It marked the band's first original recordings since Stiff Upper Lip (2000), with the eight-year gap being the longest between AC/DC's successive studio albums.

The album's development was delayed because bass guitarist Cliff Williams sustained an injury and the band changed labels from Elektra Records to Sony Music.

O'Brien tried to recapture the rock sound of the band's early work, as opposed to the blues orientation of Ballbreaker and Stiff Upper Lip, with suggestions such as adding "soul crooning" to Brian Johnson's singing.

The songs were mostly recorded live in the studio; engineer Mike Fraser used only sparse overdubs and effects to keep the tracks as close to the originals as possible.

It was the second best-selling record of 2008, behind Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and had shipped 6 million copies worldwide by December.

"[2]: 2  In a 2004 interview, vocalist Brian Johnson said that Angus had written harder riffs than those on Stiff Upper Lip and that he would be writing song lyrics for the first time since the band's 1988 album Blow Up Your Video,[8] but his input would end up minimal, with all tracks on Black Ice credited to the Youngs.

[12] Engineer Mike Fraser, who has mixed all AC/DC albums since The Razors Edge, said they recorded in batches of three songs to "keep things interesting" and to avoid overextended sessions.

The performances were first recorded with analogue equipment, as Fraser considers that tape conveys "the sound of rock & roll", and then digitised for mixing and overdubs.

Malcolm suggested using a photograph of the 1895 Montparnasse derailment for the cover, but reconsidered after he found that American rock band Mr. Big had used it for their album Lean Into It (1991).

Angus and Malcolm were writing songs that had a lot of hooks and my only job was to make a record that made people say, "I've missed AC/DC, and I'm glad they're back."

With Black Ice, Brendan O'Brien tried to recapture the rock sound of AC/DC's early work on albums such as Highway to Hell and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

[16] O'Brien tried to focus on the choruses, which he felt were the best part of the AC/DC songs,[10] and encouraged the band to emphasise the "hooky, melodic side" of its song-writing, which Angus complimented, since he had "never been great with harmonies".

[18] Angus said that when composing with Malcolm they share ideas to make each track "work together" to form a complete album,[20] and Johnson added "these songs belong together.

[34] 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.

[35] 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.

[36][37] 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.

[38] An unknown number of copies of the vinyl version were incorrectly pressed; side 1B had tracks from The Clash's Live at Shea Stadium.

[41] In North America, Wal-Mart made a deal for the exclusive distribution of Black Ice, though a few independent music shops ordered copies of the album from foreign outlets.

[42] Angus declared that the band chose Wal-Mart because the company is the biggest physical music retailer in America, which they believed to be "the best alternative to iTunes".

[43][44] Gary Severson, a Wal-Mart 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.

"Black Ice" trucks were dispatched on the streets of these cities after the release, playing tracks and making stops each day to sell merchandise.

"[10] After working with the cover for the album, provisionally titled Runaway Train, Levy went on vacation and travelled with Pearl Jam on their 2008 tour.

Club finding Black Ice the most inspired AC/DC album since The Razors Edge while sounding "harder, hungrier, and more relevant than anything on contemporary radio.

"[62] "There's a sense of purpose to this new album that far outstrips its predecessor, Stiff Upper Lip," wrote Paul Eliott in a 7/10 review for Classic Rock.

[71] Chris Jones of the BBC said the band's "almost platonic form of rock 'n' boogie that was hand built to last" remains because they "have no reason to tinker with a formula that was well-nigh perfect to begin with".

[72] Writers such as Spin's David Marchese and The Observer's Peter Kimpton complimented the band's attempts at "some new sonic tricks", such as the slide guitar of "Stormy May Day" and the quieter "Decibel".

Black Ice was described as a retread of other AC/DC albums without the same inspiration, with Spence D. of IGN declaring that "the band sounds tight, but very few of the songs actually resonate with that sense of classicism found on much of their earlier efforts",[65] The Austin Chronicle's Austin Powell feeling that despite "a few cheap thrills" the album lacked "the urgent indecency and iron force that defined the Bon Scott era",[73] and AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine considering that after "Big Jack" the tracks went into a "too-comfortable groove, fueled by too-tight rhythms and guitars that sound loud but not beefy".

Entertainment Weekly's reviewer Clark Collis wrote that "even 2000's fairly monochromatic Stiff Upper Lip had more varied material",[63] Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone felt that Black Ice "feels longer than its 55 minutes, thanks to a stretch of throwaway rockers",[17] and Robert Forster of The Monthly thought that a shorter running time would "maximise the album's impact", given he found the first four songs and the title track the best for sounding more diverse, while the other tracks were let down by poor songwriting and a "numbing predictability".

[74] Black Ice was the second best-selling album worldwide in 2008, behind Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.

[75] As of December 2008, it had shipped six million copies worldwide,[45] and earned sales certifications in 24 countries, with multi-platinum status in eight, platinum in twelve more, and gold in the four remaining.