Who Made Who
Soundtrack album by
AC/DC
Released26 May 1986 (1986-05-26)[1]
RecordedJanuary 1976 – December 1985
GenreHard rock
Length37:50
Label
Producer
AC/DC chronology
Fly on the Wall
(1985) 		Who Made Who
(1986) 		Blow Up Your Video
(1988)
Singles from Who Made Who
  1. "Who Made Who"
    Released: May 1986
  2. "You Shook Me All Night Long"
    Released: August 1986

Who Made Who is a soundtrack album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Released on 26 May 1986, the album is the soundtrack to the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.

Background

Three tracks on the album – "Who Made Who" and the instrumentals "D.T." and "Chase the Ace" – were newly written and recorded by AC/DC for the album. The remaining tracks were previously released by the band. Only one song, "Ride On", features previous lead vocalist Bon Scott, who died in 1980. All others feature his replacement, Brian Johnson.

Along with the album, the band released a 73-minute videotape, which contained music videos for the songs "Who Made Who", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Shake Your Foundations" (remixed), "Hells Bells", and footage from a live performance of "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)", which was filmed in Detroit in 1983.[2]

The video for the title track, directed by David Mallet, was recorded at the Brixton Academy in London and features a theme of countless clones of AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. According to the book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, these clones consisted of hundreds of fans who came from all over the UK, many of whom slept in the freezing cold in front of Brixton Academy for the opportunity to take part. This group was made up of approximately 300 members of the band's British fan club as well as others who had simply heard about the event on the radio.

Lyrics

The song "Who Made Who" was written for the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive, whose theme was machines that came alive and began killing people. The lyrics explore the idea of the gadgets and devices created by mankind coming to rule over human beings instead of the other way around, the irony where humans become subservient to the technology they created.[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Christgau's Record GuideB[6]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Though the film it was created for was derided by critics and financially flopped, the song "Who Made Who" became the band's most successful single in years, reaching No. 16 in the UK and No. 33 in the US.[9][10] It was also voted second best track of 1986 by the readers of Hit Parader magazine. Following this, a re-issue of "You Shook Me All Night Long" was released from the album, peaking at #46 in the UK.[9] The album has sold five million copies in the US. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic calls the album "a ripping AC/DC retrospective" and applauds the band "rescuing songs like 'Sink the Pink' from otherwise mediocre albums."[5]

Track listing

Album

All tracks are written by Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Brian Johnson, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Who Made Who" 3:27
2."You Shook Me All Night Long" (from Back in Black) 3:30
3."D.T." (instrumental)M. Young, A. Young2:53
4."Sink the Pink" (from Fly on the Wall) 4:13
5."Ride On" (from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap)M. Young, A. Young, Bon Scott5:51
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Hells Bells" (from Back in Black) 5:12
7."Shake Your Foundations" (remix; original version from Fly on the Wall) 3:53
8."Chase the Ace" (instrumental)M. Young, A. Young3:01
9."For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (from For Those About to Rock We Salute You) 5:53

Video

A VHS titled "Who Made Who" was also released to support the album.

  1. "Who Made Who"
  2. "You Shook Me All Night Long" (alternate version, filmed in 1986 specifically to promote the "Who Made Who" album)
  3. "Shake Your Foundations"
  4. "Hells Bells"
  5. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" [Joe Louis Arena, Detroit - November 1983]

Personnel

AC/DC

Other musicians

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Who Made Who
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[23] 5× Platinum 350,000^
Germany (BVMI)[24] Platinum 500,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[27] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "RIAA certifications for AC/DC".
  2. ^ Saulnier, Jason (22 January 2009). "Simon Wright Interview". Music Legends. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  3. ^ Christopher, Michael (8 November 2018). "Rock Music Menu: Film that revived AC/DC's career, 'Maximum Overdrive,' hits Blu-ray". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Who Made Us? Creation According to AC/DC". 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AC/DC - Who Made Who review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 16 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  7. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  8. ^ "AC/DC: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  9. ^ a b UK Singles chart - AC/DC
  10. ^ "AC/DC: Who Made Who > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  11. ^ "Australiancharts.com – AC/DC – Who Made Who". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – AC/DC – Who Made Who" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – AC/DC – Who Made Who" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "AC/DC". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – AC/DC – Who Made Who" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Charts.nz – AC/DC – Who Made Who". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – AC/DC – Who Made Who". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Swisscharts.com – AC/DC – Who Made Who". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  19. ^ "AC/DC | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  20. ^ "AC DC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1986". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Top 100 Metal Albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on 12 August 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  23. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  24. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (AC/DC; 'Who Made Who')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  25. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Who Made Who')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "British album certifications – AC/DC – Who Made Who". British Phonographic Industry.
  27. ^ "American album certifications – AC/DC – Who Made Who". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

AC/DC
Authority control databases
Categories