albums.htm
  34. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Australian Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  35. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Austrian Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  36. ^ a b "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Ultratop. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  37. ^ http://allcharts.org/music/czechia/albums.htm Czech Republic Album chart
  38. ^ http://www.ifpi.gr/chart04.htm
  39. ^ Hungarian Albums Chart
  40. ^ "Top 100 Individual Artist Albums". IRMA.ie. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  41. ^ "Artist - Top of the music". FIMI.it. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  42. ^ "Japanese Album Charts (English)". Oricon Style. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  43. ^ Mexican Albums chart
  44. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Dutch Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  45. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  46. ^ "Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży". olis.onyx.pl. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  47. ^ http://portuguesecharts.com/
  48. ^ http://www.vikend.si/top.htm/
  49. ^ http://www.rsgmusiek.co.za/musiek_top20.asp South African charts
  50. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Spanish Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  51. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Swedish Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  52. ^ "AC/DC - Black Ice (Album)". Swiss Charts. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  53. ^ http://www.dr.com.tr/ Turkish Album chart
  54. ^ "AC/DC rock the album charts". The Sun. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  55. ^ "Artist Album Chart History - AC/DC". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  56. ^ "Top Hard Rock Albums - Black Ice". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-11-15.
  57. ^ "Top Rock Albums - Black Ice". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-11-15.

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
AC/DC
Brian Johnson · Angus Young · Malcolm Young · Cliff Williams · Phil Rudd
Bon Scott · Dave Evans · Peter Clack · Rob Bailey · Tony Currenti · Simon Wright · Chris Slade · Mark Evans
Australian studio albums
International studio albums
EPs & compilations
Live albums
Films and videos
Production
Tours
Related articles
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