AC/DC Albums Ranked Worst to Best
Critics are fond of saying that every AC/DC record sounds the same, but the following list of AC/DC Albums Ranked Worst to Best shows otherwise.
There's the absolute raunch of 1976's Bon Scott-led Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, but also 1990's sleek Brian Johnson-sung The Razors Edge – courtesy of Bruce Fairbarn’s patented production style. Then there were albums like 1978's Powerage, which stands now as a lasting example of Scott's way with words.
Sad goodbyes have altered the band's trajectory, including the departure of Bon Scott after 1979's Highway to Hell, and of Malcolm Young after 2008's Black Ice. But Angus Young and company have kept going, evolving through a series of recordings that were seen as comebacks, including 2014's Rock or Bust, Black Ice, 1988's Blow Up Your Video and 1980's much-heralded Back in Black, Johnson's debut after Scott's sudden passing.
AC/DC's catalog boasts early triumphs like 1975's High Voltage and T.N.T., both of them as raw and flinty as anything in rock. They continued to tweak their sound, though, during sessions helmed by Mutt Lange (the aforementioned Highway to Hell) and Rick Rubin (1995's Ballbreaker). Today, some projects somehow fly completely under the radar – including 1981's For Those About to Rock – while 1977's Let There Be Rock is chock full of songs that remain concert staples.
Of course, they all can't be in the Top 5, but that's what makes being a fan of any band so much fun – arguing over how impossibly wrong your buddy is about a favorite album. As such, one of these studio efforts simply must come in No. 17, which is where we began this list of AC/DC Albums Ranked Worst to Best.