AC/DC – For Those About To Rock
Joe Siegler
- AllMyVinyl #151
- Band: AC/DC
- Album Title: For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
- Release Date: 20 Nov 1981
- Date purchased: 31 Jul 2025
- Location purchased: Josey Records Store
- Color of vinyl: black
- Number of discs: 1
- Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]
This is another one of those albums that is a pretty huge part of my past, but oddly I don’t listen to it in full very often anymore. When it first came out, I was all over it. I got it brand new right away on Day 1 back in 1981. This would have been right around the time I discovered Black Sabbath too – in the fall of 1981. So I had this album and Sabbath’s Mob Rules (my first by them) powering my music intake at this point in my life. I played the heck out of this album. Like a lot. But long term, it’s not one I reach for when I go for AC/DC albums. Oh sure, there’s plenty to like here. It’s a Mutt Lange produced album (the third in a row for him), the title track is an all time AC/DC classic… quite a few of the songs on here are bangers. Yet, the album as whole doesn’t seem like one I want to listen to from front to back very often. In fact, as I sit down now to write this on the morning of 18 Aug 2025, I can’t tell you the last time I listened to it in full.
I did listen to it all the time in 81-83 as it was the the incumbent AC/DC album. Back then I bought it on cassette tape, which looking back is odd as I was still very much buying vinyl, but I THINK this was around the time I had a part time job doing janitorial work in a school building, so there was a lot of walkman time. I never owned it on vinyl until recently – I’ll get to that later. Somewhere along the line I bought it on CD – but it definitely wasn’t until probably the early 90’s somewhere on sale. I have a CD of it, so I got it, I just don’t know when. Then in 2013, when I was doing some website work for a couple of friends who got married (I designed their wedding website), their pay for me was to buy me the (then) entire AC/DC catalog on iTunes, so I owned it digitally as well. That’s pretty much been the copy I’ve listened to until very recently. I now have a 20 year old daughter, who likes some of my music, and recognizes my vinyl thing. However, her college roommate also likes vinyl, so she asked me to take her to a record store before going back to college this fall to buy her roommate a present. While she was looking around I found my local store had a copy of For Those About to Rock on vinyl – new. It was the 2015 remaster series print, but it was still sealed, so I grabbed it. I mean you’re in a record store, probably should get SOMETHING, eh? :) So that’s how I happened upon the vinyl copy I’m playing today. I now have my cassette copy, a CD, a legal digital copy, and vinyl. So OK, that’s four versions of the album (not to mention what you can listen to on streaming), so I’m well covered on this album.
One other fun thing, since I seem to like working my wife into these where I can.. She tells me she went out and got this when it was brand new on cassette tape as well. This was during her brief metal phase in the very early 80’s – she was also into the Maiden album “Killers”, which I’ll get to later in the series. But she bought this as well, and she’s a huge fan of the title track on this album. I know when we dated in the later 80’s I did play this album a few times as it was one she knew, so I looked for musical similarities, as the bulk of what she liked was 80’s keyboard synth crap (like Depeche Mode).
This is the same lineup of AC/DC that produced the mega album prior to this – “Back in Black“. So no surprises there. Angus & Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, & Phil Rudd. The band minus Brian had been together for several years and several albums at this point – and this was Brian’s sophomore effort (RIP Bon). So there’s no real surprises here. To some extent most AC/DC albums tend to sound like each other to some extent, but the one immediately following Black in Black should sound more like that, right? Well, it does and it doesn’t. Back in Black tends to exist on some stratospheric level of respect, and this one is a little below that. Again, I realize this intro sounds like I’m shitting on the album, but I’m really not. It’s just hard – I mean REALLY hard to follow up a mega album like that. I mean if you look at some of the most well known albums of all time, are the follow ups anywhere near that quality? For the most part, no. I mean Floyd’s Wish You Were Here is quite excellent following Dark Side of the Moon. But I wouldn’t think Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love would evoke strong emotion after Born in the USA. Was Bad as good as Thriller for Michael Jackson? Probably not. While I liked Queensryche’s Empire, it wasn’t Operation: Mindcrime at all. None of these are BAD as such, but they tend to fall just under the stratospherically poplar album that preceded them in the discography. But there’s still good music to be found, so let’s get to some songs.
For Those About To Rock We Salute You – Well, most albums have songs that are better than others. Obviously that’s down to personal preference. Sometimes the album is more even, but then sometimes – like this album – you can a single song that’s so head and shoulders above anything else on the album that it utterly dominates the thing. That’s where we are with the title track to this album. It’s easily one of the Top 10 individual AC/DC songs of all time – covering their entire career. Most songs start off with a note that’s instantly recognizable. But for me the riff on this one sounds different than the standard AC/DC riff. It’s a killer opening riff, leading into a very much hit you in the face slab of hard rock from these guys. It might POSSIBLY be the best Johnson era AC/DC song there is for me. I realize there’s arguments to be made against it, and there’s other songs that I really like too, but man this one kicks from the opening note to the last one. Lyrically it reminds me of the Bon era track “Let There Be Rock”. Once you get to the back half of the song it kicks in with the cannons. This is the impetus of the cover art of course. This went into the set list instantly – usually as the last song, and I’m pretty sure it’s been played at every single concert AC/DC has done since 1981 (although I admit I didn’t look up every single set list before making that statement).
When I was younger and this was new, I remember counting the cannon fires in the song to see if it matched the “21 gun salute” the lyrics said was coming – hahaha. Over the years I got better at snapping my fingers timing them to the cannon fires on the track. :)
One other thing – I know it’s an odd comparison, but there’s one other song that I get the same “Oh, this will be epic” from the first note like this one, and that’s “Echoes” from Pink Floyd. I guess in some ways AC/DC’s own Thunderstruck has the same kind of start to the song. With Floyd’s track it’s a single note on a piano. This is a little more complex than a single note, but it definitely is a distinctive start like that one was.
I Put the Finger On You – If there’s a theme that runs through AC/DC’s lyrics it’s sex. Always there. That’s what this one is about – doesn’t take genius to see that. :) Anyways, moving past that.. As a piece of music, it’s one of the traditional straightforward AC/DC songs. Not great, not bad, just there. Has a pleasant enough three and a half minutes of riffage, a handful of naughty lyrics.. basically it’s an AC/DC song. Don’t think you’d find this at the top of many fans charts of AC/DC songs, but it’s got a bit of a catchy chorus, so it’ll get a thumbs up for sure. Just nothing that will break the doors down with “holy shit you gotta hear this one!”
Let’s Get it Up – Another sex lyrics song. Ignoring that… musically this is a bit more interesting to me than Finger was. I really did like the chorus here. Some good simple guitar work by the Young brothers. Actually going back to the lyrics, it’s one of those songs that repeats the song title way too many times for its own good. Kind of like George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set On You”. Musically this is far more simple than either of the two songs that precede it, but I think I like this song more than Finger, as I have some memories of listening to this a lot back in the day, so despite the overly simple and restrained guitar work, this works for me due to personal memories of the song 40 odd years ago. It’s also one of the few song (only?) where one of the band members names is said IN the song. Right before the solo, Brian says “Come on Ang.. Wail!”.
Inject the Venom – I always thought this was a sex song again, but reading the lyrics now, not so sure. Whatever it is, it’s an aggressive track for sure. Not a laid back guitar track at all. Guitars, lyrics, vocal delivery – all in your face. I like the way it does the start and stop with the music. Including lyrics – and a couple second pause at one point. Has a great blues feel at the start. One of my favorite tracks on the album. Someone’s angry about something here. :) I do really like the chorus – a slightly different style of background singing that you get in AC/DC. I also like the guitar work in the background in the chorus. Then when we get to the solo area, the start/stop stuff keeps going but is accented by a different style of guitar sound. It too suffers a bit from “repeat the song title a bit too much”, but I do really like the guitar work here, I can overlook it. Top track on this album for sure.
Snowballed – At first I thought this was about getting drunk (another AC/DC staple), but I don’t think so. Not entirely sure what the lyrics are about. But it quickly degenerates into singing “Snowballed” a lot. Musically it’s “ok”. Another album track. Not great, not bad, just there. Yeah, just kind of “there”.
Evil Walks – Now this one I loved. Great slower almost Sabbath-y riffing going on at the start. The verse is a bit pulled back from that, bit I really love the chorus here. “Evil walks behind you / Evil sleeps behind you…” – The vocal delivery seems to be ALL background, and not Brian – or if Brian is in there he’s mixed so far back it’s hard for my tinnitus filled ears to hear it. It’s a different yet similar vocal delivery there, it’s my favorite part of the song for sure. As a kid I thought “oooh, – evil sounding lyrics”. haha. The guitar solo here sounds familiar – like I’ve heard it in another song, but can’t place it. There are some changes in style – coming out of the solo it gets slower which I liked. One of my favorite songs on the album for sure. They do sing the song title a lot, but add other things to it, so it’s not like Snowballed or Venom in that regard.
C.O.D. – I remember when this came out there was some debate over what the song title actually was. The lyrics didn’t help as there’s several things in there that COD could stand for. “call on the doctor” “cash on demand”, “crime of the day”, “call of a dog”, My more innocent self at age 16 leaned into “cash on demand”, but as I’ve come to understand over time it’s really “care of the devil”. The opening riff sounds a bit Rolling Stones like – very Richards like. I think this song exists to play with lyrics a bit – doesn’t really seem to be about anything – just how many different ways you can play with the meaning of COD. Guitar solo I liked. But this one is more about the lyrics – which is an odd thing for AC/DC – it’s usually about Angus’ guitar.
Breaking the Rules – When I sat down to do this album, this was one I actually had forgotten about. Looking at the song titles, I could recall the basic song structure of all of them – except this one. The guitar sound behind the chorus is quite different – not your usual AC/DC sound. You’d think I’d remember that since it’s so different. That’s about the most interesting part though – I think I now see why I didn’t remember it. Other than that cool guitar sound behind the chorus no other part of this does a lot for me. It’s got kind of banal lyrics too. I know AC/DC lyrics aren’t always the most erudite or anything, but yeah, no.. “They got regulation ties / regulation shoes / those regulation fools / with their regulation rules”. We’re not gonna win any Grammys for this song.
Night of the Long Knives – This one is always on my list of deep cut AC/DC songs. I’ve always loved this. It’s got a great catchy riff that runs through it. Not simple, not too complex, but JUST RIGHT! :) Seriously though I really dig the guitar work on this from front to back. it’s got a great riff, and a real catchy vibe that goes through the entire song. It’s right up my alley – the fast paced song at about 3:30. One of my favorite things. Lyrically I’,m not sure what’s going on, and to be fair, I don’t really care. This was one of the earlier songs I just got into because of the chorus.. I just latched onto “Night of the Long Knives” as a musical thing. I just like the way it was coupled with the catchy riff. The combination has always worked for me. Worked today.
One other really stupid thing connected to this song. I always visually in my head saw this screenshot from one of the worst episodes of the original Star Trek (And the Children Shall Lead). Sulu is being deceived into thinking the ship is flying into a row of knives.. So space – night. Knives big enough to threaten a starship – long knives? Hey, my 16 year old self did a lot of silly things, and this was one of them.
Spellbound – This song wasn’t what I remembered. I remembered a rather fast song on the order of “Brain Shake” or “Landslide” from the next album. This is quite the opposite. It’s more a slow plodding song. That’s not to mean it’s bad, but it’s definitely driving in a lower speed gear. Reminds me a bit of AC/DC’s “Night Prowler” in its base construction. I have to admit to a bit of confusion here as I really thought I was setting myself up for a faster song here. It’s a good closing song to the album with its slower pace. As I said, not the first time AC/DC’s done that, so it slots in well as the last track on the album. Lyrically I’ve read this is about a car crash that Brian was in some time long ago, but I can’t prove that. I liked the chorus here. Good slower paced AC/DC song.
This album is overall as good as I remember. It’s not as “banger after banger” like Back in Black is. But there’s a lot to like. The title track of course is an all time classic. But there’s other songs on here that work quite well. There are a couple that I’m like “yeah, that’s not as good” – something I can’t say about the album before this. After thinking about it, I’m pretty sure this is the first time I listen ed to the album in full since 2013 when the aforementioned friends paid me for website work with the entire AC/DC catalog on iTunes. :)
But overall, a very good AC/DC album with some great tracks. It’s also the last album they did with Mutt Lange. I’ve read about conflicts during the production, and AC/DC went for a more stripped back sound for their next album, so perhaps this was the time to part with Mutt.
I also like that an album that has brought me so much joy is one that my wife also owned. Those are rare given our base musical differences, and I know she loves the title track so..
“… we salute you!”
