The Greatest AC/DC Song of All Time is Up for Debate
Audio Ink Radio recently published a feature naming the best AC/DC songs of all time, but we didn’t pick a No. 1. Now, we have a No. 1. – Author: Scarlett Hunter, AC/DC courtesy photo from Sony Music.
AC/DC is a band that seriously needs no introduction. They’re one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time and continue to tour and wow audiences with their riff-driven, anthemic rock sound. That group has so many hits that it’s really difficult to pinpoint the best.
AC/DC formed in Sydney, Australia, in 1973, and the group was the brainchild of brothers Malcolm Young and Angus Young. Both brothers were active in the band from day one and years later until Malcolm, who passed away in 2017, retired in 2014 due to health issues. Today, AC/DC is still touring the world. Their current lineup features Angus Young, Johnson, Stevie Young, Chris Chaney and Matt Laug.
Audio Ink Radio recently published a feature naming the best AC/DC songs of all time, but we didn’t pick a No. 1. The collection of songs was in no particular order. But, a few publications are selecting not only the best AC/DC songs but also the No. 1 best of all time. Is it really the best?
The Greatest AC/DC Song Ever (Maybe)
So, Loudwire picks “Back in Black,” the title track of 1980’s “Black in Black,” the best AC/DC song of all time. It’s difficult to contest that, but boy, it’s hard to pick just one.
“The title track of the second best selling album of all time is a eulogy to the band’s late frontman, Bon Scott,” Loudwire states in the feature. “Successor Brian Johnson tells of feeling an otherworldly presence that guided him while writing the lyrics.”
They add that, “Musically, like ‘Highway to Hell,’ the track relies on the cadence and groove created by the interplay between guitars and drums. Johnson jokes that friends commented they never heard him sing so high, to which he retorts that neither had he.”
Audio Ink Radio also had “Back in Black” among our picks, stating “‘Back in Black’ just might be the most iconic AC/DC song of all time. The song is the title track off the band’s seminal 1980 release, ‘Back in Black,’ which arrived in the heat of the summer in the U.S. and just heated things up even more.”
Louder Sound went with a different pick for No. 1: “Thunderstruck.” In a September 2023 feature, they noted, “Introduced by an electrifying Angus Young riff – he said recently that he’ll retire when he can no longer play it – comprised of hammer-on and pull-off fingering on an open B string, the track builds dynamically using terrace chants and new drummer Chris Slade’s brutal but simplistic poundings to emerge as a state-of-the-art stadium leveller. Not for nothing do the band Thunder use it as their intro music.”
Radio X also loves “Thunderstruck,” stating, “The lead single from the 1990 album The Razors Edge, Thunderstuck is a phenomenon: an electrifying lightning speed riff and football terrace chanting. The single has gone ten times Platinum in the band’s home of Australia, double Platinum in the UK and Platinum in the US.” They add, “Despite only getting to No. 13 in the charts here, the song’s reputation has grown and grown and at the time of writing, it’s had over 1.3 billion streams and 1.4 billion views on YouTube. Impressive.”
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