On November 25th, AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was due to appear in court in New Zealand on charges of threatening to kill and possession of drugs. He did make his scheduled appearance, but the judge at the court in the North Island city of Tauranga briefly issued an arrest warrant for Rudd after he failed to appear on time. The warrant was withdrawn when he appeared minutes later.

According to the BBC report, In court, Rudd put on a show for the gallery, winking at the media and tapping a rhythm on the dock. As he left, he jumped on his security guard's back and was carried to his sports car.

Rudd entered no plea and was remanded on bail until December 2nd.

The Australian-born rocker first appeared in court earlier this month, where he also faced the more serious charge of attempting to procure the murder of two men. However, in a stunning about-turn, the Crown solicitor dropped that charge the next day after a meeting with Rudd's lawyer and police.

Rudd's lawyer, Paul Mabey, QC, said the Crown solicitor hadn't previously been consulted by police and decided there was not enough evidence to justify the charge. The Crown solicitor's office confirmed the charge had been dropped, while police declined to comment while the case was still before the courts. The names of individuals identified in the withdrawn charge were all suppressed by the judge, and are still suppressed.

Mabey said Rudd would defend the threatening to kill charge and described the drugs possession charges, which relate to methamphetamine and cannabis, as "minor".

Read more at Stuff.co.nz.

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young and bassist Cliff Williams were recently interviewed by Sweden's Aftonbladet about their new album, Rock Or Bust, which will be released December 2nd. The pair also discussed continuing on without founding guitarist Malcolm Young after he was diagnosed with dementia; Angus' nephew Stevie Young, who had previously filled in for Malcolm in 1988, is once again replacing him.

AC/DC are giving fans an early chance to enjoy their latest album Rock or Bust which is streaming now exclusively as an iTunes Radio First Play, here.  This marks the first opportunity for fans to listen at will to all 11 tracks on Rock or Bust.

Earlier today, AC/DC  released the video for the title track of their new album, Rock Or Bust, the band’s first studio album in six years. Shot in London in early October, the video was directed by longtime collaborator David Mallet and features diehard fans from around the globe surrounding their heroes performing the song in an intimate club environment.

Rock Or Bust was produced by Brendan O’Brien, with Mike Fraser mixing at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, BC.  The album’s cover art uses a developed 3-D lenticular technology, which gives the illusion of the band’s iconic logo exploding as the album is moved. Rock or Bust is the band’s first album of new material in six years, following their immensely successful Black Ice, which entered charts at #1 in 31 countries and has sold nearly 8 million copies worldwide.

Rock Or Bust tracklisting:

"Play Ball"
"Sign Of The Times"
"Ain't The Way"
"Rock Or Bust"
"Done Her Good"
"Steal My Meal"
"Watching Games"
"Cardhouse Blues"
"Bulletride"
"Rumble"
"Back In The Zone"

"Play Ball":