My Top 10 AC/DC Music Videos

Ever since AC/DC released their music video for “Through the Mists of Time” back in late September of 2021, I’ve wanted to do a post about my top 10 AC/DC music videos. I didn’t want to do the post right away, though, because I’ve already talked about the band a lot last year. But now, I am finally doing it and I am pumped!

Though AC/DC doesn’t have the most creative and flashy music videos out there like today’s contemporary artists do, I still think they have some great music videos worth mentioning. Just ignore those Fly on the Wall era music videos; those are just weird. Without further ado, let’s get on with the music!

10. “Jailbreak” from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) Australian version

I almost didn’t include the “Jailbreak” video because Bon Scott’s bare chest burns my eyes. However, I can’t deny the clever concept of this video. Malcolm Young and former bassist Mark Evans are prison guards, while Phil Rudd, Angus Young, and Scott are the prisoners trying to escape. It doesn’t end well for Scott, unfortunately. He not only died in the video after being shot in the back by the prison guards, but in real life, he died almost four years later from alcohol abuse. 

9. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” from Highway to Hell (1979)

“If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” isn’t the most exciting video in the band’s catalog because the band is basically lip-synching to the track. However, the ending of the video shows Scott impaling Angus with a guitar and to add to the grossness, the camera zooms in on the wound and fake blood. It’s low-key genius because AC/DC gave us what we wanted, which was a lot of blood! The band previously used this concept for their If You Want Blood You’ve Got It (1978) live album, where Angus is shown on the cover all bloodied up with a guitar pierced through his body. This killer music video backs up Malcolm’s killer riff!

8. “Are You Ready” from The Razors Edge (1990)

Interestingly enough, I don’t like Chris Slade nor the “Are You Ready” song, but I still enjoy this video! Like the “Jailbreak” music video, there is a prison theme going on, but this time, the band members aren’t the prisoners. The plot is that AC/DC is putting on a concert for prisoners. The prison uniforms have a similar design to Angus’ convict uniform from the “Jailbreak” video. The beginning of the video shows a prisoner being prepared for the concert. The guards shave the AC/DC logo on the back of the prisoner’s head, he puts on his uniform and then the guards push him into the crowd, where the concert is taking place. 

7. “Let Me Put My Love Into You” from Back in Black (1980)

The “Let Me Put My Love Into You” video is one of the six promotional videos for the Back in Black (1980) album. Same guys, same musicians, and same instruments. However, the camera angles can really make a difference because for this particular video, the director was like, “Why don’t we zoom in on Phil Rudd for a bit?” As a result, the camera guy got great close-up shots of Rudd having a good time on set of the video (some shots are in the beginning, some are in the middle, and some are in the end). I think we can all agree that Rudd deserves more appreciation for what he does, don’t you?

6. ”You Shook Me All Night Long” from Who Made Who (1986)

I previously mentioned this music video in My Top 10 Music Videos post, where it ranked number nine on my list. For this particular post, the 1986 “You Shook Me All Night Long” video ranked number six, which is a little bit better. Don’t get me wrong, I still love this video and how random it is. But, there are a few others on this list that I like better. However, it is cool to see Malcolm rocking the schoolboy uniform, Brian Johnson being turned on by a lady riding a mechanical bull, and a lot of other craziness taking place in the video.

5. ”Anything Goes” from Black Ice (2008)

What’s cool about the “Anything Goes” music video, besides the clips from the Black Ice tour, is that it’s one of the last videos to feature Malcolm before he passed away. It’s nice to see the Back in Black line-up jamming out for one last time, well one of the last times. That line-up had great chemistry and for a while, they were unstoppable. Because of the music video, “Anything Goes” is a sad song for me to listen to, knowing that Malcolm was suffering from dementia and he’d have to leave the group eventually. The crowd clearly loves Mal, as seen in the video, but due to poor planning, Mal never got to take his final bow, which again is really sad. 

4. ”Who Made Who” from Who Made Who (1986)

I mean, who could forget those Angus clones? The clones consisted of fans and radio contest winners; they had their own schoolboy uniform and a red cardboard version of Angus’ Gibson SG. I love how the band gets their fans involved with their music videos. The Who Made Who (1986) album was the soundtrack to Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive film that was released the same year. So there were a lot of machines involved in that video, which I really dug. Plus, the boys look like they’re having a good time jamming out to the track. 

3. “Through the Mists of Time” from Power Up (2020)

The moment I heard “Through the Mists of Time” on the Power Up (2020) album, I was immediately drawn to it. When fanmade music videos started popping up on YouTube, I was more drawn to the song. Because of Mal’s spiritual presence on the song, I was hoping the boys would make their own music video for “Through the Mists of Time” as a tribute to him. Luckily, AC/DC did not disappoint the fans. The technology used in the video was incredible with the transitions and pictures, but also making it look like the boys performed together in the same room. The video had a museum theme going on, reflecting on the band’s history, and paying tribute to Mal and Bon Scott.

2. ”Satellite Blues” from Stiff Upper Lip (2000)

To fit the theme of the song, the music video for “Satellite Blues” was filmed on-board a space station and it showed bits of outer space too. AC/DC’s music really can take people “out-of-this-world”! Because most of their music videos have basic settings that look like a concert or a rehearsal space, filming this particular video at a space station was probably one of the coolest things the band ever did. Another reason why I enjoy the “Satellite Blues” music video is because I think the song is underrated. Sure, Johnson went off-key at times when the band performed it live, but the studio version of the song still rocks!

1. ”Hail Caesar” from Ballbreaker (1995)

Maybe, I’m a bit biased because Ballbreaker (1995) is my favorite AC/DC album, but this is my list and I can do whatever I want! The “Hail Caesar” music video is hilarious because Angus was inserted into a bunch of movie and real-life clips. One clip shows him feeding grapes to a Greek God, another clip shows him being chased by a giant lizard, and another clip shows him about to do the “Pledge of Allegiance” with Ronald Reagan and his wife (I think). While that craziness is going on, the band is playing on a large platform resembling a pyramid surrounded by women in various attires (Roman togas, one-piece bathing suits and swim caps, and military uniforms) who are marching to the song. There’s fire behind the band, which I think is pretty epic. But also, I couldn’t believe that Mal was wearing a red tank top in the video because he usually wore his light purple tank top (before switching over to a black one around 2003).

There you have it, people! Those are my top 10 AC/DC music videos. I admire the band for not making expensive over-the-top music videos because they’re putting their money to good use. Instead of wasting it on music videos, their money goes towards their albums and tours. AC/DC was never the type of band to follow the trends, anyways.

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Lana