"Shoot to Thrill" is a song by Australian hard rock bandAC/DC. It is the second track on the 1980 album Back in Black. This song is also the second track of AC/DC Live and AC/DC Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition, and is included on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack. Although the studio version was never released as a single, the song is a fan favourite and a staple on classic rock radio stations.
Music video
On 26 January 2010, a new music video for "Shoot to Thrill" was released with exclusive footage from the film Iron Man 2. The live concert footage used in the video was filmed in December 2009 at a concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Estadio Monumental, from which the Live at River Plate DVD was filmed.
Live recordings
Several different live recordings of "Shoot to Thrill" have been released officially. One version, recorded from the Razors Edge World Tour, was released on the 1992Live album. Another version, recorded from the 1991 Donington show, was released on the deluxe edition of the 2009 box setBacktracks. Another performance, recorded at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in December 2009, was released as a limited edition7-inch single for Record Store Day2011, promoting the live DVD Live at River Plate, which was released in May 2011.
Meaning
When explaining his lyrical inspiration for the song, lead singer and then-songwriter Brian Johnson recalled reading a British article about a neighbourhood pusher who made daily rounds throughout the London suburbs, selling narcotics to bored, lonely and depressed housewives. These substance-effected homemakers would then peruse the local clubs and bars, seeking out torrid, extra-marital relationships. The term "Shoot to thrill.." most likely refers to certain solutions such as diazepam, which is often administered via injection to treat anxiety and depression. Lead guitarist Angus Young has recently commented that the song's 'break-down', which occurs soon after the main solo, was inspired by the trio gun-battle climax from Sergio Leone's classic, Italian western 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". In this seminal scene, gun-fighters Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach stare one another down in the centre of a Civil-War cemetery for minutes-on-end to an eventual shoot-out. Young said this sequence in the song was designed to mirror the actual soundtrack selection 'Il Triello' by composer Ennio Morricone. Both compositions feature a slow quiet build-up, increasing in tension to a thunderous, cataclysmic finale.
In the intro of TV Argentine program, Caiga Quien Caiga
It appears in the first Iron Man 2 trailer and during the opening scenes of the movie. It is later reprised in 2012's The Avengers as a signature theme for Iron Man, playing when he joins Captain America in the fight against Loki in Stuttgart, Germany. The latter film's soundtrack was originally set to contain a cover of the song performed by Canadian rock band Theory of a Deadman, but it was removed for unknown reasons.
In the intro of the Brazilian version of the TV program, CQC, Custe o Que Custar
The was one of the two AC/DC theme songs to World Wrestling Entertainment's 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania event. The other was "War Machine" from Black Ice.
