Over three decades and more than 150 million albums, AC/DC has established itself as much more than just a great rock band. For millions of fans spanning several generations across the world, they are an ear-bleedingly loud, sweat-soaked religion, courtesy of such classic albums as Highway to Hell and Back in Black. Now, in a book of astonishing breadth and scope, comes, for the very first time, the complete story of AC/DC. Everything you ever wanted to know and plenty more you never dreamt of is all here, the ultimate balls-out adventure, laced with sex, drunken escapades and brawls. It's a journey that started in the suburban Sydney, Australia, bedrooms of brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, boys who could wreak havoc with their guitars. Over their power chords were the lyrics and voice of Bon Scott, who would lead them higher and higher—until his tragic death in 1980. The bittersweet irony after his death was that not only did the Youngs manage to hold together without him, but the band's fortunes and status skyrocketed with his replacement, Brian Johnson, and the album Back in Black. Five long years in the making, AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll is sourced from more than 1,300 interviews the band has given over the past thirty years combined with in excess of 75 of the authors' own interviews with those who worked with AC/DC both in the studio and on the road—many of whom have never spoken about the band publicly. It's topped off with stunning, never-before-seen photos to create the ultimate portrait of the ultimate rock band.

AC/DC tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The savagery of this electrical battle can hardly be imagined today. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver essentially the same product, electricity. But the skirmish soon metastasized into something bigger and darker. In the AC/DC battle, the worst aspects of human nature somehow got caught up in the wires; a silent, deadly flow of arrogance, vanity, and cruelty. Following the path of least resistance, the war of currents soon settled around that most primal of human emotions: fear. AC/DC serves as an object lesson in bad business strategy and poor decision making. Edison's inability to see his mistake was a key factor in his loss of control over the ?operating system? for his future inventions?not to mention the company he founded, General Electric.

The premier rock biographer and author of When Giants Walked the Earth Mick Wall writes the compelling story of the enduring rock band that has sold 200 million albums Megan Fox wears the band’s T-shirts. Keith Richards says Malcolm Young is a better guitarist than he is. Like the Rolling Stones, AC/DC survived every musical trend and industry change to remain both at the top of their game and the charts. From their start in Australia in 1973—with two Scottish brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young, at the core—AC/DC launched an assault on punk in both England and the U.S., in a wild rebel return to real rock roots that’s still chart-topping and selling albums today: over 71 million in the U.S. alone. AC/DC ruthlessly shed band members, managers, producers, and anyone who stood in the way of world domination. Like the Rolling Stones, they’ve survived every musical trend and industry change to remain both at the top of their game and the top of the charts. In AC/DC: Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be, world-renowned rock writer Mick Wall unearths previously unheard stories from all the key players in the AC/DC story. At the center is a tight–knit clan who became and stayed musically successful because they took no hell from outsiders. Wall also uncovers the truth behind the mysterious death of lead singer Bon Scott in 1980, and writes with unflinching insight into the dizzying highs and abysmal, self-inflicted lows of that band’s career with Scott’s replacement Brian Johnson. The Young brothers and AC/DC have survived drugs, death, divorce and the damnation of critics to become one of the best-known and most listened-to rock bands in the world. This is their story: rock n’ roll.

Brian Johnson’s memoir from growing up in a small town to starting his own band to ultimately replacing Bon Scott, the lead singer of one of the world biggest rock acts, AC/DC. They would record their first album together, the iconic Back in Black, which would become the biggest selling rock album of all time. Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early ’70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life. Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange. When the album, Back in Black, was released in July—a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band—it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour. It has been declared “the biggest selling hard rock album ever made” and “the best-selling heavy-metal album in history.” The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music—and Brian Johnson’s life—forever.

AC/DC Album by Album is an in-depth discussion of each of the band’s 16 studio albums by prolific rock journalist Martin Popoff and illustrated with phenomenal photography. Formed in 1973, AC/DC became one of the most popular and bestselling bands in rock history with their no-frills approach to loud, heavy, and sweat-drenched blues-based rock music. This new book from prolific rock journalist Martin Popoff pays tribute to the band’s discography by moderating in-depth and entertaining conversations about all 16 of AC/DC’s studio albums, every page illustrated with thoughtfully curated performance and offstage photography and rare memorabilia. Popoff gathers 17 rock journalists and authors who offer insights, opinions, and anecdotes about every release. Together, the conversations comprise a unique history of the band, covering everything from early lineups; the role played by the Youngs’ older brother, George; the songwriting and legendary antics of original vocalist Bon Scott; the mega tours undertaken in support of the LPs; the debut of singer Brian Johnson on the band’s mega breakthrough, Back in Black; the band’s fallow 1980s and 1990s resurgence; and later difficulties, such as Malcolm’s onset of dementia and the legal problems of drummer Phil Rudd.

"A biography of Australian hard rock band AC/DC"--Provided by publisher.