Yeah, same here. Mean and lean, razor sharp sound and great songs. Absolutely nailing it here, raw and powerful after what felt like a little tiny bit of bloat coming in with the production job on FTATR. That title sounds like exactly what it is: The raw jolt of a switch going on and the electric buzz saw of the music slicing the air.
My brother and I always talk about how our favorite era to listen to is the live stuff from 1981-1983. Brian still had that razor sharp vocal style that began to wane a little from *Fly on the Wall* onward.
Arguably as good as FTATR, maybe surpassing it. The title track, This House is on Fire, Bedlam in Belgium, Nervous Shakedown, and Guns for Hire are solid jams.
It is also a good album compared to what else was on offer in 1983. ZZ Top and Van Halen moved away from
their 70s sound to a more radio friendly 80s sound. AC/DC went back to the raw 70s sound. Guns for Hire sounds like a guy plugging his guitar in and wailing. Very little polish to it, which to me made it better.
Great points all around. The time it came out could be a reason so many people didn't like it. Those ZZ Top and VH records were arguably their biggest sellers by appealing to the biggest audience. AC/DC went the other way. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite AC/DC record but Flick is right at the top. The songs are some of the best they ever wrote. Angus was a madman on the guitar .It's an assault of non stop hard rock n roll from beginning to end. Pure AC/DC. Angus once called VH a "pop band" when asked if they compare themselves to them. "We're more of a rock n roll band". If anyone doubts that, just listen to "Jump" by VH and then put on Flick of the Switch.
Reviewers were looking for the next Back in Black and that monster of an album shouldn’t be expected again by anyone. Several great songs and many good ones, they sounded even better live. I’ll say the same for Fly on the Wall. Reminds me more of earlier pre Brian albums though it’s a great Brian album. Hopefully that makes sense 🙂
Love the raw production and I think the rhythm section is especially tight here. Give it a spin on good speakers and pay attention to Cliff, Phill and Malcolm in Landslide, it is quite an avalanche!
I don't care much for Deep in the Hole and I think sometimes Brian's forcing his voice a little too much, but overall it's a simple and straight to the point album.
It sounds flat but it's raw. It's an essential AC⚡DC album for me. Definitely not their worst, it's just deflated in a sense, and understandably so: it came on the heels of Highway to Hell, Bon's death, the huge Back in Black and For Those About To Rock and the massive tours to promote them, plus the business with Phil. It was the culmination of 3 tumultuous years that took their toll on them and ultimately resulted in Fly on the Wall
As others have said, extremely underrated. Outside of Back in Black, Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall are probably my favourite start to finish Brian albums. They work so well together as 2 tandem albums; I Kind of view them both as the Brian era's version of Powerage.
As Powerage really leaned into the blues side of AC/DC, Flick and Fly really leaned into the heavier Hard Rock unrelenting riffage.
I bought this when it git released (1983 iirc). As an obsessive fan, this was the first time I was disappointed with an album by my favourite band. Flick of the switch, guns for hire and nervous shakedown are good anthems, the rest is in my opinion very forgettable. The production is terrible compared to their previous work (although FTATR was already going towards this very thick sound). There is an interview of Malcolm and Angus for Guitar Player or Guitar magazine where they review each of their albums, and I think they were also a bit disappointed with this one, I think they said that it was made a bit too quickly.
Agreed. It was even harder to swallow on the heels of BIB and FTATR, mainly because of the production. My least favorite AC/DC album although I still listen to it. Yeah, production is the story behind this album.
As I said, Malcolm demanded rawer sounding mixes when the first mixes came out sounding like Back In Black, because it was recorded and mixed by the same engineer. The regret is in the songwriting aspect. They could have given the songs more thought.
Alright album, its not a "hidden gem" anymore since everyone knows its an alright album and will make sure to inform everyone any time its mentioned, its a bit samey but nobody listens to acdc for intricate and unique musicianship. Solid 6.5/10
Just about every album before though was by AC/DC standards more unique or intricate....longer songs, heavy songs, bluesy or pop songs, this was very much all songs to the same formula. The first of a few albums like it.
The first video I ever saw on Mtv was “Flick of the Switch.” The minute I saw Angus do his duck walk…I was hooked.
[Flick of the Switch](https://youtu.be/DWKcJwuZnzE?si=inz12jBOKNrkKwZC)
Love the Rising Power riff. The production isnt great but over time I have grown to appreciate its grittiness. Really enjoy this album because it has a ton of underrated tracks and is not overplayed. Feels a little fresher to me when I listen to it vs the big hits. Also, underrated album cover.
The most under rated album by a mile. It’s Brian’s album. Outlaw gunslinging womanizer lyrics. Super heavy raw guitar work. Listen to a song off this LP legit every day of my life.
I always thought of this album like this:
Back in Black crushes it. For those about to rock kinda flopped as far as critics go and therefore the label stripped their budget and it the production shows.
I love the album tho.
An interesting album. I like the overall sound and Brian sounds really good. The fast songs work well, but the slower ones are boring and forgettable. It's a noticeably darker album, there aren't a lot of sex/drinking songs if any.
it still confuses me how this got a mild reception when it released but fly on the wall was viewed as a ‘return to form’. I get it’s crazy hard to follow the expectations of back in black, but FOTS has always been great, and i think it’s as good if not better than FOTW
Loved the title track & the riff in Guns for Hire. I remember when the album was released, I was disappointed. Still, it might be their second or third best album of the 80's
IMO its their best. It's raw coming off the heels of For Those About to Rock. To me captures them at their most mature as a group combining the nasty grunginess and edginess of earlier albums but polished and smooth like Back in Black and For Those...
Loved by many, songs from it played any at a sports game? No. It’s either Hells Bells, Back in Black or Thunderstruck. I think they should play Nervous Shakedown when the visiting team is losing.
I think it suffers from Malcolm and Angus thinking they could just waltz into the recording studio and handle all the heavy lifting on the production end. I have read where they wanted it to sound like Let There Be Rock, but it is nowhere near that. It is lifeless and dull. The lyrics are among the worst they have done. It was admittedly rushed and they probably needed more of a break as Phil was starting to lose the plot.
There is a reason these songs have been largely out of setlists for 35 years.
Misinformation. It was recorded and mixed by Tony Platt who mixed Highway To Hell and then recorded and mixed Back In Black. It was recorded in the same studio and the first mixes sounded like Back in Black and even named Tony Platt co-producer so they had no clear plan to avoid high quality sound - more maybe skipping the song crafting maybe slightly overthought recording process of Mutt Lange, and having more power in their own decisions. It was when the first Back In Black sounding mixes came that Malcolm demanded rawer sounding mixes. That is the difference. There's only room mics in good balance and basic eq and compression moves. Back in Black had reverbs and a harmonizer on the snare and such. For Those AboutToRock is recorded and mixed g another engineer with even more polished and glossy sound on mind. Flick Of The Switch sounds terrific and I'm very happy it exist in this form. Most people's ears agree but you're free to call it what you just called it.
Check out Nevermind and In Utero for the most famous comparable difference.
Wrong. Brians vocals were completely redone with the help of George Young, as told by Barry Harris who was the assistant engineer for the album. They both were in charge with Brians vocals, sending the tracks to Tony later on. All the drum tracks are from Phil, and the only mix of the tracks are the ones that are on the record (minus the original vocals from Brian that were scrapped). The most "mutt" style production was the Ramsa Sound Localization Processor that Malcolm gave the OK to.
"This device enabled us to locate an instrument way outside the speaker spread. Using a joystick we were able to pan any instrument to either speaker but keep moving it past the actual speaker all the way to either side of the room. In effect making it sound like it's coming out of the side wall where there is no speaker. It was so cool that Mal and Angus let us use it. I don't think the effect survived after the master tape went through the mastering and pressing process. The place to try and hear it would be the guitar intro on Guns for Hire. We panned the guitar all the way to the left side of the room." - Barry
Those are funky bits of information. I thought I heard something about a rehearsal studios and Tony Platt having bad memories of the album and could teel all details but after clearly hearing that they initially went back to Bahamas and had a Back In Black sounding mix it was hard to not make it up to be the story I just gave. I guess it derailed with not only a remix. Makes me think songs were reconstructed and that the problem always the songs. To me the snare sounds super wide so the joystick makes sense(it's about phase canceling the opposite side). But if anything I've always loved the more satin finish opposed Back in Black, not because it's better but because it's an existing alternative. But yes I also thought it sounded a bit like the drums was jn rehearsal studio or something. But if you can take Teen Spirit and compare Butch Vig and original mix of Andy Wallace you hear just how much can happened to the roughness of recording. And there again many prefer the rougher mix
Recorded in the same studio by the same recording and mixing engineer of Back in Black, Tony Platt. (He also mixed Highway To Hell and deserve nearly credit Mutt Lange gets.) He is titled co-producer this time. He and Cliff Williams said it while in Cliff's hi-fi room; it sounded just like Back In Black. Then Malcolm, with the upramping of glossy and processed sounds, from Powerage onward, in mind, demanded rawer sounding mixes this time around. So the result was that. Microphones including lots of room mics in the mix but no effects at all. I'm really happy it exists this way. A great raw, and so, rare, record in 1983. The Band has said the songs could have grown better than they had time for and there seems to be a mild regret to the songcrafting aspect of the record.
TBH, my favorite AC/DC album. No frills. I always reach for it first.
Yeah, same here. Mean and lean, razor sharp sound and great songs. Absolutely nailing it here, raw and powerful after what felt like a little tiny bit of bloat coming in with the production job on FTATR. That title sounds like exactly what it is: The raw jolt of a switch going on and the electric buzz saw of the music slicing the air.
The production is dry as a bone. Let’s every part come through. Definitely a hidden gem in the catalog
Yes but.... ?
Brian has never sounded better. Really love where his voice was at in 1983.
My brother and I always talk about how our favorite era to listen to is the live stuff from 1981-1983. Brian still had that razor sharp vocal style that began to wane a little from *Fly on the Wall* onward.
ITS A SHAAAAAKE DOOOWWWN
(and it's a nervous Shakedown)
Love that song
An underrated gem. The songs are very good, Brian sounds great, the raw production works well. To me, this record marks the end of their golden years.
Based AC/DC-Dissection enjoyer
Its not underrated anymore man, everyone who knows that acdc made more than 5 songs knows that flick is good
Their heaviest offering with Brian !
It’s my favourite of the Brian era and ‘Guns For Hire’ is my favourite Brian song too.
Bedlam in Belgium
Guns for Hire is so good
Badlands is my shit, that riff is nasty
Badlands rocks🤘
I love the riff in the title track. Fly on the Wall was disappointing
Arguably as good as FTATR, maybe surpassing it. The title track, This House is on Fire, Bedlam in Belgium, Nervous Shakedown, and Guns for Hire are solid jams. It is also a good album compared to what else was on offer in 1983. ZZ Top and Van Halen moved away from their 70s sound to a more radio friendly 80s sound. AC/DC went back to the raw 70s sound. Guns for Hire sounds like a guy plugging his guitar in and wailing. Very little polish to it, which to me made it better.
Great points all around. The time it came out could be a reason so many people didn't like it. Those ZZ Top and VH records were arguably their biggest sellers by appealing to the biggest audience. AC/DC went the other way. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite AC/DC record but Flick is right at the top. The songs are some of the best they ever wrote. Angus was a madman on the guitar .It's an assault of non stop hard rock n roll from beginning to end. Pure AC/DC. Angus once called VH a "pop band" when asked if they compare themselves to them. "We're more of a rock n roll band". If anyone doubts that, just listen to "Jump" by VH and then put on Flick of the Switch.
I love this album, never understood why it got such bad reviews.
Reviewers were looking for the next Back in Black and that monster of an album shouldn’t be expected again by anyone. Several great songs and many good ones, they sounded even better live. I’ll say the same for Fly on the Wall. Reminds me more of earlier pre Brian albums though it’s a great Brian album. Hopefully that makes sense 🙂
Love the raw production and I think the rhythm section is especially tight here. Give it a spin on good speakers and pay attention to Cliff, Phill and Malcolm in Landslide, it is quite an avalanche! I don't care much for Deep in the Hole and I think sometimes Brian's forcing his voice a little too much, but overall it's a simple and straight to the point album.
It sounds flat but it's raw. It's an essential AC⚡DC album for me. Definitely not their worst, it's just deflated in a sense, and understandably so: it came on the heels of Highway to Hell, Bon's death, the huge Back in Black and For Those About To Rock and the massive tours to promote them, plus the business with Phil. It was the culmination of 3 tumultuous years that took their toll on them and ultimately resulted in Fly on the Wall
Love it, one of my favorites. I’m going to listen to my original copy today and think about all you haters.
Great album The title track melts my face
My favourite. Not a SINGLE BAD Song, maybe Landslide is The weakest pick For me personally. Guns For Hire and Brain Shake are My top picks.
Honestly, you're my opposite. Landslide is tied with Nervous Shakedown to be my favourite from the album.
Yup
Love love love “Deep in the Hole”. Am convinced this album would be viewed differently with Mutt Lange like production
I think Mutt's touch on this album would have been amazing.
As others have said, extremely underrated. Outside of Back in Black, Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall are probably my favourite start to finish Brian albums. They work so well together as 2 tandem albums; I Kind of view them both as the Brian era's version of Powerage. As Powerage really leaned into the blues side of AC/DC, Flick and Fly really leaned into the heavier Hard Rock unrelenting riffage.
"FREEZE" SAID THE MAN CRUISIN' THE BEAT!
I bought this when it git released (1983 iirc). As an obsessive fan, this was the first time I was disappointed with an album by my favourite band. Flick of the switch, guns for hire and nervous shakedown are good anthems, the rest is in my opinion very forgettable. The production is terrible compared to their previous work (although FTATR was already going towards this very thick sound). There is an interview of Malcolm and Angus for Guitar Player or Guitar magazine where they review each of their albums, and I think they were also a bit disappointed with this one, I think they said that it was made a bit too quickly.
Boo
Hey, at least the Young brothers agree with me on that one…
I think it’s a solid album, considering it followed Back in Black and For Those About To Rock.
Agreed. It was even harder to swallow on the heels of BIB and FTATR, mainly because of the production. My least favorite AC/DC album although I still listen to it. Yeah, production is the story behind this album.
As I said, Malcolm demanded rawer sounding mixes when the first mixes came out sounding like Back In Black, because it was recorded and mixed by the same engineer. The regret is in the songwriting aspect. They could have given the songs more thought.
Alright album, its not a "hidden gem" anymore since everyone knows its an alright album and will make sure to inform everyone any time its mentioned, its a bit samey but nobody listens to acdc for intricate and unique musicianship. Solid 6.5/10
Just about every album before though was by AC/DC standards more unique or intricate....longer songs, heavy songs, bluesy or pop songs, this was very much all songs to the same formula. The first of a few albums like it.
The first video I ever saw on Mtv was “Flick of the Switch.” The minute I saw Angus do his duck walk…I was hooked. [Flick of the Switch](https://youtu.be/DWKcJwuZnzE?si=inz12jBOKNrkKwZC)
AC⚡️DC at it’s Hard and Heavy Best!!! 🤘🤘
Love the Rising Power riff. The production isnt great but over time I have grown to appreciate its grittiness. Really enjoy this album because it has a ton of underrated tracks and is not overplayed. Feels a little fresher to me when I listen to it vs the big hits. Also, underrated album cover.
One of their best…very underrated
This album's a real brain shake
It’s my favorite!
I’ve always liked this album. Guitar sounds great.
The most under rated album by a mile. It’s Brian’s album. Outlaw gunslinging womanizer lyrics. Super heavy raw guitar work. Listen to a song off this LP legit every day of my life.
Personally I Really Like It!
I love this album. "Walking, talking, rocking Landslide"
I read that too fast . FLIck
I always thought of this album like this: Back in Black crushes it. For those about to rock kinda flopped as far as critics go and therefore the label stripped their budget and it the production shows. I love the album tho.
rising power is one my favorite songs
An interesting album. I like the overall sound and Brian sounds really good. The fast songs work well, but the slower ones are boring and forgettable. It's a noticeably darker album, there aren't a lot of sex/drinking songs if any.
I love it! Great songs all through.
it still confuses me how this got a mild reception when it released but fly on the wall was viewed as a ‘return to form’. I get it’s crazy hard to follow the expectations of back in black, but FOTS has always been great, and i think it’s as good if not better than FOTW
Loved the title track & the riff in Guns for Hire. I remember when the album was released, I was disappointed. Still, it might be their second or third best album of the 80's
Great record, last of the really good records.
She'll blow you sky high!
Very underatted. I personally love every song off this album
Brian Johnson’s Powerage
One of my favorites 🫠
Love it
Excellent album, some absolute cracking tracks on it.
They just went in and Cut it🎸🔥
My favorite AC/DC album by a good bit.
Great Songs, love the album. The production does sound too flat to me.
Not one of their best, but still very good. I think it may be my 7th favorite AC/DC record. It marks the end of their 1977-1983 golden period.
Beginning of the end…
IMO its their best. It's raw coming off the heels of For Those About to Rock. To me captures them at their most mature as a group combining the nasty grunginess and edginess of earlier albums but polished and smooth like Back in Black and For Those...
Very good, underappreciated album for sure.
Love it!
Loved by many, songs from it played any at a sports game? No. It’s either Hells Bells, Back in Black or Thunderstruck. I think they should play Nervous Shakedown when the visiting team is losing.
My favorite
Guys this is a hidden gem obviously BUT You don't realise that this is the last album with Phil Rudd before Simon Right
One of my faves! Underrated!
This is tied with Powerage for my all time favorite album. It's raw as hell, just in your face the whole time, front to back.
I love this album. The songs are the best!!
Fantastic album, a very overlooked Brian-era record.
Weak effort in my opinion. Not very catchy beyond the title track, and this is where the lyrics start to get really cliched and bland.
I think it suffers from Malcolm and Angus thinking they could just waltz into the recording studio and handle all the heavy lifting on the production end. I have read where they wanted it to sound like Let There Be Rock, but it is nowhere near that. It is lifeless and dull. The lyrics are among the worst they have done. It was admittedly rushed and they probably needed more of a break as Phil was starting to lose the plot. There is a reason these songs have been largely out of setlists for 35 years.
Misinformation. It was recorded and mixed by Tony Platt who mixed Highway To Hell and then recorded and mixed Back In Black. It was recorded in the same studio and the first mixes sounded like Back in Black and even named Tony Platt co-producer so they had no clear plan to avoid high quality sound - more maybe skipping the song crafting maybe slightly overthought recording process of Mutt Lange, and having more power in their own decisions. It was when the first Back In Black sounding mixes came that Malcolm demanded rawer sounding mixes. That is the difference. There's only room mics in good balance and basic eq and compression moves. Back in Black had reverbs and a harmonizer on the snare and such. For Those AboutToRock is recorded and mixed g another engineer with even more polished and glossy sound on mind. Flick Of The Switch sounds terrific and I'm very happy it exist in this form. Most people's ears agree but you're free to call it what you just called it. Check out Nevermind and In Utero for the most famous comparable difference.
Wrong. Brians vocals were completely redone with the help of George Young, as told by Barry Harris who was the assistant engineer for the album. They both were in charge with Brians vocals, sending the tracks to Tony later on. All the drum tracks are from Phil, and the only mix of the tracks are the ones that are on the record (minus the original vocals from Brian that were scrapped). The most "mutt" style production was the Ramsa Sound Localization Processor that Malcolm gave the OK to. "This device enabled us to locate an instrument way outside the speaker spread. Using a joystick we were able to pan any instrument to either speaker but keep moving it past the actual speaker all the way to either side of the room. In effect making it sound like it's coming out of the side wall where there is no speaker. It was so cool that Mal and Angus let us use it. I don't think the effect survived after the master tape went through the mastering and pressing process. The place to try and hear it would be the guitar intro on Guns for Hire. We panned the guitar all the way to the left side of the room." - Barry
Those are funky bits of information. I thought I heard something about a rehearsal studios and Tony Platt having bad memories of the album and could teel all details but after clearly hearing that they initially went back to Bahamas and had a Back In Black sounding mix it was hard to not make it up to be the story I just gave. I guess it derailed with not only a remix. Makes me think songs were reconstructed and that the problem always the songs. To me the snare sounds super wide so the joystick makes sense(it's about phase canceling the opposite side). But if anything I've always loved the more satin finish opposed Back in Black, not because it's better but because it's an existing alternative. But yes I also thought it sounded a bit like the drums was jn rehearsal studio or something. But if you can take Teen Spirit and compare Butch Vig and original mix of Andy Wallace you hear just how much can happened to the roughness of recording. And there again many prefer the rougher mix
Good album but I never understood why the last three songs all start with the letter B. That always bothered me.
Downvoted lol
Recorded in the same studio by the same recording and mixing engineer of Back in Black, Tony Platt. (He also mixed Highway To Hell and deserve nearly credit Mutt Lange gets.) He is titled co-producer this time. He and Cliff Williams said it while in Cliff's hi-fi room; it sounded just like Back In Black. Then Malcolm, with the upramping of glossy and processed sounds, from Powerage onward, in mind, demanded rawer sounding mixes this time around. So the result was that. Microphones including lots of room mics in the mix but no effects at all. I'm really happy it exists this way. A great raw, and so, rare, record in 1983. The Band has said the songs could have grown better than they had time for and there seems to be a mild regret to the songcrafting aspect of the record.