Fly On The Wall

On this album and its predecessor, 1983’s Flick of the Switch, AC/DC produced themselves, and this time out you might think Angus and Malcolm Young had been listening to underground rock releases on SST, Homestead or Touch & Go, because this is one ugly, noisy album. The drums are huge, the guitars claw at your ears, and Brian Johnson is screaming himself hoarse from the middle of the mix. No matter how far down you turn the volume, it still sounds head-explodingly loud. But buried in that wall of stomping noise are some of the band’s best latter-day songs, including the title track, “Shake Your Foundations,” “Sink the Pink,” “Playing With Girls,” and “Back in Business,” all building up to the riff-and-shout closer, “Send for the Man.” AC/DC were being somewhat taken for granted when this record came out, but it makes a strong argument for never underestimating them.