AC/DC – Fly On The Wall

The mid 1980s weren’t too kind to ac/dc. after a string of million selling albums, the band saw its sales decline, and it lost much of its thunder to more polished, radio-friendly groups (van halen, motley crue, def leppard). ac/dc could have jumped on a bandwagon, done the USA for Africa thing, and dabble with synths to be more “relevant” and “current” with the times. instead, they released in 1985 “fly on the wall,” which stubbornly follows the same formula these aussies have been using since the early 1970s. this release seems to get a bad rap in some circles, and let’s be honest: it won’t make anyone forget about “highway to hell.” even so, it’s 40 minutes of pure dumb fun that makes for a wild ride. the singles “danger” and “sink the pink” are obnoxiously loud anthems that have singer Brian Johnson and guitarist angus young doing what they do best: create catchy and head-banging rockers. Johnson’s voice always sounded like he swallowed a box of nails, but it sounds even more mangled on this cd. and the music, remastered with care by Sony, projects with aggressive force and sounds best when played at maximum volume. in retrospect, “fly on the wall” is one of ac/dc’s more underrated albums.