Compass Point Studios — where Back in Black was recorded

Compass Point Studios was built in 1977 by Chris Blackwell — the founder of Island Records — on the western shore of New Providence Island in Nassau, designed as a residential recording facility where artists could live on site and work without the pressures of a commercial studio clock. The complex had a pool, bungalows, and access to the beach. It attracted an eclectic roster through the late 1970s and early 1980s: Grace Jones, Talking Heads, Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker. Then, in April and May of 1980, AC/DC arrived.

Bon Scott had died in London on February 19, two months earlier. The band had a choice that most bands in their position do not make successfully: continue, or stop. They chose to continue, found Brian Johnson — a former windscreen fitter and singer from Gateshead who had fronted the Newcastle band Geordie — and flew to Nassau with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange to make the album that would either be their finest or their farewell. What they made in that Caribbean studio was Back in Black, a record dedicated entirely to Bon Scott, released in July 1980 with an all-black cover as its only acknowledgment of mourning. It has sold somewhere between 50 and 72 million copies. By most measures it is the second best-selling album in history, behind only Thriller.

The speed of its making — six weeks in Nassau, grieving, recording — and the severity of its sound have made it one of the defining records in rock music. "Hells Bells." "You Shook Me All Night Long." "Back in Black." "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Mutt Lange's production gave each track an almost supernatural clarity and weight. Compass Point Studios has since changed hands and gone through periods of closure and renovation; its current status as an operating facility has varied. The bungalows, the pool, the Nassau heat — the place where AC/DC made their greatest record in the shadow of their greatest loss.