Editing Back in Black (section)

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
|title     = Retrospective professional reviews
|rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|first= Stephen Thomas |last= Erlewine |author-link= Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title= AC/DC – Back in Black |website= [[AllMusic]] |access-date= 20 June 2012 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-in-black-mw0000188862}}</ref>
|rev2      = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
|rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title= AC/DC – ''Back in Black'' |magazine= [[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |url= http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2391 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070409051233/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2391 |archive-date= 9 April 2007}}</ref>
|rev3      = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev3score = {{Rating-Christgau|B-}}<ref name="RC">{{cite book|first= Robert |last= Christgau |author-link= Robert Christgau |year= 1990 |title= Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |publisher= [[Pantheon Books]] |chapter= AC/DC |chapter-url= https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=AC%2FDC |page= [https://archive.org/details/christgausrecord00chri/page/28 28] |isbn= 0-679-73015-X |access-date= 29 July 2018 |url= https://archive.org/details/christgausrecord00chri/page/28}}</ref>
|rev4      = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev4Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-first= Colin |editor-last= Larkin |editor-link= Colin Larkin |year= 2007 |title= The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |edition= 5th Concise |publisher= [[Omnibus Press]] |location= United Kingdom |page= 34 |isbn= 978-1-84609-856-7}}</ref>
|rev5      = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
|rev5Score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |date=2004 |publisher=Canongate |location=New York |page=9 |ol=18807297M}}</ref>
|rev6      = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
|rev6Score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first= Gary |editor1-last= Graff |editor2-first= Daniel |editor2-last= Durchholz |year= 1999 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= AC/DC |publisher= Visible Ink Press |location= Farmington Hills, MI |isbn= 1-57859-061-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612}}</ref>
|rev7      = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
|rev7score = 8.8/10<ref>{{cite web|first= Steve |last= Kandell |title= AC/DC: Back in Black |website= [[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date= 16 June 2019 |access-date= 21 June 2019 |url= https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/acdc-back-in-black}}</ref>
|rev8      = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
|rev8score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="RS 2005"/>
|rev9      = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev9Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|first1= Mark |last1= Coleman |last2= Ryan |first2= Chris |editor1-first= Nathan |editor1-last= Brackett |editor2-first= Christian |editor2-last= Hoard |year= 2004 |title= [[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]] |edition= 4th |chapter= AC/DC |page= [https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/4 4] |publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn= 0-7432-0169-8}}</ref>
|rev10      = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
|rev10Score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stovall |first1=Natasha |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=0679755748 |page=5 |chapter=AC/DC}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing the album for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in 1980, [[David Fricke]] regarded it as "not only the best of AC/DC's six American albums", but  also "the apex of heavy-metal art: the first LP since ''[[Led Zeppelin II]]'' that captures all the blood, sweat and arrogance of the genre."<ref>{{cite magazine|first= David |last= Fricke |title= AC/DC – Back In Black |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |date= 27 November 1980 |access-date= 20 June 2012 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/back-in-black-19801127}}</ref> Red Starr of ''[[Smash Hits]]'' was more critical, saying he found the songs indistinguishable from one another and marred by hypermasculine fantasies, rock music stock phrases, garish guitar, and dull rhythms, on "yet another triumph for lowest common denominator headbanging—the new thoroughly predictable, thoroughly dreadful AC/DC album", and gave ''Back in Black'' a score of 3 out of 10.<ref name="SH">{{cite magazine|first= Red |last= Starr |title= Albums |magazine= [[Smash Hits]] |issue= 21 August – 3 September 1980 |page= 30 |access-date= 29 July 2018 |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/4617794664/in/album-72157623959727685/}}</ref>

In a retrospective review, ''Rolling Stone'' critic Christian Hoard praised the album as the band's greatest work, possibly "the leanest and meanest record of all time—balls-out [[arena rock]] that punks could love."<ref name="RS 2005">{{cite web|first= Christian |last= Hoard |title= AC/DC – Back In Black |magazine= Rolling Stone |date= 10 February 2005 |access-date= 20 June 2012 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/back-in-black-20050210}}</ref> Barry Walters from ''Rolling Stone'' said ''Back in Black'' "still sounds thoroughly timeless, the essence of unrepentantly simple but savagely crafted hard rock" and called the album "a celebration of thrashing, animal sex", though he observed "mean-spirited sexism" on songs such as "What Do You Do for Money Honey" and "Given the Dog a Bone".<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Barry |last= Walters |title= AC/DC – Back In Black |magazine= Rolling Stone |date= 27 September 2002 |access-date= 20 June 2012 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/back-in-black-20020911}}</ref> [[Robert Christgau]] was less enthusiastic, writing in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s]]'' (1990) that he found the band somewhat too "primitive" and their sexual imagery "unimaginative", and that, on the album, "Angus Young does come up with killer riffs, though not as consistently as a refined person like myself might hope, and lead singer Brian Johnson sings like there's a cattle prod at his scrotum, just the thing for fans who can't decide whether their newfound testosterone is agony or ecstasy."<ref name="RC"/>

Writing in 2011, [[Kitty Empire]] of ''[[The Observer]]'' admitted the album is "a preposterous, drongoid record [...] built on casual sexism, eye-rolling double entendres, a highly questionable attitude to sexual consent ('Don't you struggle/ Don't you fight/ Don't you worry/ Cos it's your turn tonight') a penchant for firearms, and a crass celebration of the unthinking macho hedonism that killed the band's original singer", but, nonetheless, concurred with Fricke's original view of the album as a heavy metal masterpiece and named it her favourite album ever, "the obsessive soundtrack of my adolescence, the racy middle-brow thriller that spoke to me both as a tomboy who wanted to be one of the guys, and the increasingly female ingenue who needed to work out the world of men. Plus teenagers love death."<ref>{{cite news|first= Kitty |last= Empire |author-link= Kitty Empire |title= My favourite album: Back in Black by AC/DC |newspaper= [[The Observer]] |date= 5 August 2011 |access-date= 6 August 2018 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/05/back-in-black-ac-dc}}</ref>

The album is featured on many "best of" lists. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 26 on their 1989 list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties", and number 73 on their 2003 list of "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]"<ref>{{cite magazine|title= 500 Greatest Albums of All Time : 73 – Back in Black - AC/DC |magazine= Rolling Stone |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/ac-dc-back-in-black-20120524 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110602143241/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/back-in-black-ac-dc-19691231 |archive-date= 2 June 2011}}</ref> (it was number 77 on the 2012 revised list<ref>{{cite magazine|title= 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |date= 31 May 2012 |access-date= 23 September 2019 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/ac-dc-back-in-black-4-159820/}}</ref> and number 84 on the 2020 list),<ref>{{cite magazine|title= The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine= Rolling Stone |date= 22 September 2020 |access-date= 9 October 2021 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |language=en-US}}</ref> while the title track was ranked number 190 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<ref>{{cite magazine|title= 500 Greatest Songs of All Time – 190: AC/DC, 'Back in Black' |magazine= Rolling Stone |access-date= 29 May 2012 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/ac-dc-back-in-black-20110526}}</ref> [[VH1]] ranked ''Back in Black'' number 82 on their 2001 list of the "Top 100 Albums",<ref>{{cite web|title= The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (2001) |publisher= [[VH1]] |via= Best Ever Albums |access-date= 29 May 2012 |url= http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=2&sortdir=asc&f=&fv=&page=9}}</ref> and the title track was ranked number 2 on their list of the "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". ''[[Q magazine|Q]]'' ranked the album number 9 on their 2006 list of the "40 Best Albums of the '80s",<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine= Q |date= August 2006 |issue= 241}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' included it in their 2010 "All-TIME 100 Albums" list,<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Josh |last= Tyrangiel |title= All-Time 100 Albums: Back in Black |magazine= Time |date= 25 January 2010 |access-date= 27 March 2020 |url= https://entertainment.time.com/2006/11/02/the-all-time-100-albums/slide/back-in-black/}}</ref> and [[Rolling Stone Australia]] ranked it number one on their December 2021 list of the "200 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time".<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time |magazine= [[Rolling Stone Australia]] |date= 6 December 2021 |access-date= 21 February 2022 |url= https://au.rollingstone.com/rolling-stones-200-greatest-australian-albums-of-all-time}}</ref> In 2005, the album was included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title= 1001 Albums You Must Hear – 2008 Edition |website= Rocklist.net |access-date= 29 May 2012 |url= http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1001Albums.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100307071743/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1001Albums.htm|url-status= usurped|archive-date= 7 March 2010}}</ref> and it was listed at number 2 in the 2010 book ''[[100 Best Australian Albums]]''.<ref name="ODonnell">{{cite book|first1= John |last1= O'Donnell |author-link1= John O'Donnell (music journalist) |first2= Toby |last2= Creswell |author-link2= Toby Creswell |first3= Craig |last3= Mathieson |author-link3= Craig Mathieson |date= October 2010 |title= [[100 Best Australian Albums]] |publisher= Hardie Grant Books |location= [[Prahran, Victoria|Prahran, Vic]] |isbn= 978-1-74066-955-9}}</ref> [[Apple Music]] listed ''Back in Black'' as 90th pick for their [[Apple Music 100 Best Albums|100 Best Albums]] list in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apple Music 100 Best Albums |url=https://100best.music.apple.com/us |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Apple Music 100 Best Albums |language=en-US}}</ref>