| T.N.T. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 December 1975 (1975-12-01) | |||
| Recorded | March 1975[a] | |||
| Studio | Albert (Sydney) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 41:55 | |||
| Label | Albert | |||
| Producer | ||||
| AC/DC chronology | ||||
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| Singles from T.N.T. | ||||
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T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australianhard rock bandAC/DC, released only in Australia andNew Zealand on 1 December 1975. This was the band's first release with bassistMark Evans and drummerPhil Rudd, although the last two tracks featureGeorge Young andTony Currenti, both of whom previously appeared onHigh Voltage.
After the success of the single "Baby, Please Don't Go" and the albumHigh Voltage, AC/DC returned to Albert Studios inSydney to record their second LP with producersGeorge Young andHarry Vanda. George was the older brother of guitaristsMalcolm Young andAngus Young and had enjoyed his own success in the group theEasybeats.T.N.T. marked a change in direction from AC/DC's debut album,High Voltage, which was released on 17 February 1975; whereasHigh Voltage featured some experimentation with the styles of its songs and had a variety of personnel filling multiple roles,T.N.T. saw the band fully embrace the formula for which they would become famous: hard-edged,rhythm and blues-basedrock and roll. They also simplified their personnel system and would use it from then on out, which was Angus strictly playinglead guitar, Malcolm Young playingrhythm guitar, and the drummer and bassist being the only ones to playdrums andbass guitar respectively on the albums. In Murray Engleheart's bookAC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, producer Harry Vanda states, "I suppose there might have been one or two tracks on the first album, a few things that they were experimenting with, which probably later on they wouldn't have done anymore. So I suppose you could say thatT.N.T was the one that really pulled the identity; like, this is AC/DC, there's no doubt about it, that's who it's going to be and that's how it's going to stay."
In Clifton Walker's 1994 bookHighway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott, bassist Mark Evans speaks about the band's creative process during this period:
Malcolm and Angus would come up with riffs and all that, and then we'd go into the studio. Malcolm and George would sit down at the piano and work it out. Malcolm and Angus would have the barest bones of a song, the riff and different bits, and George would hammer it into a tune. Bon would be in and out when the band was recording backing tracks. Once the backing track was done, he would literally be locked in the kitchen there at Alberts, and come out with a finished song.
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was edited down from an extended jam by producer George Young and the inclusion of the bagpipes was his idea to add an extra dynamic to the track. SingerBon Scott had played in a pipe band in his teens, so George suggested he play bagpipes on the song, not realizing that Scott had been a drummer, not a piper. Regardless, Scott – who knew how to play therecorder – learned the instrument and went on to play them on stage with the band up until 1976, when he set the bagpipes down on the corner of the stage and they were destroyed by fans. For the next three years, whenever they played the song live, Angus would play an extended guitar solo. Chanting in "T.N.T." was also George Young's idea, added after he heard Angus ad-libbing the "oi" chant to himself, and suggested he record it.[2]
T.N.T. contains some of the band's best-known songs, including the title track, "It's a Long Way to the Top", "The Jack", and "Rocker." Seven of the album's nine songs were written by the Young brothers and Scott, while "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" predated Scott's involvement in the band, having previously been recorded as a single with former vocalistDave Evans. It features a different arrangement and slightly different lyrics from the original version. It also runs almost a minute longer. "School Days" is acover version of aChuck Berry song,[3] a major influence on both Young brothers. "High Voltage" was the first song written and recorded for the album, the title inspired by that of the previous album. In 1993, Angus Young shared the origins of the title track with Vic Garbarini ofGuitar For the Practicing Musician: "I remember sitting home one night before going into the studio and playing around with some chords, and I suddenly thought, let's try playing...A...C...D...C. Sounded good. And then I thought AC/DC...power..."High Voltage"! I sang the chorus part to my brother in the studio and he thought it sounded great." Issued as the first single before theT.N.T. sessions began, many fans thought it was fromHigh Voltage. Chris Gilbey of Albert Productions later claimed this caused a late surge in that album's sales.[2] Lyrically, the LP features Bon Scott chronicling both the good and the bad about the rock and roll lifestyle, warning aspiring musicians that "it's harder than it looks" ("It's a Long Way to the Top") but also defiantly telling the moral majority to "stick your moral standards 'cause it's all a dirty lie" ("Rock 'n' Roll Singer"). In 1994, biographer Clifton Walker observed that Bon was "virtually encapsulating his entire life" in both songs. The lyrics of "The Jack," sometimes titled "(She's Got) The Jack," were developed by Scott, who was inspired by a letterMalcolm Young received during a tour ofAdelaide. The letter, from a woman inMelbourne, implied that Malcolm had given her avenereal disease, although he claims that when he got tested, he was clean.[2] Scott's original lyrics were far more explicit than those heard on the album, which he deliberately toned down in case the song got played on radio. The bravado-driven "Live Wire," which was also sexually suggestive, would be the band's show-opener for several years.
Almost right from the beginning, the band was taken to task in some quarters for their "smutty" lyrics, as Angus acknowledged toGuitar World's Tom Beaujour in 1998:
I believe that the politically correct term is "sexist." Intellectuals like to put a tag on it and say, "these guys are out-and-out sexist." I've always found there's a two-sided thing when it comes to lyrics: someone can call a song "Sexy Motherfucker," and be accepted, and yet we've been writing all songs all these years, and while there may be the rare "fuck" in the lyrics there somewhere, it's all been quite clean cut. Still, people just make the assumption that we're five guys who've just got our dicks in mind. People have frequently commented that for all the notoriety and things we got involved in, we could have capitalized on our reputation and said, "Oh yeah, we're a piece of nasty work." But why bother?
T.N.T. also led to more AC/DC appearances on Australia'sCountdown music program, following those in support of the AustralianHigh Voltage album. These appearances included a live performance of the song "T.N.T.", as well as amusic video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". Filmed on23 February 1976, the video featured the band's then-current lineup, along with members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band, on the back of a flat-bed truck travelling onSwanston Street in Melbourne.[4] On1 October 2004, Melbourne's Corporation Lane was renamedAC/DC Lane as a tribute to AC/DC, with the decision being based in part on this video.[5]
T.N.T. was originally released byAlbert Productions, and has never been reissued by another label. Furthermore, it is the only Australian AC/DC studio album for which there is no international counterpart. However, seven of its nine songs comprise theinternational version ofHigh Voltage, released in May 1976. The other two, "Rocker" and "School Days", saw worldwide release as part ofDirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap's international version (1976/1981) and theBonfire box set (1997) respectively.
Twosingles were released from the album – "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (December 1975) and "T.N.T." (March 1976).T.N.T. was released in a gatefold sleeve, with the inside depicting the various members on mock-ups of police identification cards, listing apparent aliases and partially obscured personal details including birthdates (onlyBon Scott's is readily visible).
The original 1975 LP release featured longer versions of "Can I Sit Next to You Girl", "High Voltage" and "Rocker" compared to the versions heard on later CD releases:
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
Eduardo Rivadavia ofAllMusic callsT.N.T. "a stellar album in its own right, and especially crucial in that it marked AC/DC's definitive break with their now seemingly heretical glam rock inclinations, in order to embrace the blue collar hard rock that would forever after be their trademark."
All tracks are written byAngus Young,Malcolm Young andBon Scott except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" | 5:14 |
| 2. | "Rock 'n' Roll Singer" | 5:04 |
| 3. | "The Jack" | 5:53 |
| 4. | "Live Wire" | 5:49 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "T.N.T." | 3:35 | |
| 6. | "Rocker" | 2:55 | |
| 7. | "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" |
| 4:12 |
| 8. | "High Voltage" | 4:20 | |
| 9. | "School Days" | Chuck Berry | 5:22 |
| Total length: | 41:55 | ||
AC/DC
Session musicians and production
| Chart (1975–1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9]: 11 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] | 35 |
| Chart (1976) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9]: 428 | 15 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[11] | 9× Platinum | 630,000^ |
| Mexico (AMPROFON)[12] | Platinum+Gold | 90,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
