AC/DC — Fly On The Wall (review)

AC/DC — Fly On The Wall album cover Album · 1985 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Fly on the Wall" is the 10th full-length studio album by Australian hard/heavy rock act AC/DC. The album was released through Atlantic Records in June 1985. Like the case had been with "Flick of the Switch (1983)", "Fly on the Wall" is a self-produced affair. The two Young brothers had a desire to bring out the rawness of their early material as opposed to the more polished and mainstream-oriented sound productions of many contemporary hard rock and metal albums. A significant lineup change had taken place as original drummer Phil Rudd, who had been playing on all AC/DC albums since the band´s debut, left the band before the recording of "Fly on the Wall". His place is taken by Simon Wright.

Four albums into the Brian Johnson led AC/DC era and the music on "Fly on the Wall" still sounds unmistakably like AC/DC. They have a signature sound and very seldom have they deviated much from that core sound. A heavy rocking rythm section, the raw bluesy hard rock riffing from Angus- and Malcolm Young (and some delicious guitar solos by Angus) and of course Brian Johnson´s impressive rusty wail. Although there are few standout tracks on the album, the title track, "Shake Your Foundations" and the relatively fast-paced "Playing With Girls" are some of the highlights. The latter mentioned sounds a bit like a raw version of something Guns´n´Roses would succeed with just a few years later.

While the album "only" sold about 1 million copies upon it´s release, which was considered a disappointment at the time, and generally received bad reviews, "Fly on the Wall" really isn´t that different from most other AC/DC releases. It might lack those really standout tracks that are featured on some of the group´s releases, but the reason for the relatively low sales, especially compared to the previous couple of albums, was probably more due to the musical climate at the time (the rise and commercial success of glam/sleaze metal in particular), than a consequence of the quality of the release. We´re not talking one of the best AC/DC albums I agree with that, but even one of the band´s less standout albums, is still a quality release deserving a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed