Back in late 1979, the fledgling Def Leppard famously supported AC/DC on Bon Scott's final tour. For the young Joe Elliott it was a learning experience ("We watched them like hawks every night," he told Classic Rock in 2021), but the following year's Back In Black – which introduced Scott's replacement Brian Johnson – left an equally big impression. Take it away, Joe...
“Brian was really pushed all the way by Mutt Lange [producer of Back In Black and later Def Leppard]. I’ve got to know Brian well over the years, and over a few whiskies he and I have swapped stories about working with Mutt. You know: ‘How was it for you, dear?’ And I’ve talked to Mutt about it, too. So I know how hard they worked on Back In Black. Not just Brian, the whole band. Mutt would push them all up to the limits of their ability. And that’s why it’s such a special album.
“Honestly, if Bon Scott hadn’t died after Highway To Hell, I’m not sure Mutt would have done Back In Black. He put AC/DC through the wringer on Highway To Hell, just as much as he put Leppard through the wringer later on. And then Bon died, so they had to go back to Mutt. They needed him to guide them through those murky waters. I’m not saying they were desperate, but how do you replace Bon Scott? Mutt was there for the auditions, the whole shebang. So it became a proper team, same as he was with us.
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“When Brian came in, the first thing he had to do was get past the comparison to Bon. Every AC/DC fan was going to put on Back In Black and go: ‘Okay, show me what you’ve got. Impress me.’ Brian had to be strong enough to survive all that scrutiny. He had to be confident enough to pull it off. And he did, big-time.
“The start of that album, Hells Bells, it took a long time before Brian opened his mouth. There was this big intro, and it was really clever how they built that song up, almost like the start of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, where you’re waiting for the vocals to come in. In that intro to Hells Bells you’ve established the sound of the band, and then in comes this new singer and... wow! At the time, he made it cool again to sing high. And what he did on that record will go down in history as one of the best rock vocal performances by anybody. It truly is.
“Every band that makes it really big pulls out one really special album at least once, whether it’s Hotel California or The Number Of The Beast, and Back In Black is the standout album for AC/DC like The Dark Side Of The Moon is for Pink Floyd. I’m sure they went through a lot of grief making it, but they had the riffs – they always had the riffs.
"They had a great new singer who just nailed it. And with Mutt Lange banging it all into shape and getting performances out of them like he did, they couldn’t fail. There’s a reason why Back In Black has sold more than all the other AC/DC albums combined: everything – the songs, the voice, the whole sound of it is just phenomenal."
Joe Elliott was speaking with Paul Elliott. Def Leppard's One Night Only Live at The Leadmill Sheffield is released on October 11 and can be pre-ordered now.
