On the 27th anniversary of AC/DC’s 13th studio album, Ballbreaker (released on September 26th,

1995), the legendary band united with producer guru Rick Rubin in the studio for the first time. Rubin
had been longing to record them for ages. And with legendary Canuck Mike Fraser co-producing,
AC/DC delivered a blues-soaked raucous follow-up to the massive, The Razors Edge, led by such
memorable tunes as “Hard As A Rock”, “Cover You In Oil”, “Whiskey On The Rocks” and “The
Furor” as some of BraveWords’ faves. Purists were pleased. Let’s reminisce as we unearth a classic
Brian Johnson interview from back in the day!

Johnson: “We've been real busy - we haven't just fucked around. I mean we did The Razors Edge
tour for two years then we put out a live album. Straight after that we did Schwartzenneger's thing in
Los Angeles. From August 'til July we had off. But even then Angus and Malcolm were working on
songs and I was busy. Last August we got together and we've been working since then. We didn't
want to be rushed on this album. And it was fun. We had the greatest time. I didn't want it to end.” 

BraveWords: What were your first  impressions when you heard the finished results of
Ballbreaker?

Johnson: “I’ll tell you what it is. It was the same way with me, when I got my first CD copy. I had my
little rough tape from the studio, but when I got the disc, I put it on my good speakers at home and I
went 'Fuck! Why do I like this. What's different?' Rick Rubin and Mike Fraser made it so dry that you
almost think you're in the room with us. There's no bells and whistles. There's no embellishment.
You can almost feel it pressed against your face. It's just as dry as dust. The songs are great as well
- you've got to have great songs. But the enthusiasm that comes across is not instantly recognizable.
It makes you feel that you're part of it.”

BraveWords: The album is raw, bluesy and bare bones, similar to Flick Of The Switch.

Johnson: “Unfortunately with that on me, it wasn't as big of a success as the previous two. We didn't
have a corporate hit. Thankfully our fans classify it as one of our best rock albums. It wasn't as
memorable as the other ones, 'cause we didn’t have a big single off of it. We just went in to do a
good rock record and it deserved a lot more recognition than it got. Funnily enough, when we meet
fans on the street, they'll always say that the record was one of their favorites. That makes us feel
warm inside, 'cause we knew we were going to get shit-canned from the label.”