Fly on the Wall is an album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was the band's ninth internationally released studio album and the tenth to be released in Australia.
Originally released on 28 June 1985, it was AC/DC's and also the band'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.)[1] It was the second and last album to be produced by band members, but in contrast to their previous album, Flick of the Switch, which was produced by the band as a whole, Fly on the Wall was produced only by guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young, who hoped to capture the rawness and simplicity of their early works[2] in a time when pop-oriented glam metal became popular.
The album was not well received by critics and only sold one million copies upon its release, as opposed to the success of their previous albums, Back in Black and For Those About to Rock We Salute You.[3] The singles "Shake Your Foundations" and "Sink the Pink", however, are seen as standouts from the album,[2][4][5] and both songs were later included on the band's soundtrack album Who Made Who for Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive. A video featuring the band performing five of the album's songs was also released in the summer of 1985. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Video
A home video of AC/DC performing five songs from the album was released in the summer of 1985. The video, also titled Fly on the Wall, features the band playing the songs "Fly on the Wall", "Danger", "Sink the Pink", "Stand Up", and "Shake Your Foundations", in that order, at a small bar in New York City, named The Crystal Ballroom. At the bar, a photographer attempts to sneak in to take photographs of the band, and as the band performs, new characters are introduced during each song, including three suit-clad men and two women during "Stand Up", and a lady dressed in all pink during "Sink the Pink". The cartoon fly depicted on the album cover is also seen in the video. At the beginning of the video, as the band walks onstage, the announcer, named Decadent Dan, says to the near-empty room: "We've got a very special group for you tonight, so let's give a big Crystal Ballroom welcome to... what's the name of the group again?" Someone off-camera whispers, and then Dan says "AC/DC! What's that, an electric company or something?" The band then proceeds to play the title track, "Fly on the Wall". The bartender, irritated by the loud sounds of the main riff, puts earplugs into his ears. The audience becomes more rowdy and begin to dance and cheer more as each song passes, until eventually the ballroom crumbles and the band are the only ones left standing.
Video version of Fly on the Wall
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Brian Johnson.
|
| 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 |
Chart positions
Album
Singles
Certification
| Country | Sales | Certification |
| United States |
1,000,000 |
Platinum |
Personnel
Production
- Produced by Angus and Malcolm Young
- Mark Dearnley – engineer
- Bob Defrin – art director
- Todd Schorr – cover illustration
References
External links
- Lyrics on AC/DC's official website
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