T.N.T. (album)

T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released only in Australia, on 1 December 1975.

Recording

After the success of the single "Baby, Please Don't Go" and the album High Voltage, AC/DC returned to Albert Studios in Sydney to record their second LP with producers George Young and Harry Vanda. George is the older brother of guitarists Malcolm Young and Angus Young and had enjoyed his own success in the group the Easybeats. T.N.T. marked a change in direction from AC/DC's debut album, High Voltage, which was released on 17 February 1975; whereas High Voltage featured some experimentation with the styles of its songs and had a variety of personnel filling multiple roles, T.N.T. saw the band fully embrace the formula for which they would become famous: hard-edged, rhythm and blues-based rock and roll. They also simplified their personnel system and would use it from then on out, which was Angus strictly playing lead guitar, Malcolm Young playing rhythm guitar, and the drummer and bassist being the only ones to play drums and bass guitar respectively on the albums. In Murray Engleheart's book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, producer Harry Vanda states, "I suppose there might have been one or two tracks on the first album, a few things that they were experimenting with, which probably later on they wouldn't have done anymore. So I suppose you could say that T.N.T was the one that really pulled the identity; like, this is AC/DC, there's no doubt about it, that's who it's going to be and that's how it's going to stay."

T.N.T. (song)

"T.N.T." is a single released in 1976 by the hard rock band AC/DC, taken from their Australian album T.N.T. and the international version of High Voltage. The song was written by Bon Scott, Angus Young and Malcolm Young. It peaked at No.11 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

A slightly modified line from the song, "Lock up your daughters", was used as the title of AC/DC's first headlining tour of Great Britain in 1976 after the band's move from Melbourne, Australia, to London, earlier that year. "T.N.T." later appeared on Live and the Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition, with Brian Johnson providing vocals.

Personnel

Notable covers

Trinitrotoluene

Trinitrotoluene (/ˌtraɪˌnaɪtroʊˈtɒljuːˌiːn, -ljəˌwiːn/;TNT), or more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, is a chemical compound with the formula C₆H₂(NO₂)₃CH₃. This yellow-colored solid is sometimes used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as a useful explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard measure of strength of bombs and other explosives. In chemistry, TNT is used to generate charge transfer salts.

While the two words are sometimes used interchangeably in common conversation, TNT is not the same as dynamite, a special formatting of nitroglycerin for use as an industrial explosive.

History

TNT was first prepared in 1863 by German chemist Julius Wilbrand and originally used as a yellow dye. Its potential as an explosive was not appreciated for several years mainly because it was so difficult to detonate and because it was less powerful than alternatives. TNT can be safely poured when liquid into shell cases, and is so insensitive that in 1910, it was exempted from the UK's Explosives Act 1875 and was not considered an explosive for the purposes of manufacture and storage.