Hard as a Rock

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"Hard as a Rock"
Acdchardasarock.jpg
Single by AC/DC
from the album Ballbreaker
B-side "Caught with Your Pants Down"
Released18 September 1995 (1995-09-18)
Studio Ocean Way (Los Angeles)
Genre Hard rock
Length4:31
Label
Songwriters
Producer Rick Rubin
AC/DC singles chronology
"Big Gun"
(1993)		"Hard as a Rock"
(1995)		"Hail Caesar"
(1996)
Music video
"Hard as a Rock" on YouTube

"Hard as a Rock" is a song by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in September 1995 as the first single from their 13th studio album, Ballbreaker . The song reached number one in Finland and number four in Norway whilst entering the top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. In the United States, it became AC/DC's second number-one hit on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, after "Big Gun" in 1993.

Contents

Performances of the track have been included on three of AC/DC's live concert DVDs. These include No Bull (of which an audio version is found on the Australian tour edition of Stiff Upper Lip ), Stiff Upper Lip Live and Live at the Circus Krone , which is featured in the Deluxe Edition of the 2009 boxset Backtracks . A live version recorded during the band's Stiff Upper Lip World Tour in 2001 at the Stade de France in Paris appears on the 2007 Plug Me In three-disc DVD. It is also featured on the 2012 film Battleship , along with "Thunderstruck".

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted upon the release of the single, "Like their inbetweenie 'Big Gun', it's produced by fan Rick Rubin, which marks a return to the original dry blues rock sound after a "pompous" period with Bruce Fairbairn." [1] Music journalist Paul Moody of the British publication NME wrote, "What can Angus and co mean? 'Hard as a Rock' finds the DC, deliriously, back to the sort of form that made them high priests of gonzo rock several million years ago. Angus clunks out the sort of riff Billy Duffy spent ten years looking for in The Cult. 'Uncle' Brian Johnson starts howling the title in a manner not dissimilar to a castrated wildebeest and, erm, that's it, full throttle to the brain-scrambled mega-orgy of your choice. Not quite as testicle-crunchingly mega as 'Highway to Hell' or ultra-subtle 'live fave' 'The Jack', but no worries." [2]

Music video

The music video for "Hard as a Rock" was directed by British director David Mallet, and set at the Bray Studios in Windsor, Berkshire. Many fans gathered to be a part of this video, and can be seen in front of the stage, and also seen behind the bars which surrounds the stage the band plays on. Also, in the video, lead guitarist Angus Young is seen playing his Gibson SG on a wrecking ball, which destroys a building. Angus Young had stated in the documentary that he had a fear of heights when doing this before. The video can be seen on the 2000 DVD version of No Bull (which also includes the documentary on how the video was made) and the Backtracks box set.

Track listings

  1. "Hard as a Rock" – 4:30
  2. "Caught with Your Pants Down" – 4:14
  1. "Hard as a Rock" (LP version) – 4:30
  2. "Caught with Your Pants Down" (LP version) – 4:14

Personnel

Charts

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United States12 September 1995Rock radio EastWest [20]
Australia18 September 1995
  • CD
  • cassette
 [21]
United Kingdom
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
EastWest [22]
United States7 November 1995 Contemporary hit radio [23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 12, no. 37. 16 September 1995. p. 10. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  2. ↑ Moody, Paul (23 September 1995). "Singles". NME . p. 44. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  4. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2801". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  6. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media . Vol. 12, no. 40. 7 October 1995. p. 22.
  7. ↑ "AC/DC: Hard as a Rock" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hard as a Rock". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock" (in Dutch). MegaCharts . Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock". VG-lista. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  14. ↑ "AC/DC – Hard as a Rock". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "AC/DC: Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard . Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Year End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1995". Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 51/52. 23 December 1995. p. 14.
  18. ↑ "1995 The Year in Music: Hot Album Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 51. 23 December 1995. p. YE-76.
  19. ↑ "Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Airplay Monitor . Vol. 4, no. 53. 27 December 1996. p. 23.
  20. ↑ "September Tunes". Radio & Records . No. 1110. 1 September 1995. p. 71.
  21. ↑ "New Releases – Product Available from : 18/09/95: Singles". The ARIA Report . No. 292. 17 September 1995. p. 21.
  22. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week . 16 September 1995. p. 65.
  23. ↑ "Selected New Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1119. 2 November 1995. p. 31.
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