Powerage Album

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Lore & Background

After a 12-date European tour opening for Black Sabbath in April, bassist Mark Evans was fired from AC/DC on 3 May 1977. According to manager Michael Browning in the memoir AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, the Young brothers were seriously considering Colin Pattenden of Manfred Mann's Earth Band, but Browning pushed for Cliff Williams, who had previously played with Home and Bandit. Williams, who could also sing background vocals, passed the audition and was asked to join. In a 2011 interview, Evans reflected: 'With Angus and Malcolm, they were put on this earth to form AC/DC. They're committed big-time. And if they feel your commitment is anything less than theirs, well, that's a problem.' The band finally toured America for the first time in the summer of 1977, playing CBGB in New York City and the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. In December, they played a set at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City broadcast live over Radio WIOQ in Philadelphia, later released on the 1997 Bonfire box set as Live from the Atlantic Studios.

In Their Own Story

Several songs that appeared on Powerage were started in July 1977 during the band's first rehearsals with Williams at Albert Studios, including 'Kicked in the Teeth', 'Up to My Neck in You', an early version of 'Touch Too Much' (which later appeared on Highway to Hell), and possibly 'Riff Raff'. The Powerage sessions officially got going in January 1978 and stretched over about eight weeks. Atlantic Records executives complained the album lacked a radio-friendly single, so with first pressings ready in the UK, the band recorded 'Rock 'n' Roll Damnation'. The song, featuring handclaps and maracas and no traditional guitar solo, was released in Britain at the end of May and reached No. 24, the best performance yet by an AC/DC single. Powerage was the final Bon Scott-era studio album recorded with producers Harry Vanda and George Young. Biographer Clinton Walker wrote in his 1994 Scott memoir Highway to Hell: 'Gimme a Bullet' was perhaps Bon's most accomplished piece of writing to date, in which his penchant for hardcase metaphors finds even more genuine pathos and humour.' Cliff Williams recalled to Bass Frontiers: 'The guys had already been in the studio for a while and we went in to do what turned out to be the Powerage album. Great work environment. Albert Studios there in Sydney was a great little rock and roll room... And we had about three weeks to do it, 'cause that's about all the money we had.'

Reader's Guide

While initial sales were somewhat disappointing, Powerage surpassed its predecessor, Let There Be Rock, by reaching No. 133 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart in the US, eventually achieving platinum certification. Eddie Van Halen and Keith Richards have stated that Powerage remains their favourite AC/DC record. The album is also Guns N' Roses' guitarist Slash and Aerosmith's guitarist Joe Perry's favourite album by the band. The album has remained a favourite of Malcolm Young, who was quoted in AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll as saying, 'I know a lot of people respect it. A lot of real rock and roll AC/DC fans, the real pure rock and roll guys. I think that's the most under-rated album of them all.' It's also drummer Phil Rudd's favorite record the band did with Bon Scott. Contemporary reviews were mixed: the Detroit Free Press called AC/DC 'another late '70s boogie band making strides toward commercial clout', while the Cheshire Observer wrote that 'the LP captures better than ever the fresh, aggressive style, the compelling high voltage rock'. In 2005, Powerage was ranked number 325 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 26 among the '100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time'.

Did You Know?

• Powerage was the first AC/DC album not to have a title track (aside from the Australia-only High Voltage album).
• It was the first worldwide AC/DC release not to be issued with a different album cover for different markets.
• The song 'Rock 'n' Roll Damnation' was recorded at the last minute because Atlantic Records wanted a radio-friendly single, and it reached No. 24 in Britain—the band's best single performance up to that point.
• Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards, Slash, and Joe Perry have all stated Powerage is their favourite AC/DC record.
• Powerage was the final Bon Scott-era studio album produced by Harry Vanda and George Young.