Black Ice (album) - Release and Promotion

Release and Promotion

On 15 August 2008, Rolling Stone announced that Black Ice would be the title of the new AC/DC album, which would have a total of 15 songs. On the same day, the band filmed the promotional video for its first single, "Rock 'n' Roll Train", in London. Three days later, Columbia Records announced that Black Ice would be released on 20 October in the US, and began accepting pre-orders. "Rock 'n' Roll Train" was issued as the first single from the album on 28 August; "Big Jack" and "Anything Goes" followed in some markets. The track, "Spoilin' for a Fight", was used by the WWE as the theme song for its 2008 Survivor Series event, and "War Machine" was included on the soundtrack album of the movie, Iron Man 2 (2010).

The CD version was also available in a hardcover, deluxe edition with a 30-page booklet containing exclusive new illustrations, studio and live photographs of the group and lyrics. A limited edition steel-box version, containing the CD, a 20-page colour booklet, a DVD featuring the "Rock 'n' Roll Train" video and a making of documentary, a large AC/DC flag, five stickers and a Gibson guitar pick, was issued in Germany and the United Kingdom in December. The album was released as a double LP on two 180-gram discs in a gatefold package featuring the standard red lettering artwork on the front. The LP was sold through the official website and through independent record shops in the US. An unknown number of copies of the vinyl version were incorrectly pressed; side 1B had tracks from The Clash's Live at Shea Stadium. Black Ice was not issued digitally as the band refused to sell their tracks separately. Angus declared, "If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album – and we don't think that represents us musically." However, the entire album was leaked online a week before the official release. Rumours spread that Sony Music tried to control leaks by releasing fake tracks on peer-to-peer websites.

In North America, Walmart made a deal for the exclusive distribution of Black Ice, though a few independent music shops ordered copies of the album from foreign outlets. Angus declared that the band chose Walmart because the company is the biggest physical music retailer in America, which they believed to be "the best alternative to iTunes". He also said, "There aren't as many record stores these days, and Walmarts are all over America. New York and Los Angeles and Chicago may be covered, but in the heartland of America, Walmart may be the only gig in town." Walmart created over 3000 "Rock Again AC/DC Stores" with displays showcasing the band's albums, branded clothing, the No Bull DVD, the video game AC/DC Live: Rock Band, and products from sponsors. Gary Severson, a Walmart senior vice president, said that AC/DC was one of the rare artists whose loyal fan-base allowed them to display other merchandise along with the music. In October, MTV, Walmart and Columbia created "AC/DC Rock Band Stores" in cities without regular Walmart retail locations–New York's Times Square and Los Angeles. "Black Ice" trucks were dispatched on the streets of these cities after the release, playing tracks and making stops each day to sell merchandise. Advertising agency Arnold Worldwide was awarded both Best Activity Generating Brand Volume by the Marketing Agencies Association, and Best Retail/Co-Marketing Campaign by Promo Magazine for Black Ice's marketing campaign.

A digital version of Black Ice was made available on iTunes, along with the rest of AC/DC's catalogue, on 19 November 2012.