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.

Time Signature Back in business...

Genre: hard rock / heavy metal

"Fly on the Wall" is not a bad album as such, but certainly is not AC/DC's best album. Apart from some of the tracks being somewhat lackluster, the production is a central factor here. There's simply too much reverb on the guitars and vocals, and the drums sound like they were recorded in a bathroom.

That being said there are some pretty cool songs on the album. Notable tracks are "First Blood" whose main riff and chorus riff are pretty cool and "Danger" which is also based on some nice catchy riffs. "Stand Up" is not the most interesting track on the album, but I must admit that I love the chorus - both in terms of the vocals, lyrics and, last but not least, the guitar riff which is absolutely brilliant. "Hell or High Water" also has a cool chorus and is one of the best tracks on the album. "Send for the Man" while not the best song in the world also contains some nice guitar riffs and a super rock 'n' roll "YEAH!" in the chorus. "Shake Your Foundations" contains an atypically glammy riff, but it works okay. The rest of the tracks of the album are okay, but in all, while there are plenty of nice riffs on the album, the songs are generally less catchy than AC/DC songs should be.

I think that most hard rock fans and many fans of traditional 80s metal would appreciate this album, but don't expect another "Back in Black".