Fly on the Wall (AC/DC album)
Occupation
- Vocals: Brian Johnson
- Lead Guitar: Angus Young
- Rhythm Guitar: Malcolm Young
- Bass: Cliff Williams
- Drums: Simon Wright
Fly on the Wall (English for " fly on the wall " ) is the ninth studio album by the international Australian hard rock band AC / DC. It was released on June 28, 1985 on the Atlantic Records label.
Background
After Flick of the Switch Fly on the Wall was the second (and last) AC / DC album, which produced the Young brothers themselves. They wanted to maintain the rough, dirty sound of their earlier albums, as a counterpart to the newly emerging hair metal shaft. It was also the first album with new drummer Simon Wright. He replaced Phil Rudd, who had accompanied the band since 1975 and 1983 was eliminated.
As singles Danger, Sink the Pink and Shake Your Foundations were released from the album. However, up to Shake Your Foundations, the 1986 No. 24, in January in the UK Top 40, they reached no significant chart success.
Title list
Tour
The Fly on the Wall Tour was comprised of about 85 appearances and started on September 2, 1985 as usual with numerous concerts in the U.S. and an appearance in the Canadian capital Toronto. This tour section lasted until the end of 1985. After a three week break, the tour in Europe has continued, including eight shows in Germany. The last concert of the tour was in the Danish capital Copenhagen on 16 February 1986.
Sample Setlist
Encores:
Reception
The album was mostly panned by critics and was compared to albums like Back in Black and For Those About to Rock, a relatively little commercial success. In addition to that at this time the serial killer Richard Ramirez was arrested and alleged that the AC / DC song Night Prowler from the album Highway to Hell would have induced him to his deeds. That was another reason for the lack of success.
In the U.S. Billboard 200 Fly on the Wall peaked at number 32 and was later honored with platinum in the UK album charts, it was at least possible to place 7th in Germany it reached only number 14, in Austria it came just as the Top 30 ( No. 24 ), while it reached 30 gerademal place in Canada.
As an example of the sometimes devastating reviews, the judgment of Michael Rensen, only 6 out of 10 points awarded for publication and thereby came to the following conclusion: " There is clearly the weakest so far AC / DC drive. No power, no good song ideas, no magical moments. Back in Black was a masterpiece, For Those About to Rock scarcely weaker, and also flick of the switch went through as a good disc. Fly on the Wall, however, is little more than strunz normal average - road Rock - absolutely disappointing for a legend like AC / DC " In a later review a long -sighted Review was by Götz Kühnemund in the same magazine published, in the opinion of Rensen was relativized. "How Flick of the Switch Fly on the Wall is also nowadays often called the flop - wrongly, in my opinion. Although the disc suffers from the weak, muddy production (Angus & Malcolm Young), but the songs themselves can convince majority. Shake Your Foundations, Danger and the title track stand out, the rest moving after all, still in the upper middle class. " Kühnemund awarded two points more than Rensen.
Video
In the summer of 1985 the group released an eponymous album to the video, which includes a coherent story to five of the ten album songs. The whole video is also included on the DVD Family Jewels published in 2005 and includes the following songs:
- Fly on the Wall
- Danger
- Sink the Pink
- Stand Up
- Shake Your Foundations