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Let There Be Rock

{{Short description|1977 studio album by AC/DC}}

{{for|the song|Let There Be Rock (song)}}

{{Redirect|Bad Boy Boogie|the Mötley Crüe song of the same name|Bad Boy Boogie (Mötley Crüe song)}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Let There Be Rock

| type = studio

| artist = AC/DC

| cover = ACDC-LetThereBeRock.jpg

| alt =

| caption = International cover

| released = {{start date|1977|03|21|df=yes}}{{efn|It released on 21 March 1977 in Australasia, and was released internationally on 25 July 1977.{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=AC%2FDC#search_section|title=RIAA certifications for AC/DC|website=Recording Industry Association of America }}}}

| recorded = * January–March 1976{{efn|Track 6 (international)}}

  • January–February 1977{{efn|All tracks except track 6 (international)}}

| studio = Albert (Sydney)

| genre = * Hard rock

| length = {{Duration|m=40|s=19}} (Australia)
{{Duration|m=41|s=01}} (international)

| label = * Albert (Australia)

| producer = * Harry Vanda

| prev_title = Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

| prev_year = 1976

| next_title = Powerage

| next_year = 1978

| misc = {{Extra album cover

| header = Alternative cover art

| type = Studio album

| cover = Let There Be Rock.gif

| border =

| alt =

| caption = Original Australian cover

}}

{{Singles

| name = Let There Be Rock

| type = studio

| single1 = Dog Eat Dog

| single1date = 21 March 1977 (Aus)

| single2 = Whole Lotta Rosie

| single2date = 20 May 1977 (NL){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=AC%2FDC&titel=Whole+Lotta+Rosie&cat=s|title=AC/DC singles|access-date=29 March 2022|archive-date=29 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329155751/https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=AC%2FDC&titel=Whole+Lotta+Rosie&cat=s|url-status=live}}{{efn-ua|Dutch Top 40 magazine}}

| single3 = Let There Be Rock" / "Problem Child

| single3date = 30 September 1977 (UK){{efn-ua|A and B-side reversed in the United States}}

}}

}}

Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was originally released on 21 March 1977 in Australasia, through Albert Productions label. A modified international edition was released on 25 July 1977, through Atlantic Records. It was the last AC/DC album to feature Mark Evans on bass.

Background

In late 1976 AC/DC were in a slump. "It was very close to being all over", manager Michael Browning said. "Things were progressing very well in London and Europe. We'd been through a whole thing with the Marquee where they broke all the house records. We'd done the 'Lock Up Your Daughters' UK tour and the Reading Festival. It was all shaping up really well."

{{cite web |last1=Wall |first1=Mick |title=Let There Be Rock: The album that saved AC/DC's career |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/let-there-be-rock-the-album-that-nearly-killed-ac-dc |website=Loudersound |date=7 May 2016 |access-date=19 March 2019 |archive-date=24 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024073817/https://www.loudersound.com/features/let-there-be-rock-the-album-that-nearly-killed-ac-dc |url-status=live }} "In the middle of the tour, I get a phone call saying Atlantic Records in America didn't like the Dirty Deeds album", said Browning. "That, in fact, they were going to drop the group from the label. And that's when things got really bad."

{{Blockquote|text="There was always a siege mentality about that band. But once we all found out that Atlantic had knocked us back the attitude was: 'Fuck them! Who the fuck do they think they are?' So from that point onwards it was: 'Fuck, we'll show them!' We were seriously fucking pissed off about it. It didn't need to be discussed. We were going to go in and make that album and shove it up their arse!"|sign=|source=Mark Evans}}

Angus Young said, "Our brother George asked us what kind of album we wanted to make and we said it would be great if we could just make a lot of guitar riffs, because we were all fired up after doing all this touring."{{cite web| work=Rock's Backpages| title=AC/DC Celebrate Their Quarter Century| author=Sylvie Simmons| url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/acdc-celebrate-their-quarter-century| access-date=11 June 2022| archive-date=19 October 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019211227/https://rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/acdc-celebrate-their-quarter-century| url-status=live}}{{subscription required|s}}

Artwork

The Australian cover features the fingers of guitarist Chris Turner, from Australian band Buffalo. "There was a bloke called Colin Stead, who was in Buffalo for about ten minutes," Turner recalled. "He was also the centrefold photographer for Playboy. He phoned me up and said he was doing the album cover for Let There Be Rock, but AC/DC were out of town, so could I help out? He wanted a flash guitar run up and down the neck. Apparently, when he saw it, Angus said, 'He's got fat fingers, hasn't he?'"{{cite magazine|first=Mick|last=Wall|author-link=Mick Wall|title=Let there be light! Let there be sound! Let there be rock!|magazine=Classic Rock #170|date=May 2012|page=42}}

The cover of the international version, released in July 1977, marked the first appearance of the band's now iconic logo, designed by Gerard Huerta. The photograph used for the international cover was taken at a concert on 19 March 1977 at the Kursaal Ballroom, Southend, Essex, UK, by rock photographer Keith Morris.{{cite web|url=http://www.ac-dc.net/archive/acdc_tour_history.php?date_id=776|title=AC/DC Tour History - 19 Mar. 1977 Southend (Kursaal Ballroom)|website=www.ac-dc.net|access-date=11 April 2018|archive-date=12 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082219/http://www.ac-dc.net/archive/acdc_tour_history.php?date_id=776|url-status=live}}

Reception

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/let-there-be-rock-mw0000188896|title=Let There Be Rock -AC/DC|website=AllMusic|access-date=29 November 2009|author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas|archive-date=2 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602151808/http://www.allmusic.com/album/let-there-be-rock-mw0000188896|url-status=live}}

|rev2 = Classic Rock

|rev2Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web | url = https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/ac-dc-let-there-be-rock-album-review | title = AC/DC: Let There Be Rock album review | access-date = 2019-10-03 | last = Rock | first = Classic | date = 25 July 2019 | publisher = Loudersound | archive-date = 15 May 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200515011918/https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/ac-dc-let-there-be-rock-album-review | url-status = live }}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-84609-856-7 |pages=34 |edition=5th Concise}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock

|rev4Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book|editor1-first= Gary |editor1-last= Graff |editor2-first= Daniel |editor2-last= Durchholz |year= 1999 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= AC/DC |publisher= Visible Ink Press |location= Farmington Hills, MI |isbn= 1-57859-061-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612}}

|rev5 = The Quietus

|rev5Score = (favourable){{cite web | url = https://thequietus.com/articles/22076-acdc-let-there-be-rock-review-anniversary | title = 40 Years On: Revisiting AC/DC's Let There Be Rock | access-date = 2020-02-03 | last = Marszalek | first = Julian | date = 27 March 2017 | publisher = The Quietus | archive-date = 18 August 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220818011317/https://thequietus.com/articles/22076-acdc-let-there-be-rock-review-anniversary | url-status = live }}

|rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev6score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/ac-dc/albumguide|title=AC/DC: Album Guide|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=24 September 2012|archive-date=8 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308001205/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/ac-dc/albumguide|url-status=live}}

|rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

|rev7score = 5/10{{cite book|last1= Weisbard|first1= Eric|last2= Marks|first2= Craig|date= 1995|title= Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher= Vintage Books|isbn= 1841955515}}

}}

Reception to Let There Be Rock was extremely positive; according to AllMusic, which gave the album a rating of four and a half out of five stars in a retrospective review, AC/DC played "sweaty, dirty, nasty rock" and the band had "rarely done that kind of rock better than they did" on Let There Be Rock.

In 2001, Q magazine named Let There Be Rock as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html|title=In our Lifetime #2|publisher=Rocklist.co.uk|access-date=7 July 2011|archive-date=19 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019101341/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html|url-status=live}}

Cashbox said "Heavy metal is their special forte and there is plenty of voltage displayed on this electrified disc."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-07-16.pdf|title=Album Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|via=World Radio History|page=18|date=16 July 1977|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=25 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125071703/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-07-16.pdf|url-status=live}}

Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic enthuses, "Let There Be Rock sees AC/DC's religious-like respect for the simple art of making rock & roll brought to its logical conclusion: a veritable gospel to the glory of rock, canonized here in hymn-like worship. The near-epic title track to what is widely regarded as the best Bon Scott-era album, the song is a holy testimony, bringing good news to all those who believe in the healing power of rock & roll -- amen! Oh yeah, it also kicks unholy ass!"{{cite web |last1=Rivadavia |first1=Eduardo |title=Let There Be Rock - AC/DC |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/let-there-be-rock-mt0000070399 |website=AllMusic |access-date=11 June 2024 |language=en}}

David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote of the album in a 2008 cover story, "AC/DC's early albums were perfectly frenetic, but inconsistent. Their second U.S. LP was almost all killer. Scott sings 'Bad Boy Boogie' and 'Problem Child' like he's the enfant terrible...Angus' solos are true white heat." In 2006, AC/DC biographer Murray Engleheart wrote that Let There Be Rock "elevated AC/DC to the status of an album band, something that had previously been the exclusive domain of the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin." In 2000, Angus Young recalled to Guitar World that producer Mutt Lange once told him "of all the many albums we'd done with my brother George and his partner, Harry Vanda, the one Mutt wished he would have done, where he was envious of George, was Let There Be Rock." Band biographer Jesse Fink writes, "Wherever AC/DC ended up in the annals of rock history, this album would stand for all time as an expression of their unrivaled might as a guitar band."{{cite book|last1=Fink|first1=Jesse|title=The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC |publisher= Ebury |location=Australia|year=2013|isbn=9781742759791 |page=148}}

Track listing

=Australian version=

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott

| title1 = Go Down

| length1 = 5:17

| title2 = Dog Eat Dog

| length2 = 3:35

| title3 = Let There Be Rock

| length3 = 6:06

| title4 = Bad Boy Boogie

| length4 = 4:27

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title5 = Overdose

| length5 = 6:09

| title6 = Crabsody in Blue

| length6 = 4:44

| title7 = Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

| length7 = 4:14

| title8 = Whole Lotta Rosie

| length8 = 5:24

| total_length = 40:19

}}

=International version=

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Go Down

| length1 = 5:31

| title2 = Dog Eat Dog

| length2 = 3:35

| title3 = Let There Be Rock

| length3 = 6:06

| title4 = Bad Boy Boogie

| length4 = 4:27

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title5 = Problem Child

| length5 = 5:25

| title6 = Overdose

| length6 = 6:09

| title7 = Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

| length7 = 4:14

| title8 = Whole Lotta Rosie

| length8 = 5:24

| total_length = 41:01

}}

Notes

  • For the original Australian vinyl release a different version of "Go Down" was used. This version has an early fade-out, changing the length of the song to only 5:17.
  • Track 5, "Problem Child", was originally released on Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in 1976. This is a shortened version of the original, missing the reprise coda.
  • For the original vinyl release, in all markets other than the US, Canada and Japan, "Crabsody in Blue" was featured instead of "Problem Child".

Personnel

AC/DC

Production

  • Harry Vanda – producer
  • George Young – producer
  • Mark Opitz – engineer
  • Michael Fraser – mastering supervisor
  • Al Quaglieri – mastering supervisor
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Eugene Nastasi – digital assembly
  • Bob Defrin – art direction
  • Richard Ford – artwork
  • Gerard Huerta – cover lettering
  • Murray Engleheart – liner notes

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1977–1981)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{Cite book |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |year=1993 |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |edition=illustrated |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, NSW |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

| 19

{{album chart|Netherlands|10|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock |rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}
{{Album chart|New Zealand|42|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}
{{album chart|Sweden|29|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}
{{album chart|UK|17|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}
{{album chart|Billboard200|154|artist=AC-DC|rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (2003)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{Album chart|Norway|37|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=23 February 2022}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (2024)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{album chart|Germany4|40|id=7439|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=28 June 2024}}
{{album chart|Scotland|40|date=20240628|rowheader=true|access-date=11 January 2025}}
{{album chart|Switzerland|17|artist=AC/DC|album=Let There Be Rock|rowheader=true|access-date=30 June 2024}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Platinum|number=5|relyear=1977|certyear=2013}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=2024|access-date=27 December 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=1980|source=infodisc}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Platinum|relyear=1977|certyear=2001|access-date=13 July 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|artist=AC/DC|title=Let There Be Rock|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1977|certyear=2000|certref={{cite book |last=Salaverrie |first=Fernando |url=http://www.mediafire.com/file/7q55521w7go6vh6/Spanish+Certifications+for+2000-2002.pdf |title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 |language=es |edition=1st |location=Madrid |publisher=Fundación Autor/SGAE |date=September 2005 |page=953 |isbn=84-8048-639-2 |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129151111/http://www.mediafire.com/file/7q55521w7go6vh6/Spanish+Certifications+for+2000-2002.pdf |url-status=live }}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=2013|certmonth=7|id=3808-1825-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Let There Be Rock|type=album|artist=AC/DC|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1977}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

Notes

{{notelist-ua}}

{{Notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20061020042138/http://www.acdcrocks.com/letthereberock.html Lyrics] on AC/DC's official website

{{AC/DC}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:AC/DC albums

Category:1977 albums

Category:Atlantic Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Harry Vanda

Category:Albums produced by George Young (rock musician)

Category:Albert Productions albums