Rock or Bust

Rock or Bust is an album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is their fifteenth internationally released studio album and the sixteenth to be released in Australia. It is the shortest studio album ever released by the band; at approximately 35 minutes, it is two minutes shorter than their previous shortest album, Flick of the Switch, released in 1983.

The group released the debut single from the album, titled "Play Ball", on 7 October 2014. The song has been a commercial success, reaching the top 40 charts in various nations such as France (at number 39) and Switzerland (at number 19).[1]

Rock or Bust peaked at #1 in 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany and Sweden. It reached the top 5 in a further 12 countries, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy.

Contents
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 * 1 Overview
 * 2 Recording
 * 3 Singles
 * 4 Promotional tour
 * 5 Reception
 * 5.1 Critical reception
 * 5.2 Commercial performance
 * 6 Track listing
 * 7 Personnel
 * 8 Charts and certifications
 * 8.1 Weekly charts
 * 8.2 Year-end charts
 * 8.3 Certifications
 * 9 Notes
 * 10 References

Overview[edit]
Released on 28 November 2014 in Australia and 2 December 2014 elsewhere, Rock or Bust marks the band's first album since 2008's Black Ice.[2]

Rock or Bust is the band's first album without founding member and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who left the band in 2014 for health reasons.[3] Malcolm's departure was later clarified by the band and their management, saying that he was officially diagnosed with dementia and will possibly never play again.

Before the album was officially announced, Brian Johnson admitted that it was difficult to make the album without Malcolm. He brought about the idea that the album could be called Man Down, but believed the title felt too negative towards Malcolm's situation and overall health.[4]

On 6 November 2014, drummer Phil Rudd was arrested for attempting to procure the murder of two men.[5][6] AC/DC made a statement the same day: "We've only become aware of Phil's arrest as the news was breaking. We have no further comment. Phil's absence will not affect the release of our new album Rock or Bust and upcoming tour next year." It is not yet clear whether Rudd will remain with the band or not, or who might be his replacement.[7] The attempted procurement charge against Rudd was dropped the following day; charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of cannabis and a charge of threatening to kill remained.[8]

Recording[edit]
The album was recorded at Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, Canada, with producer Brendan O'Brien and mixer Mike Fraser.[3] When Rudd was ten days late for the recording sessions, O'Brien was ready to replace him with another drummer, but Rudd arrived and recorded his parts.[9]

The songs were constructed largely by Angus Young from material accumulated by the brothers during the recording of previous albums.[9]

Singles[edit]
The first single "Play Ball" was first used on 27 September 2014 in a trailer for Major League Baseball on TBS postseason coverage,[10] and the single was released on 7 October, the same day as the tracklisting and artwork were revealed.[11] It became available on iTunes for those who pre-ordered the album.

The second single is "Rock or Bust", the official video for which was filmed in front of 500 fans in London on 4 October 2014. The single was released on 17 November 2014. The song leaked by accident when it was uploaded to the AC/DC YouTube account instead of "Play Ball". It is not related to the 2007 song "Rock 'n' Roll or Bust" by former AC/DC singer Dave Evans.

Rudd was absent from both video shoots for the singles, and was replaced by Welshman Bob Richards, who had previously played with Man, Adrian Smith, Asia and Shogun.[12]

Promotional tour[edit]
In 2015, the band will embark on a world tour to promote Rock or Bust and celebrate the band's 40th anniversary.[13] Malcolm will be replaced by his and Angus's nephew, Stevie Young.[3] It is not yet clear whether Rudd will participate in the tour.[9] On January 6, 2015, it was announced that AC/DC will be headlining at the of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performing on April 10 and April 17, 2015.[14]

Critical reception[edit]
The album received generally favorable and warm reviews; garnering a score of 75 on the website Metacritic based on 22 reviews.[24]

Commercial performance[edit]
Upon its release, Rock or Bust became the sixth most pre-ordered studio album of 2014 on Amazon UK.[25]

In the US, the album sold 172,000 copies in its first week of release and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200.[26] As of January 2015, it has sold 500,000 copies in the US.[27] In Canada, it debuted at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 31,000 copies in its first week of release.[28] In its second week, the album fell to #2 with 17,000 copies sold.[29]

Track listing[edit]
All tracks composed by Angus Young and Malcolm Young.[9][30] [nb 1]

Personnel[edit]

 * Brian Johnson – vocals
 * Angus Young – lead guitar, backing vocals
 * Stevie Young – rhythm guitar
 * Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals
 * Phil Rudd – drums

Charts and certifications[edit]
{|

Certifications[edit]

 * }

Notes[edit]

 * 1) Jump up^ In September 2014, the French web site highwaytoacdc.com leaked a complete different set list which later appeared to be (almost entirely) wrong: "Play Ball", "Sign of the Times", "Ain't The Way", "Rock or Bust", "Done Her Good", "Steal My Meal", "Watching Games", "Cardhouse Blues", "Bulletride", "Rumble" and "Back in the Zone".