AC/DC - "Fly on the Wall", 1985

Most of the metal friends I know won't be surprised about me singing the praises of "Fly on the Wall" on here; I've been an advocate for this record unashamedly for a long time. I'm pretty confident I could call myself a fine connoisseur of all things AC/DC; the band is what started it all for me when it comes to listening to hard rock and metal, back when I was a kid in 1988. My first AC/DC record was actually 1983's "Flick of the Switch", another gem that's been underrated for too long, although it kind of gained a bit of a cult following nowadays; over the past 37 years, the amount of information I collected about the band from all possible sources made my knowledge about the Australian rockers rather encyclopedic, and I still happen to go through recurring AC/DC binges every now and then, listening to some of the records for days on end. I could go on about why I love the band for pages, but since you're reading this blog entry, I suppose you're either a die-hard fan already or you're just curious to understand what I think about one of its most controversial records, so let's dig into it.

Like most people, the first thing that struck me about "Fly on the Wall" on a first listen was the production; even if it was recorded in the expensive, renowned Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, the Young brothers - here in charge of the production themselves, with the help of studio engineer Mark Dearnley - wanted to recapture a certain rawness that they thought was lost on some of their previous records, namely the ones spearheaded by Mutt Lange in the producer's seat (for the uninitiated: "Highway to Hell", "Back in Black", and "For Those About to Rock"). They already made an attempt at it with the previous record, "Flick of the Switch", and while I think its raw sound perfectly complemented its rowdy, back-to-basics approach, the album didn't have much of a commercial appeal at the time, and as a consequence, it obviously didn't sell as well as the records that preceded it. With "Fly on the Wall", it seems like the Youngs tried to find a compromise between their desire to retain some grit and the need to give the sound a bit of polish, enough to keep it up to date with whatever the competition was coming up with in the mid-80s. Tracking live as a band in the ginormous octagonal room of Mountain Studios, they took advantage of the natural reverb of the facility; it could have made for a fantastic live sound, but it seems like something went wrong during the mixing process, and the album sounds strangely processed, with the bass pretty much buried under a thick layer of guitars and the vocals drenched in a variety of effects, including a 50s-style slapback delay and some digital reverbs. If anything, the guitar sound is spectacular, with seemingly more overdrive than usual, probably sounding the closest the Youngs have ever been to heavy metal. 

The album's production became notorious among fans and critics alike, often clouding the judgment about the quality of the songs on it; it took me a while to get accustomed to it, and there's no question that the mix is wildly unbalanced. Still, it retains a certain 80s charm, and it wouldn't have oozed the same atmosphere if it wasn't for its sound. Yes, the lack of bass bothers me quite a lot, and Brian Johnson's vocals are often nearly undecipherable due to the mayhem that's been done in post-production. Still, these shortcomings were never enough to stop me from enjoying the hell out of this record. In all fairness, most of the hard rock records released around the mid-80s were bathed in reverb and largely overproduced; still, that peculiar sound gave a lot of them what I call a nocturnal feel; think Ratt's "Dancing Undercover", Mötley Crüe's "Theatre of Pain", or Fastway's "Trick or Treat", just to name a few. AC/DC's "Fly on the Wall" is no exception - if not one of the best examples of what I'm trying to convey - and the short movie released in conjunction with the album, in the form of a home video, solidified its grimy, slums-by-night atmosphere, showing the band performing five songs from the album in a sleazy downtown bar ridden with dodgy characters. The animated cartoon fly - the same one depicted on the atrocious album cover - was a tad silly, and the whole thing probably looked as if the band was giving in to the MTV generation; still, in retrospect, it complemented the album's mood quite well, and the band still looks youthful and motivated in it. I certainly played the hell out of that VHS back when I was a kid.

And since I mentioned the album's artwork, that's probably the only real sore point of "Fly on the Wall"; while painted by the renowned surrealist artist Todd Schorr, it's just the depiction of a wooden fence with an eye peeking through a hole and a cartoonish, raggedy fly on it. Seriously, what were they thinking? If it wasn't for the unmistakable band logo, you could never tell this was a hard rock record; it could have been anything. Also, the way they put the hole in there makes the title read like "FlO on the Wall". The band's records rarely featured great covers, but this one certainly ranks among the worst three. 

Another criticism I often read about the album is that Johnson's vocals were "deteriorating" and that the band therefore decided to bury them in the mix to disguise the problem. Don't buy into that narrative; "Fly on the Wall" is actually the last AC/DC record where Brian sounds brilliant, before rapidly declining just three years later, as can clearly be heard on 1988's "Blow Up Your Video". Despite the abuse of effects on his vocals in the final mix, he sounds fantastic on here, especially on songs where he can show his range, such as the slow-paced "Danger." Chosen as the first lead single, it probably wasn't the best choice to introduce the album to the masses, and it's one of the strangest AC/DC songs to date, although I find it oddly intriguing. Built on atmospheric, almost mesmerizing verses where Johnson can display his bluesy tone, it explodes into a more cheerful sing-along chorus; the cheeky lyrics also showcase that Johnson's contributions in that department were on point, and it's a pity that the Youngs decided to remove him from that task since "The Razor's Edge" onwards.

The other two singles were certainly more apt than "Danger" to represent the album. "Shake Your Foundations" almost sounds like a "Shot Down in Flames" (from "Highway to Hell") for the 80s; it features an irresistible anthemic chorus, and it should have become a staple of the band's setlists for years to come; likewise, "Sink the Pink" is some of the best material the band ever put out in that decade, and it drips with brilliant guitar arrangements, as well as a great solo by Angus. 

As a whole, the album hits hard. The title track opens the A-side menacingly, with an onslaught of deafening guitars and a build-up that leads to Johnson's immortal lines, "You can dance through the night/ Rock 'n' roll music, itchin' to fight/ Makin' love, drunk or stoned/ Lookin' for dollars, get broken-boned"; the song climaxes with a furious solo by Angus. New entry Simon Wright on drums bangs along with ease, showing he was a good replacement for Phil Rudd, who was ousted from the band a couple of years earlier; while Rudd's swing and precision are legendary, Wright was a hard-hitter in his own right, and his style fits the record well, certainly a lot better than on the other record he was on, 1988's "Blow Up Your Video". The production kept the drums very natural-sounding, and while raw and booming, they fit the overall "live" feeling the band was aiming for.

"First Blood" and "Playing with Girls" are two other standout tracks, showcasing very inspired songwriting by the Youngs and frantic solos by Angus; for some reason, the mix on "Playing with Girls" sounds even thicker than the rest of the songs, making it an absolute banger. The badass "Back in Business" and "Hell or High Water" are not far behind, while "Send for the Man" might have been a bit of a filler track but is still a very heavy number regardless. "Stand Up" deserves a mention for being a rather unusual song for AC/DC standards, built on bluesy, almost southern rock-sounding licks, before heading into an anthemic chorus that feels actually a bit cheesy; still, the guitar work is so good that it gets a pass.

The mid-80s were a bit of a difficult time for AC/DC for a number of reasons; still, the band released some of its most underrated and driven records during those years, and "Fly on the Wall" certainly deserves a rediscovery. It's the last album where the band sounded tough and youthful, before progressively showing signs of stagnation and losing a bit of its edge, despite more commercially successful records such as the overrated "The Razor's Edge" (1990). Now don't get me wrong, I still love a lot of the stuff the band did after "Fly", but AC/DC never sounded this menacing again, and this record closes what I deem the best and most creative phase of its career, going from 1974 to 1985.