# T.N.T. (album)
**T.N.T.** is the second studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 1 December 1975 and produced by the songwriting and producing duo Vanda & Young.[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) Recorded at Albert Studios in Sydney, it reached number 2 on the Australian chart.[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) Because most of its songs were reissued internationally on the 1976 album *High Voltage*, *T.N.T.* itself was never released outside [Australasia](https://www.edgepedia.org/australasia).[3](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf) The album marked the band's definitive break with their glam rock inclinations in favor of the blue-collar hard rock that became their trademark.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000599239) • [3](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf)
Produced by the songwriting and producing duo Vanda & Young, it was recorded at Albert Studios in Sydney and reached number 2 on the Australian chart.[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) Because most of its songs were reissued internationally on the 1976 album *High Voltage*, *T.N.T.* itself was never released outside Australasia.[3](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / position | Second studio album by AC/DC, following the Australia-only *High Voltage* (February 1975)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/high-voltage-australia-mw0000453412) |
| Recording | Albert Studios, Sydney, February to July 1975, with tracks 7 and 8 from November 1974[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) • [5](https://ac-dc.net/discography1/acdc_discography.php?discography_id=3) |
| Production | Vanda & Young (George Young and Harry Vanda)[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) |
| Chart peak | No. 2 on the Australian chart[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) |
| Band lineup | Bon Scott (lead vocals), Angus Young (lead guitar), Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar), Mark Evans (bass), and Phil Rudd (drums)[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) |
| Track count | Nine tracks, including "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", "T.N.T.", "The Jack", and "Live Wire"[6](https://www.acdc.com/music/t-n-t/) |
## Recording and production
The sessions ran from February to July 1975 at Albert Studios in Sydney, with two tracks, "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" and "High Voltage", recorded earlier, in November 1974.[5](https://ac-dc.net/discography1/acdc_discography.php?discography_id=3) [MusicBrainz](https://www.edgepedia.org/musicbrainz) credits the album's tracks to producer Vanda & Young, the duo of George Young and Harry Vanda, with [Bon Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/bon-scott) on lead vocals, [Angus Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/angus-young) on lead guitar, Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and background vocals, Mark Evans on bass, and Phil Rudd on drums.[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) With drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Mark Evans now established as a rhythm section, the album was again recorded at Albert Studios with Vanda and Young.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best)
The record marked a shift in the band's sound. AllMusic's review describes it as the point where AC/DC made a definitive break with their glam rock inclinations in favor of the blue-collar hard rock that became their trademark; the book *AC/DC: Album by Album* similarly treats *T.N.T.* as the record on which the band's trademark sound is codified.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000599239) • [3](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf)
## Songs
The album opens with "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", powered by a staccato riff and climaxing with a bagpipe solo played by Bon Scott, who had never played bagpipes before and took them up only at George Young's insistence.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) The title track "T.N.T." features a three-chord riff and "Oi!" war chants suggested by George Young after he heard Angus Young quietly chanting along in the studio; Angus recalled, "I was never the greatest background singer in the world... So George said, 'Hey, this is more your cup of tea.'"[8](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/ac-dc-25-essential-songs-14568/jailbreak-1976-14575/)
"Live Wire" was never a single but became the band's standard set opener until Scott's death in 1980, and was restored to the setlist when [Axl Rose](https://www.edgepedia.org/axl-rose) fronted the band in 2016.[8](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/ac-dc-25-essential-songs-14568/jailbreak-1976-14575/) "The Jack" is the band's most celebrated blues track, with a lyric from Bon Scott that employed poker as an extended sexual metaphor.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) The album also includes a cover of [Chuck Berry](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-berry)'s 1957 single "School Days" and a Berry-inspired original, "Rocker", whose opening line has Scott declaring himself "a rocker, roller, right-out-of-controller".[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) A remade version of the band's first single, "Can I Sit Next to You Girl", which had originally been recorded with singer [Dave Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-evans-singer), appears alongside the song "High Voltage".[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000599239)
## Packaging and release
The album reached number 2 on the Australian chart after its 1 December 1975 release.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) Original Australian pressings of *T.N.T.* and *High Voltage* later became collectors' items; AC/DC reissued the original editions in 2024, available only at the band's pop-up dive bar stores in European cities on the Power Up tour, limited to one purchase per customer.[9](https://www.loudersound.com/news/acdc-high-voltage-tnt-reissues)
## Relationship to the international High Voltage
Before AC/DC's Lock Up Your Daughters tour of the UK in 1976, [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) assembled a nine-track compilation from the band's two Australian albums to serve as their first international release, retaining the title *[High Voltage](https://www.edgepedia.org/high-voltage-1976-album)* even though the majority of its songs came from *T.N.T.*, with only "Little Lover" and "She's Got Balls" drawn from the Australian *High Voltage*.[9](https://www.loudersound.com/news/acdc-high-voltage-tnt-reissues) The two tracks omitted were "Rocker", which appeared on the international edition of *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*, and the "School Days" cover, which later surfaced on the *Bonfire* box set.[3](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000599239)
T.N.T. remains the only AC/DC album released in Australia that doesn't have an international version on Atlantic Records, although all the tracks from it eventually appeared on other international releases.[10](https://www.lookingforbon.com/magazine/ACDC%20-%20Classicc%20Rock%20Special%20Edition%20Sept%202017.pdf) Some of its songs were also edited for those later releases: the MusicBrainz annotation for a remastered CD notes that "Rocker" and "High Voltage" appear in the fade-out edits found on the international album releases rather than the original *T.N.T.* versions.[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5) On the original Australian release, "High Voltage" is longer and finishes with a sustained guitar note followed by a single hit of the snare drum.[11](https://acdc.fandom.com/wiki/High_Voltage_%28album%29)
## Legacy
Several of the album's songs became long-term fixtures of the band. "[It's a Long Way to the Top](https://www.edgepedia.org/its-a-long-way-to-the-top-if-you-wanna-rock-n-roll)" and "T.N.T." both became AC/DC anthems, and "Live Wire" served as a dramatic live opener as late as 1979.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best) "It's a Long Way to the Top" was later covered by artists including Lemmy Kilmister, Lucinda Williams, Jack Black, and [Pat Boone](https://www.edgepedia.org/pat-boone).[8](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/ac-dc-25-essential-songs-14568/jailbreak-1976-14575/) The title track also appeared in the video game *Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4* and the film *[Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby](https://www.edgepedia.org/talladega-nights-the-ballad-of-ricky-bobby)*.[8](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/ac-dc-25-essential-songs-14568/jailbreak-1976-14575/)
## References
1. [Release "T.N.T." by AC/DC, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/6467d013-d8c2-3a64-865c-b197fcf1f0f5)
2. [AC/DC ranked! All 17 studio albums, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/ac-dc-ranked-every-studio-album-from-worst-to-best)
3. [AC/DC: Album by Album, pageplace preview](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760361740_A40982512/preview-9780760361740_A40982512.pdf)
4. [AC/DC: High Voltage [1975] Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/high-voltage-australia-mw0000453412)
5. [AC/DC Discography, ac-dc.net](https://ac-dc.net/discography1/acdc_discography.php?discography_id=3)
6. [T.N.T. track listing, AC/DC Official Site](https://www.acdc.com/music/t-n-t/)
7. [AC/DC: T.N.T. Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000599239)
8. [AC/DC: 25 Essential Songs, Rolling Stone Australia](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/ac-dc-25-essential-songs-14568/jailbreak-1976-14575/)
9. [AC/DC to reissue original Australian versions of High Voltage and T.N.T., Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/news/acdc-high-voltage-tnt-reissues)
10. [Angus Young during AC/DC's free concert, Classic Rock Special Edition Sept 2017](https://www.lookingforbon.com/magazine/ACDC%20-%20Classicc%20Rock%20Special%20Edition%20Sept%202017.pdf)
11. [High Voltage (album), AC/DC Wiki](https://acdc.fandom.com/wiki/High_Voltage_%28album%29)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Rock works, labels, discographies, awards, and infrastructure › Rock studio albums › 1970s rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license