 On 3 March 2008 , recording started at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver , where Stiff Upper Lip was recorded , and lasted for eight weeks . 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 . According to Fraser , the band had not rehearsed the songs before entering the studio . Despite " a couple of tweaks in the writing , sparkling up the choruses a bit better " during the recording , the compositions were mostly complete . Still , the Young brothers had new ideas during production , including the song " Anything Goes " , which was written when the studio sessions were nearly finished . The songs were mostly recorded live in the studio ; the instruments and backing vocals were recorded in the live room and the vocals at both the control room and an overdubbing booth . 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 . Fraser tried to not alter the original recordings – " I used Pro @-@ Tools purely as a tape machine " – with no effects on the bass and rhythm guitar , sparse delay and reverb effects on the vocals and other instruments and overdubs were only used for the lead guitar and vocals . 
