Oh, AC/DC. How you disappoint me. I really wanted to be a fan at this point in their discography. However, I keep getting delivered mediocrity, which is simply unacceptable from a legacy band. At this point, I'm more so trying to figure out what all the hubbub is about. At the same time, I'm also hopeful that with two more studio albums left to go that they'll change my mind.
Prior to the release of 1985's Fly On The Wall, Atlantic Records put together the EP, '74 Jailbreak. The album consisted of four tracks originally released on the Australian version of the bands 1974 debut, High Voltage, as well as the title track, which only appeared on the Australian version of their 1976 album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. All of the songs featured the lineup of the time in which they were recorded.
Fly On The Wall, itself, continued a steady decline in popularity for AC/DC upon its release. Oddly, this was not necessarily translated over to album sales, which continued to reach platinum accreditation on the ARIA. Critically, the album was panned, not only for the music itself, but the quality of the mixing. Many critics compared it to nothing short of AC/DC being a tribute band to AC/DC. A band trying to hard to stay relevant among the thrash metal and hair band scene.
I suppose that's the best segue into the album that I can give. Overall, it's a difficult album to listen to, and this all comes back to what's noted above. The mixing of the vocals is simply too low. I can't make out a single word being sung. Mind you, I was listening to it with headphones on, so all the sound was literally going directly to my ears. It's still incoherent.
Frankly, there's not much more I can say about it. I can't hear most of it to actually critique it. I suppose out of it all, the song Danger did stand out for me.
Further controversy marred Fly On The Wall, and the band as a whole, when serial killer Richard Ramirez was arrested in August 1985. Ramirez told police the "Night Prowler" from 1979's Highway to Hell had driven him to commit murder. Police also claimed that Ramirez was wearing an AC/DC shirt and left an AC/DC hat at one of the crime scenes. The media pounced on the opportunity, claiming the bands name was actually an acronym for Anti-Christ, Devil's Child, and used all the fuel they could get to slander the band with wild accusations.
The following year, the band released the soundtrack to Maximum Overdrive, titling it Who Made Who. It consisted mostly of songs taken from prior albums, but don't call it a greatest hits. AC/DC doesn't believe in releasing those, stating it's lazy, and a cash grab. The album contains the new single, Who Made Who, as well as instrumental tracks, D.T., and Chase The Ace. The remaining six songs come from Back In Black, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Fly On The Wall, and For Those About To Rock We Salute You. Though the film was critically panned, the title track of the album managed to be the highest hit for the band that year, reaching the top ten in Australia, and peaking at 16 in the UK. It also reached number two in Hit Parader magazine on their Best Songs Of 1986 poll.
However, it would be two more years before AC/DC would return to the studio for their final album of the decade, 1988's Blow Up Your Video. We'll wrap that one up tomorrow.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 27, 1980 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 27, 1986 |
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