New AC/DC album to feature Malcolm Young “Surprises”

Posted by on February 28, 2020

AC/DC are working on a new album and, if Dee Snider is correct, it could feature some never-before-heard instrumentals from Malcolm Young

In an interview with SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation on February 20, the Twisted Sister frontman all but confirmed that the late guitarist would be involved in the recordings. Talking about a conversation he and frontman Brian Johnson had recently, Snider said:

“He told me a lot of stuff, and a lot of stuff that I don’t wanna say. But we know from the photos, and Brian confirmed it, they’ve been in the studio, they’ve been recording. The original – I don’t say the ‘original’ guys, because a lot of ’em are gone, but I say the ‘classic’ lineup is back together and there are some surprises, which I can’t talk about, regarding Malcolm Young that just had my jaw on the floor. I will say he will be present. So this is AC/DC as we know and love them.”

Snider’s comments confirm the contents of a September 2018 Jam! Magazine article claiming that Malcolm Young would be part of a new album. Read the article:

“Five years prior to the (2008) ‘Black Ice’ LP, AC/DC’s 15th studio release, Angus and Malcolm Young . . . literally wrote hundreds of songs, many were recorded and have been stashed away until now. Angus has decided to selected [sic] the best tracks from those recordings that Malcolm played on and is now back in the studio recording and mixing them with fellow bandmates Phil Rudd [drums], Cliff Williams [bass] and, yes, Brian Johnson on vocals.”

Johnson himself had left AC/DC in 2016 in the middle of their Rock or Bust tour due to the worsening of his hearing loss. He was replaced at the time with Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose. His departure was followed by that of bassist Cliff Williams. However, Trunk Nation reported in April 2019 that Johnson, Phil Rudd (who had left in 2015) and Cliff Williams had returned to the fold and are involved with the new album. 

That same report also claimed that the new album would be a tribute to Malcolm Young in the same way that Back In Black was a tribute to late frontman Bon Scott.

Snider has recently been promoting a petition on Change.org attempting to get AC/DC to play the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show, which was the main reason for last week’s Trunk Nation visit. The petition has accumulated more than 34,000 signatures since Gina Di Lecce launched it in early February.

AC/DC released their latest album, Rock Or Bust, in 2014. The album did not feature Malcolm Young, who was already ill with dementia at the time of its recording and had retired from the band. He passed away from the disease in 2017. The last album to feature Malcolm was 2008’s Black Ice.

There is no word yet on how soon we might see this new AC/DC album.

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