(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sat 24 January 2026 18:58, UK
Rick Rubin is a one-off figure in the music industry, whose precise skillset remains impossible to pin down unless you’ve shared a studio with him.
By his own admission, the American producer can’t play an instrument or read music, which should, seemingly, on paper, disqualify him from operating as a producer. Yet, the results speak for themselves, clearly demonstrating that Rubin, in a mystical way, is one of the most accomplished producers of the last few decades.
Rubin has never tied himself to one specific genre, working with everyone from Metallica to Eminem to Ed Sheeran. For over 30 years, Rubin has been a gun for hire to the stars, with labels queuing up to acquire his expertise, which usually resulted in a best-selling record.
Throughout his storied career, Rubin has been fortunate enough to work alongside a whole series of acts that he grew up admiring, which never gets old. As somebody obsessed with music since a young age, most of these opportunities have been beyond his wildest dreams, but not all of them have been how he’d like to have imagined.
By 1995, Rubin had already worked with musical legends such as Tom Petty and Mick Jagger, which led to him producing AC/DC’s album Ballbreaker. As a super fan of the Australian rock giants, Rubin was elated by the prospect of teaming up with AC/DC. However, with the benefit of 20/20 vision in hindsight, he’d likely have chosen against the project.
Angus Young wailing for AC/DC. (Credits: Dena Flows)
As much as AC/DC remain a band that Rubin adores with his whole heart, it was a challenging process. At this stage of the 1990s, they already had nothing to prove and had also carved out a signature sound that left little room for experimentation.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, the producer admitted of the strange debacle: “Honestly, it was weird. My favourite group post-Beatles was AC/DC, and I think they’re the best rock band in the world, of all time.”
Heaping more praise on the rock legends, he added, “They’re a perfect band [although] they don’t have the breadth and depth of songwriting that The Beatles have. But for a straight-up rock, AC/DC is perfection. So it was another dream-come-true scenario that, I will say, was a difficult process.”
The main issue that jarred proceedings was the environment. They initially began by working at Record Plant in New York City, which Rubin didn’t feel was appropriate for capturing the AC/DC sound, despite it being a state-of-the-art facility.
For this reason, the recording process for Ballbreaker “got off to a bad start”, according to Rubin.
He elaborated: “I was excited… but it never sounded good. We did a million things trying to make it sound good – nothing worked. And I remember saying to Malcolm [Young] at one point, like, ‘Maybe we should just move somewhere else?’”
Much to the frustration of Rubin, Young was unwilling to take his suggestion on board, telling the producer in no uncertain terms, “‘We’re staying here, it’s a very good studio’.”
Eventually, Rubin got his way, and the guitarist finally backed down, agreeing to head to Ocean Way in Los Angeles, which improved the situation somewhat.
Although the new studio improved things, Rubin believed the initial stint in New York had already cast a grey cloud over the album beyond the point of saving. He shared: “I think those, I don’t know, five or six weeks of trying to make the album in this bad-sounding space took a lot of the spark or just the good vibe out of it, which is a shame.”
While Rubin has played a hand in many classic albums, AC/DC’s Ballbreaker was a forgettable addition to both his catalogue and the band’s. Unsurprisingly, following the disastrous experience, the producer never worked again with the group.
For Rubin to get the best out of an artist, they have to be receptive enough to his ideas for him to be able to sculpt. However, AC/DC already had a tried and tested formula that had made them one of the best-selling bands of all time; therefore, it’s understandable why they refused to bend themselves to his methods. Ultimately, as much as Rubin holds them in the highest regard, it wasn’t destined to work.
Related Topics