AC/DC

Released just after the early lineup was first complete, the song already makes its rough showmanship and simple structure plain.

• In the intro, Malcolm repeats a thick, ringing chord of just two notes (a power chord), setting up the skeleton of the whole song.
• In the chorus there is a passage in which the whole band trades shouts, and live it turns into a singalong that the audience takes up as is.
• Phil Rudd’s drums keep a steady beat without ornament, making room for the riff to breathe.
• Bon Scott’s voice was recorded in its unpolished, raw texture, giving a feel closer to a concert hall than a studio.

A title song that mythologizes the endless life on tour, its sound made sharper by Lange’s touch.

• The main riff is heard more distinctly separated than on earlier albums, the result of Lange placing each instrument more clearly at the recording stage.
• Angus’s brief guitar solo keeps ornament to a minimum and simply varies the riff’s melody.
• The simple form, repeating verse and chorus with no bridge, only makes the song more relentless.
• Bon Scott’s vocal has a weary yet unhurried delivery, with a tone that laughs off the hardships of touring as if it were a joke.

A tribute the band completed with Brian Johnson after losing Bon Scott, and one of the best-selling albums of all time.

• The signature song “Hells Bells” opens with a recording of a real bell, laying a death-haunted atmosphere over the whole song.
• Brian Johnson’s voice is a high, metallic shout; different from Bon Scott’s, it has a similarly scratched texture.
• Malcolm’s and Angus’s guitars are heard clearly divided into different roles: one holds the riff while the other lays a melody over it.
• The recording at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas is broader and cleaner in its resonance than before, as if with the stadium already in mind.

A comeback song in which the band, back from its wavering years, again took over radio worldwide.

• The opening intro is Angus’s technique of rapidly tapping and fretting the strings with his fingers, raising tension with a single guitar alone.
• In the passage that follows, a call-and-response in which the whole band shouts a single word back detonates the song’s tension.
• Chris Slade, who held the seat Phil Rudd left, supports the song with drums that are simple but forceful.
• Live, the guitar intro is often stretched until it takes up a considerable portion of the song’s length.

The title track of the first album made without Malcolm, it sounds like a declaration that the band will go on even after the loss.

• The riff comes through in a deliberately torn, distorted guitar tone (distortion) over a sound more tightly polished than before, confirming an identity that the years have not changed.
• Nephew Stevie Young's rhythm guitar is said to carry on Malcolm's way of playing quite consciously.
• At just over three minutes, it ends short, keeping the band's characteristic habit of striking hard and leaving without much talk.
• Brian Johnson's vocal repeats short, terse phrases, creating a tone as if shouting a manifesto.

The signature song of Power Up, completed by the long-time members reunited, it still carries the memory of Malcolm.

• The opening riff sounds like a return to the plain idiom of the early records, and many critics say the band deliberately gave it a retro color.
• The interplay of bass and drums (groove) made by Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams shows a steadiness that only people who have played together for decades can achieve.
• Brian Johnson's voice is lower than before, but the chorus still has passages where he pushes up with real power.
• Angus's short solo chooses to replay familiar fragments of melody rather than flashy technique.