"Big Gun" is a song by Australian rock band

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and heavy metal, but the band calls it ...

. It was released as a single in May 1993 from the soundtrack to the

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

movie ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

'', as well as during reruns of '' The Savage Nation'' talk show as

bumper music Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature songs or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements, typically lasting no longer than fifteen seconds. It is ...

. It was later released on the 2009 box set '' Backtracks''. It became the band's first 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in 1993. At the

APRA Music Awards of 1995 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1995 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of awards held in May 1995. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian ...

, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas. AC/DC has played the song live only once during 1996 rehearsals but never at an official show. As well as its worldwide release on the ''Last Action Hero'' soundtrack, the song could be found on iTunes with the rest of the soundtrack, making it for a time the only song by AC/DC on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. However, it was later removed from iTunes along with "

Two Steps Behind "Two Steps Behind" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their album ''Retro Active'' and the soundtrack to the film ''Last Action Hero''. It reached number five on the US ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart, number 12 on the ...

" by

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), ...

. The song subsequently returned to iTunes along with AC/DC's entire catalogue, although it still is not available to purchase as a track on the ''Last Action Hero'' soundtrack; instead it can be purchased as a song from AC/DC's 2009 rarities boxset, ''Backtracks''.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' called it a "fresh recording", adding that producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

"gives the band's sound a dense, radio-friendly tone without sacrificing its guitar attack or

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

well-weathered howl. Album-rockers, be alert."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for "Big Gun" was directed by David Mallet and was released on 24 May 1993, the same day the single was serviced to US

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

radio.AC/DC – "Big gun"
mvdbase.com It begins with Schwarzenegger (as his film-within-a-film character, Jack Slater) breaking an entrance door to an AC/DC concert. As he walks around the crowd and the stage, observing each band member, Angus kicks his

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

towards him. When Schwarzenegger puts on the cap, his clothes morph into Angus' trademark school uniform costume and signature

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gi ...

. He then starts imitating Angus' on-stage antics throughout the video, including a scene in which Angus Young actually climbs up on Schwarzenegger's back and rides around the stage perched on his shoulders while continuing to play his guitar chords. The video also features a young

Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian ( hy, Շավարշ "Շավո" Օդաջյան; born April 22, 1974) is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band System of a Down. He also plays bass in a trap group called North Kingsl ...

, the future bassist for the

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenians, Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after A ...

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

band

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

. The video was similar to the one for "

You Could Be Mine "You Could Be Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses from their fourth studio album, ''Use Your Illusion II''. The song was released on June 21, 1991, as the first single from the ''Use Your Illusion'' albums. The song was originall ...

" (released to promote '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''), where Schwarzenegger (as the

T-800 T8 or T-8 may refer to the following: Measurement * T8, a Torx screwhead size * T8, a 1 inch fluorescent lamp size * A tornado intensity rating on the TORRO scale Biology * The 8th thoracic vertebra * The T8 spinal nerve Transportation * Trikk ...

) interacted with

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

. The video was released on ''Family Jewels Disc 3'', part of the 2009 box set '' Backtracks''. It was not released on the original '' Family Jewels'', because it contains scenes from the movie and therefore had licensing issues.

Track listing

* CD maxi-single (US) # "Big Gun" (

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...

) – 4:25 # "

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" is a song by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The song was first released on AC/DC's eighth studio album '' For Those About to Rock We Salute You'' in 1981, and later as a single in 1982. The single ...

" (Live in Moscow) (

, Young, Young) – 6:42 # "

Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death of ...

" (Live in Moscow) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 4:26 * CD maxi-single (UK) # "Big Gun" (Young, Young) – 4:25 # "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (Live in Moscow) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 6:42 # "

Shoot to Thrill "Shoot to Thrill" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the second track on the 1980 album ''Back in Black''. This song is also the second track of ''AC/DC Live'' and ''AC/DC Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition'', and is included on th ...

" (Live at Donington) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 5:45

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Cliff Williams Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English g ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Chris Slade Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band AC/DC. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along with ...

– drums This was the last song to feature drummer

, before he left AC/DC a year later so that Phil Rudd could return to the band.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

Lyrics
{{Authority control AC/DC songs 1993 singles 1993 songs APRA Award winners Atco Records singles Heavy metal songs Music videos directed by David Mallet (director) Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Malcolm Young