Album
Rock or Bust
Rock or Bust is AC/DC's sixteenth studio album, released on 28 November 2014 through Columbia. It is the first record to feature Stevie Young on rhythm guitar, stepping in for his brother Malcolm, a founding member who had retired earlier that year because of health concerns. At around 35 minutes, it is the band's shortest album to date, edging out Flick of the Switch from 1983. The lead single, "Play Ball", arrived in October.
The record is worth hearing as a tight, no-frills slice of the band's hard rock and blues rock sound, and a marker of a changing line-up. It reached number one in 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany and Sweden, and sold 2.8 million copies worldwide. The tour that followed brought upheaval: Chris Slade covered for Phil Rudd, and Axl Rose stood in for Brian Johnson on the 2016 dates.
Rock or Bust: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 34:57Tracklist
- 1Rock or BustAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:03
- 2Play BallAngus Young and Malcolm Young2:47
- 3Rock the Blues AwayAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:24
- 4Miss AdventureAngus Young and Malcolm Young2:57
- 5Dogs of WarAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:35
- 6Got Some Rock & Roll ThunderAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:23
- 7Hard TimesAngus Young and Malcolm Young2:44
- 8Baptism by FireAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:30
- 9Rock the HouseAngus Young and Malcolm Young2:43
- 10Sweet CandyAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:10
- 11Emission ControlAngus Young and Malcolm Young3:41
- Produced by
- Brendan O’Brien
- Recorded at
- The Warehouse (Vancouver)
- Recorded
- May–July 2014
- Engineered by
- Billy Bowers, Mike Fraser, Tom Syrowski
- Label
- Columbia
- Length
- 34:57
Line-up
- Phil Rudd · drums (drum set)
- Cliff Williams · bass guitar
- Angus Young · guitar
- Stevie Young · guitar
- Brian Johnson · lead vocals
Singles
- “Play Ball” · 7 October 2014
- “Rock or Bust” · 17 November 2014
- “Rock the Blues Away” · 10 March 2015
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2014–2015 | 3 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2014–2015 | 3 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Austrian Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Danish Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Finnish Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| French Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
All 29 charts
| German Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Scottish Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Swiss Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2014–2015 | 1 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2014–2015 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2014–2015 | 2 |
| Polish Albums · 2014–2015 | 2 |
| Spanish Albums · 2014–2015 | 2 |
| UKDigital · 2014–2015 | 2 |
| Czech Albums · 2014–2015 | 3 |
| Italian Albums · 2014–2015 | 3 |
| Dutch Albums · 2014–2015 | 4 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2014–2015 | 5 |
| Irish Albums · 2014–2015 | 6 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2014–2015 | 8 |
| Greek Albums · 2014–2015 | 20 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia · 2014 | Platinum |
| Austria · 2015 | 2× Platinum |
| Belgium · 2015 | Gold |
| Brazil · 2024 | Platinum |
| Canada · 2015 | Platinum |
| Denmark · 2014 | Gold |
| Finland · 2014 | Gold |
| France · 2014 | 3× Platinum |
| Germany · 2015 | 3× Platinum |
| Hungary · 2014 | Platinum |
| Italy · 2014 | Platinum |
| New Zealand · 2014 | Gold |
| Poland · 2015 | Platinum |
| Spain · 2014 | Platinum |
| Sweden · 2015 | Platinum |
| Switzerland · 2014 | Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 2023 | Platinum |
| United States · 2015 | Gold |
| Europe · 2014 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
73.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.8k
ListenBrainz listeners
60k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
84k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 28 November
Every year →
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Full discography →
High Voltage
1975
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1975
High Voltage
1976
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
1976
Let There Be Rock
1977
Powerage
1978
If You Want Blood You’ve Got It
1978
Highway to Hell
1979
Back in Black
1980
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
1981
Flick of the Switch
1983
’74 Jailbreak
1984
Fly on the Wall
1985
Who Made Who
1986
Blow Up Your Video
1988
The Razors Edge
1990
Live
1992
Ballbreaker
1995
Bonfire
1997
Stiff Upper Lip
2000
Black Ice
2008
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2009
Iron Man 2
2010
Live at River Plate
2012
Power Up
2020
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Alice in Chains · 1992
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p·u·l·s·e
Pink Floyd · 1995
Sap
Alice in Chains · 1992
We Die Young
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Generation Terrorists
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz; also seen: 2014-12-02 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 28 November 2014 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 28 November 2014 | |
| Wikidata | 2 December 2014 | |
| Deezer | 2 December 2014 | |
| Apple Music | 28 November 2014 | |
| US release | 2 December 2014 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 28 November 2014 | earliest UK or European date |
9 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 November 2014 | DE | Columbia | 888750484727 | original |
| 28 November 2014 | XE | Columbia | 888750348418 | original |
| 28 November 2014 | XE | Columbia | 888750348623 | original |
| 28 November 2014 | CA | Columbia | 888750348524 | original |
| 28 November 2014 | AT | Columbia | 888750348524 | original |
| 28 November 2014 | XW | Columbia | 886444865630 | original |
| 2 December 2014 | XW | Columbia | 886444865623 | other |
| 2 December 2014 | US | Columbia | 888750348524 | other |
| 3 December 2014 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366229004 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| itunes | 1500×1500 | native |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |