The sessions for Fly on the Wall took place in Montreux, Switzerland at Mountain Studios in late October 1984. Released on 28 June 1985, it was AC/DC's first album since the original Australian version of High Voltage 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.
It was the second and last album to be produced by 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 in a time when pop-oriented glam metal had become popular. In a 1985 interview with Sky Channel for the Monsters of Rock show, 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."
Instead of issuing your usual run-of-the-mill video clips advertising your new album, AC/DC decided to try something a little different for their 1985 record, Fly on the Wall.
A storyline was created that would run through five of the album's songs, and while the story wasn't exactly on par with Citizen Kane (it centered around the band playing away at a city bar, while strange characters were introduced per song), it proved to be a rather original idea amidst the usual corny clips of the '80s.
The most popular video was for the mid-paced rocker "Danger" (which showed a sleazy photographer snooping around the band), which was played regularly on MTV's heavy metal programs.
Other clips included "Shake Your Foundations" (as the title hints, the band reduces the bar to rubble), and a rather embarrassing one for "Sink the Pink" (in which a disco dancer shimmy's away to AC/DC's thunderous heavy metal...come on!). Like their 1986 home video, Who Made Who, Fly on the Wall suffers from an all too short running time, but still manages to be enjoyable viewing.
Track listing
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
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
All tracks are written by Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Brian Johnson.
Personnel
- Brian Johnson – lead vocals
- Angus Young – lead guitar
- Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Simon Wright – drums, percussion
Credits
- Produced by Angus and Malcolm Young
- Mark Dearnley – engineer
- Bob Defrin – art director
- Todd Schorr – cover illustration
- SMAY Vision - booklet design (reissue)
- Ebet Roberts, George Bodnar, Barry Plummer - photography
Notes
Released: 28 June 1985
Recorded: October 1984–February 1985, Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland
Genre: Hard rock
Length: 40:30
Label - Albert Productions, Atlantic Records
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