"Big Gun"
Single by AC/DC
from the album Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture
B-side"Back in Black" (live)
Released24 May 1993 (1993-05-24)
Genre
Length4:24
LabelATCO
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rick Rubin
AC/DC singles chronology
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (live)"
(1992)		 "Big Gun"
(1993)		 "Hard as a Rock"
(1995)
Music video
"Big Gun" on YouTube

"Big Gun" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released as a single in May 1993 from the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Last Action Hero, as well as during reruns of The Savage Nation talk show as bumper music. It was later released on the 2009 box set Backtracks. It became the band's first No. 1 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in 1993. At the APRA Music Awards of 1995, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas.[1] AC/DC has played the song live only once during 1996 rehearsals but never at an official show.[2]

As well as its worldwide release on the Last Action Hero soundtrack, the song was on iTunes with the rest of the soundtrack, making it for a time the only song by AC/DC on iTunes. It was later removed from iTunes along with "Two Steps Behind" by Def Leppard. The song returned to iTunes along with AC/DC's entire catalogue, although it still is not available to purchase as a track on the Last Action Hero soundtrack. Instead it can be purchased as a song from AC/DC's 2009 rarities boxset, Backtracks.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard complimented "Big Gun" as a "fresh recording", remarking that here, producer Rick Rubin "gives the band's sound a dense, radio-friendly tone without sacrificing its guitar attack or Brian Johnson well-weathered howl. Album-rockers, be alert."[3] Andy Martin from Music Week gave the song four out of five, naming it Pick of the Week in the category of Rock. He stated that "this cannot fail to be a winner" and "a hit is assured."[4]

Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer felt that with "Big Gun", "testosterone terrors AC/DC [have] come up with the strongest single since the group's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" - which should come as little surprise, because it's a virtual rewrite of the band's 1981 hit."[5]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Big Gun" was directed by David Mallet and was released on 24 May 1993, the same day the single was serviced to US album rock radio.[6][7] It begins with Schwarzenegger, as his film-within-a-film character, Jack Slater, breaking an entrance door to an AC/DC concert. As he walks around the crowd and the stage, observing each band member, Angus kicks his cap towards him.

When Schwarzenegger puts on the cap, his clothes morph into Angus' trademark school uniform costume and signature Gibson SG. He then starts imitating Angus' on-stage antics throughout the video, including a scene in which Angus Young climbs up on Schwarzenegger's back and rides around the stage perched on his shoulders while continuing to play his guitar chords. The video features a young Shavo Odadjian, the future bassist for the Armenian-American alternative metal band System of a Down.

The video was similar to the one for "You Could Be Mine" released to promote Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where Schwarzenegger as the T-800 interacted with Guns N' Roses.

The video was released on Family Jewels Disc 3, part of the 2009 box set Backtracks. It was not released on the original Family Jewels, because it contains scenes from the movie and therefore had licensing issues.

Track listing

  • CD maxi-single (US)
  1. "Big Gun" (Angus Young, Malcolm Young) – 4:25
  2. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (Live in Moscow) (Brian Johnson, Young, Young) – 6:42
  3. "Back in Black" (Live in Moscow) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 4:26
  • CD maxi-single (UK)
  1. "Big Gun" (Young, Young) – 4:25
  2. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (Live in Moscow) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 6:42
  3. "Shoot to Thrill" (Live at Donington) (Johnson, Young, Young) – 5:45

Personnel

This was the last song to feature drummer Chris Slade, before he left AC/DC a year later so that Phil Rudd could return to the band.

Charts

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Big Gun"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States 24 May 1993 Album rock radio ATCO [6]
United Kingdom 28 June 1993
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [26]

References

  1. ↑ "1995 APRA MUSIC AWARD WINNERS". APRA AMCOs. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. ↑ "AC/DC Concert History Archived 11 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine", ACDC Bootlegs
  3. ↑ Flick, Larry (29 May 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 91. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Martin, Andy (26 June 1993). "Market Preview: Rock — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 10. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Wood, Sam (6 July 1993). "The Music from Some Summer Movies". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. 1 2 Russell, Deborah (22 May 1993). "Sony in Overdrive For 'Hero' Tie-Ins". Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 21. p. 122. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  7. ↑ AC/DC – "Big gun" Archived 8 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, mvdbase.com
  8. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "AC/DC Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "AC/DC". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 9. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  14. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 36, 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  16. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun". VG-lista. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  19. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  20. ↑ "AC/DC – Big Gun". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  22. ↑ "AC DC Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "AC DC Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  24. ↑ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1993" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "End of Year Charts 1993". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  26. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 26 June 1993. p. 27.
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