Stephen King was reportedly out of his mind on cocaine when he directed his first and only movie, Maximum Overdrive. Machines come to life. A lawnmower kills a guy. A soda machine fires cans like bullets. It’s a mess. But out of that chaos came a record that basically kept AC/DC from fading into 80s irrelevance.
Released in May 1986, the acdc who made who album is a strange beast. It’s not a studio album. It’s not quite a "Greatest Hits." It’s a soundtrack that functions as a career lifeline. At the time, the band was hurting. The early 80s hadn’t been kind. After the massive success of Back in Black and For Those About to Rock, they’d released Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall. Honestly? Those albums felt a bit tired. The production was muddy. The songs weren’t hitting the same way. Then King called.
The Stephen King Connection
King is a massive fan. He supposedly tracked the band down and sang "Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)" to them in its entirety to convince them to do the score. It worked.
The band headed to Compass Point Studios in Nassau. They reunited with Harry Vanda and George Young, the producers who’d shaped their early sound. This was a big deal. It brought back that crisp, punchy energy they’d lost while trying to produce themselves. The acdc who made who album ended up being a mix of three new tracks and six older ones.
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The title track, "Who Made Who," is legendary. It has that pulsing, disco-adjacent bassline that shouldn't work for a hard rock band but absolutely does. It’s catchy. It’s menacing. It’s probably the most "80s" AC/DC ever sounded without losing their soul.
What's Actually on the Record?
You’ve got a weird mix here. Only one song features the late Bon Scott—the bluesy, heartbreaking "Ride On." The rest is the Brian Johnson era.
- Who Made Who (New)
- You Shook Me All Night Long (From Back in Black)
- D.T. (New Instrumental)
- Sink the Pink (From Fly on the Wall)
- Ride On (From Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap)
- Hells Bells (From Back in Black)
- Shake Your Foundations (Remixed from Fly on the Wall)
- Chase the Ace (New Instrumental)
- For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) (From the 1981 album)
The instrumentals, "D.T." and "Chase the Ace," are fun fillers. They feel like the band just jamming in a room, which is exactly what the movie needed for those scenes where trucks are chasing people around a diner.
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Why the acdc who made who album Actually Matters
By 1986, hair metal was taking over. Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe were the new kings. AC/DC looked like yesterday’s news. This album changed the narrative. It reminded everyone that they had a back catalog of absolute bangers.
The video for the title track was everywhere on MTV. You probably remember it—hundreds of Angus Young clones marching with cardboard guitars. It was goofy but iconic. It helped the album sell over five million copies in the US alone. That’s 5x Platinum. For a soundtrack to a movie that bombed at the box office, that is an insane achievement.
The remix of "Shake Your Foundations" is arguably better than the original. It’s clearer. The drums pop. It shows how much Vanda and Young understood the band's DNA compared to the band's own self-production attempts.
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A Gateway Drug for New Fans
For a whole generation of kids in the mid-80s, this was their first AC/DC record. It was the perfect entry point. You got the hits, a few new cool tracks, and a taste of the Bon Scott era. It bridged the gap.
Critics at the time were mixed. Some saw it as a "cheap" way to repackage old stuff. But looking back, it was a tactical masterclass. It bought them time. It gave them a hit single. It set the stage for their 1988 comeback, Blow Up Your Video, and the massive The Razors Edge in 1990.
Specific Facts You Might Not Know
- The movie Maximum Overdrive earned $7.4 million. The album made way more than the film ever did.
- If the title were grammatically correct, it would be "Who Made Whom." The band didn't care.
- This was the only time the band ever did a full soundtrack until Iron Man 2 in 2010.
- Brian Johnson's vocals on the title track are some of his most melodic work. He isn't just screeching; there’s a real hook there.
The acdc who made who album isn't just a curiosity. It’s the sound of a band rediscovering their groove while a horror novelist cheered them on from the sidelines.
If you're looking to dive back into this era, don't just stream the hits. Find the original vinyl or the 2003 remaster. Listen to "Chase the Ace" and imagine a semi-truck with a Green Goblin mask trying to run you over. It makes the experience much better. Next, you should check out the music video for "Who Made Who"—the sight of all those Angus clones is a time capsule of 1986 you can't miss.