| Fly on the Wall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art by Todd Schorr | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 28 June 1985 | |||
| Recorded | October 1984 – February 1985 | |||
| Studio | Mountain (Montreux) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:30 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| AC/DC chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Fly on the Wall | ||||
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Fly on the Wall is the tenth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 28 June 1985 by Albert Productions, and Atlantic Records. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Although AC/DC's 1983 album Flick of the Switch was a commercial and critical failure, the band remained one of the biggest hard rock acts in the world. In October 1984, Atlantic Records released to the United States the EP '74 Jailbreak , a collection of studio tracks previously unreleased outside Australia, taken mainly from the band's 1975 Australian debut High Voltage . In January 1985, the band took three weeks off from recording what would become Fly on the Wall to headline two nights at the 10-day Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, appearing to over 250,000 people on 19 January with Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Ozzy Osbourne.
The sessions for Fly on the Wall took place at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland from October 1984 to February 1985. Released on 28 June, it was AC/DC's first album since the Australian release of T.N.T. not to include drummer Phil Rudd, who was replaced by Simon Wright (although Wright appeared in music videos for Flick of the Switch tracks), making it the first AC/DC album with all band members born in the UK. [1]
It was the second and last album to be produced by the band members. But in contrast to the preceding Flick of the Switch – produced by the band as a whole – Fly on the Wall was produced by guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young, who hoped to capture the rawness and simplicity of their early work [2] in a time when pop-oriented glam metal had become popular. In a 1985 interview with Sky Channel for the Monsters of Rock show, frontman Brian Johnson explained: "In my experience, the lads went in with a producer, but they were still really telling the lad what they wanted, so in a round-about way all it is an extra pair of ears. An expensive extra pair of ears."
| Fly on the Wall | |
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| Video by | |
| Released | Summer 1985 |
| Genre | |
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Fly on the Wall is a home video by AC/DC, released in the summer of 1985. It consisted of a single music video of five of the songs from the album. The visuals involved AC/DC playing at a bar while various shady characters interacted with an animated fly, much like the one on the cover of the album. It features the band playing (in order) "Fly on the Wall", "Danger", "Sink the Pink", "Stand Up", and "Shake Your Foundations". If nothing else, the video demonstrated the band's new commitment to the now powerful MTV by going beyond performance-based videos.
The entire video (minus the credits with the song "Playing With Girls") can be found on disc two of the band's 2005 Family Jewels DVD compilation.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [6] |
The album was not well received by critics and its one million US sales paled beside those of Back in Black and For Those About to Rock We Salute You . [7] The singles "Shake Your Foundations" and "Sink the Pink" are seen as standouts; [2] [8] [9] both were later included on the band's soundtrack album Who Made Who for Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive . The song "Danger" fell flat in concert and was banished from the set. [10] Some critics also complained that Johnson's vocals were difficult to decipher, and the band would indeed raise them in the remix for "Shake Your Foundations" on Who Made Who.
In the original Rolling Stone review of the album, Tim Holmes wrote, "You'd never guess how sexist and politically incorrect all this is if you didn't read the lyric sheet, because you sure can't make out a single word coming out of the dentist's-drill glottis of Brian Johnson (except maybe the song titles, which tend to be repeated like mantras). Angus Young is also in great form, playing the dumbest, most irresistibly repetitive chords in the lexicon." [11] According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, "Fly on the Wall continues AC/DC's descent into cookie-cutter mediocrity, with the leering humor of past glories seeming forced and uninspired, and the music remaining somewhat underdeveloped and directionless." [3] In his 1994 Bon Scott biography Highway to Hell, author Clinton Walker calls the album a "disaster". Martin Popoff observed how Fly on the Wall "tries desperately to recapture wasted youth, yet the material for the most part is cookie-cutter AC/DC" and remarked Brian Johnson's awkward vocals "mixed quite far back, possibly because he's sounding raspier and more incoherent than ever". [4] US gossip magazine People picked the LP as the best album of 1985. [12]
Retrospective reviews are also largely negative. Classic Rock explains that Malcolm and Angus Young "made AC/DC sound like a tribute act on a bad night, and as writers all they could muster was one half-decent song, Shake Your Foundations. All told, the album is a disaster." [13] Ultimate Classic Rock agrees with this sentiment, saying that it was when the band started losing relevancy from the hair metal and thrash metal movements, and while the material does "suggest the band was trying a little too hard to fit in, at least they were trying." [14]
The album does, however, have at least one "high-profile" fan: singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, who said "I had an epiphany while I was running and some songs from Fly on the Wall came on. That's a record I could always put on my run mix and I don't have to leave any songs off." [15]
The Fly on the Wall Tour was marred by bad publicity when serial killer Richard Ramirez was arrested. Ramirez, nicknamed the "Night Stalker" by the press, told police that "Night Prowler" from Highway to Hell (1979) had driven him to commit murder. Police also claimed that Ramirez was wearing an AC/DC shirt and left an AC/DC hat at one of the crime scenes. As Murray Engelheart observes in his book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, "It was just what the band's detractors had been waiting for and the media, especially in America, immediately seized on the case. Wild accusations that AC/DC were, in fact, devil worshippers were bandied about... The lyrics of 'Night Prowler' were carefully analysed and some newspapers attempted to link Ramirez's Satanism with AC/DC's name, somehow arriving at the conclusion that AC/DC actually stood for Anti-Christ, Devil's Child."
The band maintained that the song had been given a murderous connotation by Ramírez, but is actually about a boy sneaking into his girlfriend's bedroom at night while her parents are asleep. [16] In a 2000 interview for the MuchMoreMusic documentary The Story of AC/DC, Angus says wryly, "I can't remember the last black mass I attended."
All tracks are written by Malcolm Young, Angus Young, and Brian Johnson
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fly on the Wall" | 3:44 |
| 2. | "Shake Your Foundations" | 4:10 |
| 3. | "First Blood" | 3:46 |
| 4. | "Danger" | 4:22 |
| 5. | "Sink the Pink" | 4:15 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Playing with Girls" | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Stand Up" | 3:53 |
| 8. | "Hell or High Water" | 4:32 |
| 9. | "Back in Business" | 4:24 |
| 10. | "Send for the Man" | 3:36 |
| Total length: | 40:30 | |
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [17] | 4 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [18] | 16 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [19] | 30 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [20] | 26 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [21] | 7 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [22] | 14 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [23] | 22 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [24] | 17 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [25] | 10 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [26] | 19 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [27] | 7 |
| US Billboard 200 [28] | 32 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [29] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
| Germany (BVMI) [30] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) [31] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [32] | Gold | 25,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [33] | Silver | 60,000^ |
| United States (RIAA) [34] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in 1973. They were founded by brothers Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and Angus Young on lead guitar. Their current lineup comprises Angus, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd, lead vocalist Brian Johnson, and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, nephew of Angus and Malcolm. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and heavy metal, but the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formative influence on the new wave of British heavy metal bands, such as Def Leppard and Saxon. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records on 25 July 1980. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of Bon Scott, their previous vocalist.
Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It is the first of three albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and is the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died on 19 February 1980.
Blow Up Your Video is the eleventh studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Flick of the Switch is the ninth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The album was deemed a commercial disappointment after it failed to match the sales figures of the band's two previous releases, 1980's Back in Black and 1981's For Those About to Rock, and its release represented the beginning of the band's commercial decline. The third AC/DC album to feature lead vocalist Brian Johnson, the album is also the last to feature drummer Phil Rudd before his return on Ballbreaker (1995). The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band, AC/DC. It was originally released on 21 March 1977 in Australasia, through Albert Productions label. A modified international edition was released on 25 July 1977, through Atlantic Records. It was the last AC/DC album to feature Mark Evans on bass.
Powerage is the fifth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1978. This was the band's first album to feature Cliff Williams on bass guitar, and it was also the first AC/DC album not to have a title track and the first worldwide not to be released with a different album cover. Powerage was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
The Razors Edge is the twelfth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. Released on 24 September 1990, through Albert Productions/CBS Records International in Australasia and Atlantic Records in Europe, it was recorded in 1990 in Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, Canada, and was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser and produced by Bruce Fairbairn. It was a major comeback for the band, featuring the hits "Thunderstruck", "Are You Ready" and "Moneytalks". This is the only studio album to feature Chris Slade, who was the drummer for AC/DC from 1989 to his dismissal in 1994.
AC/DC Live is the second live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in October 1992. Two versions were released, one containing a single CD, with the second version being a double album on LP and CD known as AC/DC Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition. A feature-length live video, AC/DC: Live at Donington, was released concurrently. The double album AC/DC Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition was released a month after the single-disc version, in a slipcased two-disc "book" and containing an AC/DC dollar note known as "Angus Bucks". Both editions of the album were re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Family Jewels is a compilation DVD by the hard rock band AC/DC, featuring the group's music videos, live clips and promotional videos from 1975 to 2008. It was released by Albert Productions and Epic Music Video on 28 March 2005. The first disc contains videos from the Bon Scott era (1975–1980), such as the band's first TV appearance and a performance on television ten days before Scott died. The second disc contains material from the Brian Johnson era up to 1991.
"Shake Your Foundations" is a song and single by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, written by Angus and Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson.
"Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976. The song was not released in North America until 1984. It was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) (shortened to For Those About to Rock on its cover) is the eighth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released on 20 November 1981 in the United States, 23 November 1981 in the United Kingdom and 7 December 1981 in Australia.
Ballbreaker is the thirteenth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released in 1995 and was re-released in 2005 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
High Voltage is the first internationally released album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It contains tracks completed from their first two previous Australia-only issued albums, High Voltage and T.N.T..
The Fly on the Wall Tour was a concert tour by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, in support of their tenth studio album Fly on the Wall, which was released on 28 June 1985.
Who Made Who is a soundtrack album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Released on 26 May 1986, the album is the soundtrack to the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Stiff Upper Lip is the 14th studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released on 28 February 2000. The album was produced by George Young, older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young. It was the last AC/DC album that George produced before his death in 2017.
Rock or Bust is the sixteenth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 28 November 2014. Rock or Bust is the group's first album to feature rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, replacing founding member Malcolm Young, who had retired from the band earlier in the year due to health concerns. It is the shortest studio album ever released by the band. At approximately 35 minutes, it is two minutes shorter than their previous shortest album, Flick of the Switch, which was released in 1983. It sold 2.8 million copies worldwide.
Power Up is the seventeenth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 13 November 2020 through Columbia Records. Power Up marks the return of vocalist Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams, all of whom left AC/DC before, during, and after the supporting tour for their previous album Rock or Bust (2014). This is also the band's first album since the death of co-founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017 and it serves as a tribute to him, according to his brother Angus; Malcolm received posthumous songwriting credits for all of the album's songs, as they were never-before released tracks written by both brothers. Power Up was generally well received by music critics and reached number one in 21 countries. The album was nominated for the Best Rock Album on the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Foo Fighters' Medicine at Midnight (2021). It sold 1.4 million copies worldwide.
