By the end of 1976, AC/DC were at something of a crossroads. Though they’d backed up their early success in Australia by making significant inroads into the UK and European markets, an American breakthrough remained elusive. The situation became more dire when the band’s US label, Atlantic, refused to release that year’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album, contending they didn’t hear any hits. Such rejection was like waving a red rag at a bull holding an SG guitar, meaning that when AC/DC entered Albert Studios in Sydney in January 1977 to start work on Let There Be Rock, they did so with fire in their bellies and a point to prove. Largely recorded live in two weeks with the band’s longstanding producers George Young and Harry Vanda, the goal was to capture the raw, overdriven energy of the band in full swing, an antidote to the soft rock and disco that was sweeping American airwaves. They managed the feat masterfully, particularly on the ballistic title track; so explosive was its recording that Angus Young’s guitar amp reportedly started smoking as the song reached its furious climax. That number also features some of vocalist Bon Scott’s most inspired work, narrating the birth and rise of rock’n’roll with preacher-like intensity while mimicking the biblical story of Creation: “Let there be sound, and there was sound/Let there be light, and there was light”. Indeed, the Bible was a prime influence, the singer penning the lyrics with the aid of a copy he bought from a bookstore near the studio during the recording. Atlantic released the album internationally, but insisted the band replace the song “Crabsody in Blue”, which featured on the Australian and European versions, with “Problem Child” from Dirty Deeds. Featuring a clutch of songs that would become set list staples for decades and influence a generation of rockers to come—Guns N’Roses have regularly covered “Whole Lotta Rosie”, as the Foo Fighters have the title track—Let There Be Rock is the album on which AC/DC resumed their march to world domination.