AC/DC’s going through some pretty sudden and unfortunate lineup changes with the forthcoming release of their 15th album, Rock or Bust. Malcolm Young’s health issues led to another Young in the band, which would have been sad and tragic enough. Then the shocking news came that drummer Phil Rudd had been arrested for attempting to hire a hitman, which meant he learned nothing from Tim Lambesis, apparently. Neither of those are effecting the band’s release of the album, due for December 2 here in the States. But according to the band’s Angus Young and Cliff Williams, odd behavior from Rudd is nothing new.
Speaking to USA Today, Williams said that when they were recording the album, it was hard to even get Rudd to show up. Young embellished:
“It put us in a spot where we couldn’t move forward. Does the guy show up? Is he reliable to do his job in good shape? We’ve always been a solid, reliable unit.
“Phil created his own situation,” says Young. “It’s a hard thing to say about the guy. He’s a great drummer, and he’s done a lot of stuff for us. But he seems to have let himself go. He’s not the Phil we’ve known from the past.”
The article says that while AC/DC is moving forward with plans to tour, they’re not sure if it’s going to be with Rudd or not. You know things are bad in the AC/DC camp if the saddest thing about the band isn’t their awful green-screen video for “Play Ball.”
