‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ (1977)

Malcolm and Angus Young turned a basic blues and boogie riff into a battering ram for a song that became an AC/DC perennial.

‘Riff Raff’ (1978)

A cloud of annunciatory noise gathers and then explodes into one of AC/DC’s fast and tricky ones. True to the title, the guitars churn out so many riffs that they nearly crowd out the verses.

‘Down Payment Blues’ (1978)

Big, blaring open chords make no secret of AC/DC’s admiration for the Who as the Young brothers unite for a double-barreled attack.

‘Back in Black’ (1980)

Angus Young has credited Malcolm Young for the stop-start riff, with its gaping silences and sudden jolts, for the album that announced AC/DC would persevere following the death of its lead singer, Bon Scott. “Forget the hearse ‘cause I’ll never die,” Brian Johnson howled, and AC/DC’s audience only grew.