AC/DC - Flick of the Switch

AC/DC
Flick of the Switch


Released 1983 on Epic
Reviewed by Seb, 13/04/2005ce


1. Rising Power
2. This House is on Fire
3. Flick of the Switch
4. Nervous Shakedown
5. Landslide

6. Guns for Hire
7. Deep in the Hole
8. Bedlam in Belgium
9. Badlands
10. Brain Shake

People are always giving Flick of the Switch a hard time. This is because they’re total fucking bastards. What do you WANT from AC/DC? I’ll tell you what they want – a stupid Mutt Lange production like they got on Back in Black; or some bronzed epic like For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) from the album of the same name; the one before this one. Flick of the Switch has neither. It’s production could be described as “dry”. Or “sandpapery”. The songs could be described as “underdeveloped”. There aren’t really any “pop hooks” here. It’s got none of their classics on it. Instead they squeeze their weathered muse through a beautifully-weighted, blackened exhaust pipe, and it comes out like a perfect, perfect baby. I consider this to be the best Brian Johnson AC/DC album. They’re not trying to impress; they don’t seem to be particularly interested in selling records; they’re on their special mystic autopilot throughout. This album is a glass of water. We need water to live. People forget that.

Phil Rudd on the drums.


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