"Let There Be Rock" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the third and title track of their album ''

Let There Be Rock ''Let There Be Rock'' is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band, AC/DC. It was originally released on 21 March 1977 in Australia on the Albert Productions label. A modified international edition was released on 25 July 1977 on Atla ...

'', released in March

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, and was written by

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, and

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotlan ...

. It was also released as a single, with a B-side of " Problem Child", in 1977.

Composition

The song provides an encapsulated, fictionalised version of the history of

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

. Building on a line from the

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

song "

Roll Over Beethoven "Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records single, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classi ...

": "... tell

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

the news", "Let There Be Rock" reveals that Tchaikovsky did in fact receive the message and subsequently shared it with the masses, resulting in the rise of rock 'n' roll. Following rock's birth, rock bands appeared everywhere, musicians found fame (while businesses made money off their efforts), and millions of people learned how to play

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

. The third and final verse speaks of a "42-decibel" rock band playing good, loud music in an establishment called "The Shaking Hand". This is usually changed to "92-decibel" in live versions of the song. After the final verse, the song ends with an extended solo by Angus Young, which consists mainly of

tremolo picking Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs alternating downward and upward strokes in a continuous fashion. If the technique is performed at high speed on a single string or course voicing the same note, it may be referred to ...

, string bends, and

hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This ...

Live recordings

Being one of AC/DC's most popular songs, "Let There Be Rock" has been included on four of the band's six official live albums: ''

If You Want Blood You've Got It ''If You Want Blood You've Got It'' (written as just ''If You Want Blood'') is the first live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and their only live album with Bon Scott as lead vocalist. It was originally released in the UK and Europ ...

'' (sung by Bon Scott, 1978), '' Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition'' (sung by Scott's replacement

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 ...

, 1992), '' Let There Be Rock: The Movie'' (Scott, 1979), released in 1997 as part of the '' Bonfire'' box set, '' Stiff Upper Lip Tour Edition'' (Johnson, 2001), recorded from

Plaza De Toros A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are o ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

from 1996, and ''

Live At River Plate ''Live at River Plate'' is a live concert film documenting AC/DC’s Black Ice World Tour. The DVD includes footage from three concerts performed in December 2009 at the Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is the ...

'' (Johnson, 2012), with the last recorded during AC/DC's

Black Ice World Tour The Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Black Ice'', which was released on 20 October 2008. This tour had 8 legs around the world lasting more than 20 m ...

at River Plate Stadium in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

on 4 December 2009. Live performances of the song often go into a section not included on the studio version, with Angus Young performing an extended solo without accompaniment. It is the final song played in '' Let There Be Rock: The Movie'' and at the immediate conclusion the words "To Bon" appear on the screen. On recent tours, the song has concluded the regular set before the band reappears for encores.

Music video

The

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 device ...

for "Let There Be Rock" was filmed in July 1977. It was recorded in the Kirk Gallery church in

Surry Hills, New South Wales Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...

and featured

, Malcolm Young,

Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecius, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became ...

, and

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 ...

, who replaced Mark Evans as the band's bassist shortly after the ''

'' album was released. This marked one of Williams' first public appearances with AC/DC. Scott was dressed as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and the rest of the band as

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up the book ...

s, with Angus Young wearing a halo prop on his head. Towards the end of the video it shows Angus, and the rest of the band jamming while he plays the guitar. In an alternate ending of the video, the colors are morphed and the camera zooms in on the stained glass window. According to an interview with the Young brothers, Scott injured himself in the final jump from the podium. In the video and studio recording, Scott also sings the pre-chorus incorrectly, introducing 'sound' before 'light.' This is corrected during live performances of the song.

Critical reception

"Let There Be Rock" is widely considered one of the band's best songs. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' ranked the song number four on its list of the 40 greatest AC/DC songs, and the British rock magazine ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' ranked the song number three on its list of the 20 greatest AC/DC songs.

Appearances in popular culture

"Let There Be Rock" is a playable song in the music video game '' Rock Band 2''. A television advertisement for the game features a man

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

ing to a clip of the song while others are shown playing the game controller instruments in time to the music. In addition, the '' Live at Donington'' version is also available in the '' AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack''. The song was also alluded to in the

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

song of the same name from 2001's '' Southern Rock Opera''. The song specifically mentions

, Randy Rhoads, as well as making references to other deceased rock stars such as members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Phil Lynott of

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

fame.

Cover versions

*The Australian punk rock group the Hard-Ons recorded a cover version featuring

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

on lead vocals, and released it as a single in 1991. The song peaked at number 65 on the ARIA Charts in July 1991. *The Serbian funk rock band Deca Loših Muzičara released a cover version of the song in 1997.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– lead guitar * Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar * Mark Evans – bass *

– drums

Production

*Producers:

Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Ea ...

, George Young

Charts

References

{{authority control AC/DC songs 1977 singles Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Bon Scott Songs written by Malcolm Young Song recordings produced by Harry Vanda Song recordings produced by George Young (rock musician) Blues rock songs 1977 songs Atco Records singles Songs about rock music Rock-and-roll songs Cultural depictions of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky