AC/DC
Flick Of The Switch

THE REVIEW

The enormous success of "Back In Black" exponentially increases interest in Ac/Dc, who, after "For Those About To Rock," released just a year after BIB, give us (we are in 1983) "Flick Of The Switch." The album borders on one side with the glories of "Highway To Hell" and "Back in Black" and on the other with the downturn of the second half of the '80s (see the lackluster "Fly On The Wall"). It is perhaps the most neglected in the Ac/Dc discography, where they even venture into the production phase (and unfortunately you can tell!), offering ten songs that almost go unnoticed, rarely performed live, penalized by a flat and incapable production that fails to provide the depth and greater concreteness that episodes like "Rising Power" (beautiful solo) and "Guns For Hire" would have deserved.

Let's proceed in order: after the opener, "This House Is On Fire" is more than decent, with a great riff by Angus chasing Rudd's drums (who would leave the group during the album's recording, to return in '95 with "Ballbreaker"); the title track has a nice chorus but in the long run becomes repetitive (the same goes for "Nervous Shakedown"). "Landslide" is played at full speed with Rudd once again prominent, the already mentioned "Guns For Hire," and "Deep In The Hole" (solid). The level of the album, decent until now, drops with "Bedlam In Belgium," "Badlands," and "Brain Shake" (the latter sees Brian more shrill than ever): three filler tracks that drag wearily towards the end leaving no mark. Overall, "Flick Of The Switch" would have deserved more focus from the Young brothers: the tracks seem eager to finish (only two tracks out of ten exceed four minutes in length) and, with few original twists, end up resembling one another.