AC/DC‘s music video for the song “Through The Mists Of Time” is a rock and roll museum tour through an exhibition of the band’s incredible history. Based on a concept by guitarist Angus Young, director Najeeb Tarazi and creative director Josh Cheuse used footage shot by Clemens Habicht of each of the five bandmembers in five separate shoots around the world. They then enlisted Mathematic, a Paris-based visual effects studio, to combine all the elements so the band could take the stage together to perform the fan favorite from “Power Up”, almost one year to the day that the highly anticipated album was announced.
“Power Up” was released in November 2020. The LP features AC/DC‘s current lineup of Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums), Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (guitar) and Stevie Young (guitar). It was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O’Brien, who also worked on 2008’s “Black Ice” and 2014’s “Rock Or Bust”.
“Power Up” is a tribute to founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on “Power Up”, along with his brother Angus.
Johnson discussed “Through The Mists Of Time”, which has been described in one review as “the closest thing we’ll get to AC/DC reflecting on the ever-present face of old father time,” in a November 2020 interview with Radio X. He said: “The riff for ‘Through The Mists Of Time’ came out, and Angus wrote the lyrics for that song, and I believe he captured everything — about the early days when the band started, when rock and roll was just carefree, when nobody gave a flying thought about anything except just having a good time and playing. And all this lovely innocence was gone. And I think [the lyrics] encapsulated [the sentiment]. To tell you the truth, every time I hear it, I still get a goosebump, and it’s a tribute to Malcolm: ‘Through The Mists Of Time’. And it’s different. I don’t know if it’s different from anything we’ve done before, but it certainly stands apart.”
“Power Up” landed at the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including in the U.S., where it sold over 117,000 copies in the first week. “Power Up” marked AC/DC‘s sixth No. 1 album in Australia where the band is the only Australian group in history to have had a No. 1 album across five decades: “Back In Black” (1980s), “Ballbreaker Live” (1990s), “Black Ice” (2000s), “Rock Or Bust” (2010s) and “Power Up” (2020s).
“Power Up” was the fastest-selling album of 2020 in at least three of its biggest markets — U.S., Australia and the U.K. — where it debuted at No. 1.
Angus told Rolling Stone about AC/DC‘s continued collaboration with O’Brien: “What I like about Brendan is that he keeps you working when you’re doing a project with him. He’s talented himself. He knows his bass and his guitar and a bit of drums. And piano. He covers the spectrum for what we can do musically. It’s very good because you’re working with a musician, since he can apply that musical knowledge.”
Although AC/DC originally planned on releasing “Power Up” in early 2020, the pandemic forced the band to reconsider.
“We were hoping to get the album out before all this happened,” Angus said. “They were getting ideas together for packaging and video promo things. And then that virus thing came along. It kind of put everyone on hold.”
