
“Who Made Who” is like a Greatest Hits album released as a soundtrack album in 1986, for the Stephen King film “Maximum Overdrive”. A forgettable movie.
The funny thing is that the next Greatest Hits slab would come out with another movie, this one a lot better and having a larger social and cultural impact.
Yep, the multi- billion franchise known as “Iron Man” sent AC/DC into the stratosphere. Not that they needed it.
Both album packages are excellent entry points for people who didn’t own or know about AC/DC.
If this was your first exposure, there would be a high chance that you would go out and buy/access some of the back catalogue.
And the song “Who Made Who” introduced Angus Young the shredder. His guitar work here is at a Shrapnel level.
Who Made Who
Drums and bass from Simon Phillips and Cliff Williams in a stock 4/4 time. I’m already invested.
Malcolm kicks in with some power chords outlining a blues chord progression as Brian Johnson fires in with his throaty vocal melody.
Angus then fired in with some fast palm muted licks which sounds like open string licks, something he’ll use to even greater success with “Thunderstruck”. But it’s all picked.
Check out the lead break. Angus breaks out some EVH like tapping.
Lyrically, it’s based around the themes from the “Maximum Overdrive” movie, where the machines come alive and begin killing people.
Like the “Terminator” movie, the tools that humans create, rise up to obliterate the humans.
You Shook Me All Night Long
From “Back In Black”.
It was re-released as a single after the massive success of “Who Made Who” which gave this song a second coming, not that it needed one.
D.T
It’s an instrumental jam which became soundtrack music.
It moves between distortion and clean tone so it could be used in multiple scenes.
Sink The Pink
From the “Fly On The Wall” album.
This song doesn’t get the love it should but goddamn it’s a great song.
The Intro reminds me of “Rock N Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and it has a Chorus chord progression which could be interchanged with almost every AC/DC chorus, and I like it.
At 2.50, the Intro kicks back in, with drums and bass before Angus kicks in with his bluesy lead.
Ride On
From the “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” album and Bon Scott gets a spot with this slow blues dirge.
Hells Bells
From the “Back In Black” album.
As soon as the bells chime and the dirty arpeggio riff in Am kicks in, everything starts tingling. It doesn’t matter that I’ve heard it a lot of times. It still gets me.
Shake Your Foundations
Also from “Fly On The Wall”.
Another underrated song from an album that is seen as a disappointment.
You can’t tell me that the Intro/Verse riff isn’t classic AC/DC and a Chorus that almost mimics “You Shook Me All Night Long”.
Chase the Ace
Another instrumental jam session but a bit more aggressive than “D.T”.
Check out the drum groove in the Intro. Something that Lars Ulrich would use to great effect in “Enter Sandman”, which is also based on the “Dirty Deeds” Intro/Verse drum pattern.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
From the album with the same title which came after the “Back In Black” monster.
I was hooked from the opening riff and the way Malcolm and Phil Rudd build it.
Once the slow groove kicks in, it feels that heavy that it’ll destroy everything in its path. And it did.
In Australia and the U.S, it’s 5× Platinum.
And it kept AC/DC relevant in a friendly MTV world which was starting to promote artists who looked great over the music they created.
I am really fond of the title track to this one
Yeah, if you don’t know this band, this would be a great place to start. It is solid from top to bottom. A greatest hits album that shows what those words really mean.
Not to sure if comeback is the right word, but here in North America this song Who Made Who and the soundtrack or Greatest Hits to it got the band back out their that’s for sure and back in the mainstream esp the video to the title track.
It was a sorta return that “Blow Up Your Video” actually blew up.
Well played Sir!
That was a pretty good comp album. It leaves out some choice Bon Scott cuts but I suppose that makes sense in a soundtrack format, it wasn’t meant to be a complete retrospective I don’t guess. And like you said about the title track, they really threw down on the guitars. Some very inspired playing on that.
The song “Who Made Who” took a few listens for me to get into it, but eventually Mal’s power chords and Simon Wright’s pounding drums turned me on! Who’s Simon Phillips by the way?
Lol
Simon Phillips is a big typo.
At least Simon Phillips is a drummer lol!
Yes he is. I was listening to “After The War” from Gary Moore and Simon Phillips is the drummer on that. I need an editor.
Ah, that makes sense! At least you got Phil Rudd right!
Who. Lol