 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 . He thought the two previous studio albums , Ballbreaker and Stiff Upper Lip , were blues @-@ influenced . O 'Brien tried to focus on the choruses , which he felt were the best part of the AC / DC songs , 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 " . Mike Fraser said the band aimed " towards The Razors Edge era , a little bit more up @-@ tempo stuff . " O 'Brien made suggestions about the band 's performance , got Angus to play slide guitar on " Stormy May Day " , and told Johnson to swap some screaming for " soul crooning " as Johnson was a soul singer . Johnson was worried that the rest of the band would think this did not suit the band 's style of hard rock and roll , but the band was quite receptive . Because of the highly demanding singing style , Johnson only recorded his vocals for one hour a day . The rhythm section continues the basic structure from other AC / DC records ; Cliff Williams played bass lines of eighth notes , and Phil Rudd 's drumming was a consistent 4 / 4 time , mostly on his snare , kick drum and hi @-@ hat cymbal . Both musicians expressed contentment with their roles in the band ; Rudd said , " I 'm not repressing skills . Most drummers are scared to try this " , and Williams admitted he plays " the same thing in every song , for the most part " , but added " [ i ] n AC / DC 's music , the song is more important than any individual 's bit in it " . 
