AC/DC to release new album 'in next couple of years'

AC/DC have revealed plans to release a new album "within the next couple of years".

The Australian stadium rockers have said they'll tour again once they've finished the album, which will be the follow-up to 2008's 'Black Ice'.

Guitarist Angus Young told BANG Showbiz: "At some point we'll be touring again once we get a new album out, which will hopefully be within the next couple of years."

Frontman Brian Johnson also reiterated the band's desire to top their last tour, commenting: "We'll try to make the next tour even better, we'll bloody try."

The band are due to release a new live DVD 'AC/DC: Live At River Plate' on Monday (May 9). The show was filmed during their extensive 2009/2010 world tour, which took in 108 cities.

Young has recently discussed how AC/DC have "outlived" ever new genre of music that has come along since they formed in 1973.

"We have such diehard fans, old and new. We've survived many changing fashions of music – we've outlived the lot of them," he commented.

AC/DC: 'We'll be back on the stage again soon'

AC/DC have said that they hope to tour again soon, telling fans "We'll be back on the stage again soon."

Speaking to the Daily Star, guitarist Angus Young said the band have been writing new material for the follow up for 2008's 'Black Ice'.

He said: "Me and Malcolm [Young – guitarist] have begun trying a few things. Then we’ll be back on stage again."

Young also added that the band want to make sure they give it their all onstage, saying: "You don’t want people to say: ‘Those guys used to be great.’ On this tour, I had a few problems, mainly with the legs. On stage, though, you don’t feel a thing."

Asked about how they planned to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band, singer Brian Johnson said: "I’ll be celebrating by just being here. We could be dead, so to still be standing on a stage after 40 years is good enough for me."

AC/DC hint 40th anniversary will be marked with new album and tour

AC/DC have dropped another hint that they will release a new album and tour in 2013 to mark their 40th anniversary.

Frontman Brian Johnson said that the band are set to meet soon to "chat to see how we're feeling" about celebrating the milestone.

But speaking to Popeater.com, the singer stopped short of making any concrete plans, commenting: "We never ever say 'We're going in the studio January next year' – if you do that you're straight under pressure, and we've never worked like that."

He also said that the band are unlikely to commit to a jaunt as big as the two-year Black Ice World Tour, which concluded last year.

"That was brutal but I'd sure hate to say that's the end of it. I think you need a full stop at the end of everything, a sentence, your life, or your car. There has to be a full stop and I don't think we've had one yet," Johnson remarked.

AC/DC released a new live DVD 'AC/DC: Live At River Plate' last month.

AC/DC star finds he’s less famous than folk singer cousin


Northern exposure: Malcolm Young and reporter Eric Mackinnin in the Hebridean sunshine

AC/DC mainman Malcolm Young discovered he’s less famous than his folk musician relative when he took his family to explore their roots on a remote Scottish Island.

He and brother Angus were born in Glasgow and remain proud of their Scottish ancestry.

The rhythm guitarist, wife Linda and son Ross travelled to the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides to find out more about her past, where he discussed plans for AC/DC’s future.

He confirmed they’re working on a potential follow-up to 2008′s Black Ice. But he warned fans are in for a longer wait than expected, after singer Brian Johnson suggested there would be new material next year.

Young explained: “You know what Brian’s like. He just says things and then walks away. It’ll be a little while – a year or two anyway.

“I’ve been doing some jamming on some song ideas but I do that all the time, as do the rest of the band. We are still working. But we had a long rest between Stiff Upper Lip and Black Ice, so I think we need a couple of years to recuperate and work on it a bit more.”

He added it’s unlikely any world tour in support of a future release will grow to the scale of the AC/DC Black Ice trek, which lasted almost two years and sold nearly five million tickets.

His son Ross pitched in: “It would probably be a bit less, a year or 18 months. That was very long last time.”

The family met with Linda’s long-lost relatives in Stornoway and its surrounding villages. They enjoyed a visit to a lifeboat launch and relaxed in the town’s only hotel, the three-room Scarista House, overlooking some of the island’s most picturesque beaches.

Young said: “I still feel very Scottish. I love coming back to Scotland. We’ve never been to the Western Isles before but it’s been really good – it’s lovely up here.”

Stornoway resident Sandi Maciver, a cousin of Linda, is also a well-known local musician. She said: “We were having dinner in the motel with Malcolm and his family. A friend of my aunt came in and joined us. He looked at Malcolm then whispered: ‘Is that the one in the band?’

“Then he saw me and said loudly, ‘Oh – is that Sandie Maciver?’

“Poor Malcolm Young… I was recognised before him! It could only happen in Harris.”

I'll check that out, slipkid. Airbourne is also similar, and I still think the first Jet album (at least half of it, anyway) is the best AC/DC-ish album of the last decade.

I'll buy anything new AC/DC releases anytime. Loved Stiff Upper Lip and Black Ice.

AC/DC Heading Into the Studio This Spring

It looks like 2014 will be a big year for AC/DC. In an interview with a Florida radio station on Friday, frontman Brian Johnson revealed that the band is about to begin recording new music, as well as planning a special 40th anniversary tour.

"Well, you’ll be the first one to know," Johnson told 98.7 the Gater's Andy Preston (as Ultimate Classic Rock reports). "Really, because we’ve been denying anything, 'cause we weren’t sure…But I think we’ll be going into the studio in May in Vancouver. Which means, we should be getting ready.

If it is indeed a new album Johnson is talking about, it would mark AC/DC's first new studio record since 2008's Black Ice. Bassist Cliff Williams had revealed last spring that Angus Young and Malcolm Young were at work on new songs but hadn't yet set a timetable.

Johnson also told the station that the band were planning a special tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary. "It’s been 40 years of the band’s existence," he continued. "So I think we’re gonna try to do 40 gigs, 40 shows, to thank the fans for their undying loyalty. I mean, honestly, our fans are just the best in the world, and we appreciate every one of them. So, like I said, we’ll have to go out, even though we’re getting a bit long in the tooth. You know what?! It’s been four years [since we last went out on the road], and I’m really looking forward to it."