Opinion | AC/DC and the complexities of nostalgia

AC/DC’s 50th anniversary reissue of some of their most iconic albums proves that nostalgia is a powerful and complex force in the music industry. Photo courtesy of WikiCommons

AC/DC has created some of the most iconic and foundational music in rock ‘n’ roll and influenced countless other musical groups. 

Last month, eight albums by the Australian rock band simultaneously appeared on the Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA) Top 50 Album chart. Not only that, but in the past two months, the band has held three of the top 10 spots on ARIA’s Vinyl Album chart, returned to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, made their debut on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart and also reentered the Billboard Global 200.

AC/DC has weathered many criticisms since their debut in 1973 and boasts a lineup of men who are now between the ages of 67 and 76. 

Cassandra Pinkney, Social Media Manager

In plain sight, the rock group is not the likely suspect for mainstream success in a year dominated by female pop acts. There is, however, a fairly straightforward explanation of the band’s resurgence in popularity. 

On March 15, AC/DC re-released nine of their most iconic albums on special edition gold vinyl pressings, and the band has plans to release more of their discography later this year to celebrate 50 years of rock ‘n’ roll. This reissue has been received very well, as evidenced by its reemergence on global music charts. 

But even before the reissue, AC/DC already enjoyed contemporary popularity, as seen in their highly anticipated European stadium tour set to begin this summer.

Why, after 50 years, is the band still relevant? Simply put: nostalgia.

Nostalgia is derived from the Greek word nostos, meaning “return home,” and algos, meaning “pain”. It’s a yearning for simpler times accompanied by a painful reminder that the past can’t be re-lived. This potent emotional response is a powerful motivator, a fact well known to anyone interested in using the feeling to turn a profit. See the fashion industry’s courting of Y2K aesthetics, the film industry’s penchant for live-action remakes, and of course, the music industry’s love of a greatest hits album.

Concert tours, record reissues and vintage merchandise markets are sustained by nostalgia. Music lovers flock to nostalgia bait in an attempt to recreate thrilling moments from their younger days, when posters of their favorite artists plastered their bedroom walls, and afternoons and allowances were spent at the record store.

But nostalgia is not a reflection of reality. It’s a rose-tinted pastiche of a time that never existed. At least not the way it is being remembered. 

Nostalgia for a time when musicians were great ignores the fact that the likes of David Bowie, Elton John and Billy Joel had first albums that were commercial failures. Reminiscing on times when music united people conveniently ignores the divisive moral panics incited by acts like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Times when everyone wasn’t so easily offended, glazing over the time Congress permanently changed the music industry because a senator’s wife didn’t know the “Purple Rain” soundtrack had racy songs on it.

It’s this pining for supposedly simpler days that leads fans to revolt against any new music these artists create or dismiss them as has-beens when they don’t perform with the same zeal they did as twenty-somethings. But these feelings are less an artistic critique and more a defense of a glamorized past.

While this view of nostalgia may seem overly critical, it’s important to remember the good it has brought to the music industry. 

Nostalgia maintains and builds community. Music lovers bond over a shared, albeit romanticized, history they have with one another. They swap debaucherous stories of their idols and raise a glass to the ones who partied themselves into an early grave. 

Even people who weren’t alive to enjoy their favorite bands in their heyday can find community. TikTok hashtags for terms like “classic rock” and “80s music” appear on hundreds of thousands of posts of young people pining for days they weren’t alive to experience themselves. In an era where loneliness reigns supreme, is there anything wrong with connecting with others over a shared past, even if said past seems a little brighter than it actually was?

Nostalgia also keeps music alive. Without a devoted following, the music that so many hold dear would be lost to the annals of history. Nostalgia motivates the preservation of art for decades to come by reminding a listener of days they can’t return to and promising a window through which they can take a peek back in time. Nostalgia is not only the pain of returning home, but the pain of forgetting what that home was like. 

Music and nostalgia are a perfect pair that seem to keep each other alive. The music of your youth reminds you of the good old days, and the dreamy memories of your past urge you to dust off that record you used to love.

So, I toast AC/DC, their successful reissue and all the great rock ‘n’ roll they’ve given the world over the past 50 years.

But more than anything, I raise a glass to nostalgia. As complex an emotion as you are, thank you for making music listeners everywhere hold tightly to their favorite tunes throughout the years.

Cheers, nostalgia. Thanks for the memories.