(Credits: Far Out / ACDC)
Sat 20 December 2025 16:13, UK
The world of rock and roll has long since been co-opted by serious musicians.
With such a cooption comes an often unnecessary devotion to technical prowess and the inevitable complication that comes with it. AC/DC have never been known for writing the most complicated riffs in the world, and they’re all the better for it.
Even if you’ve only been playing guitar for a few years, it doesn’t take that long for someone to get a few of the Australian rockers’ riffs under their fingers, usually just playing ringing open chords on most of their classic songs. The simplicity might be why it works so well, but Malcolm Young said that he thought ‘Back in Black’ was crap when he laid it down.
Then again, Malcolm and his brother Angus would always be the dictators behind any good AC/DC track. They were never ones to labour over a song for longer than they should, and if there was a tune that wasn’t coming together or didn’t lock into a groove, chances are they would ditch it because they figured that something was wrong with it.
By the time they got around to making what would become Back in Black, though, things had started to take a bit of a turn. Bon Scott was still in rare form as a vocalist following Highway to Hell, but he was heading down a dark path that would leave him dead before work began on the next record.
It’s possible that Scott may have heard the beginnings of ‘Back In Black’, but before he got the chance to lay down vocals, he ended up passing away from alcohol poisoning in early 1980. Even though AC/DC was on the cusp of something great, losing a superstar like Scott would be enough to shake anyone’s confidence.
As Malcolm started presenting material for the next record, Angus remembered his brother being dismissive towards ‘Back in Black’, telling Classic Rock Stories, “Malcolm had the main riff for ‘Back in Black’ for about three weeks. He came in one night and said, ‘You got your cassette here? Can I put this down? It’s driving me mad. I won’t be getting any sleep until I put it on cassette.’ The funniest thing is he said to me, ‘What do you think? I don’t know if it’s crap or not.’”
The track has since gone down in history as one of the best the group ever wrote. It is a powerhouse chug that not only typifies the band but also helps to define Malcolm Young as a guitarist. The less showy member of the fraternal pair at the centre of the group, Malcolm’s riffs burned with intensity, and nothing showed that off better than ‘Back in Black’, even though he almost gave it away.
Malcolm wasn’t only sitting on something decent. He had struck solid gold. Even though anyone would have been able to sing over that riff and make it sound good, Brian Johnson replacing Scott was the ideal fit when tracking the song, matching Scott’s intensity behind the mic with his unique brand of grittiness.
The riff may be doing the lion’s share of the work, but by AC/DC standards, the lyrics are much more profound than anything they’ve ever made. It sounds ridiculous saying that about a song on the same album as ‘Let Me Put My Love Into You’, but Johnson singing about rising like a phoenix from the ashes is his own badass tribute to his predecessor.
Malcolm’s basic chords paid off in dividends, too, turning AC/DC into one of the biggest rock acts on Earth for a second time. Then again, maybe the power behind the riff is all in Malcolm’s hands. It wouldn’t be that big a deal if some random joker on the street just played those chords without thinking, but when they’re being hammered out by the right player, things can start getting intense real quick.
Being clever is rarely a bad thing. But when you are writing rock anthems built for speed and built to last, then oftentimes, the most simple method of getting across the line is the one you should be pursuing. AC/DC knew that better than anyone.
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